Most hip-hop circles, both mainstream and underground, are largely male-centric from performers to fans. There is one underground hip-hop fan faction, though, in which females figure prominently -- juggalos. The female role in this fandom is misunderstood, but significant.
Both mainstream and underground hip-hop are largely a man's world. Sure,
occasionally a female performer will come around, but she's usually made to conform to either an overly sexy or overly aggressive stereotype.
Underground hip-hop is slightly more enlightened, but still, the females involved are often just fans. And often, even they aren't that visible in a scene that's still highly male dominated.
There's one faction of the underground hip-hop scene in which this isn't true, and it may surprise those who are unfamiliar with it. Despite all the mainstream malignment, juggalos -- probably best described as fiercely devoted fans of the underground hip-hop group Insane Clown Posse -- are one of the more female-heavy factions in the scene.
In fact, female juggalos even have their own slang term; they're known as "juggalettes."
Juggalos, in general, are among the most devoted and misunderstood fans in underground hip-hop. Above all else, juggalos are about nearly unconditional acceptance of each other; they often refer to the "juggalo family."
This extends, of course, to all juggalettes. There is some dichotomy in how juggalettes are viewed -- there are tough juggalettes and sexy juggalettes -- but each are equally respected, even if it might not seem that way at first to outsiders.
Much of this misunderstanding arises from large events attended by juggalos, the biggest being the annual Gathering of the Juggalos, sponsored by Insane Clown Posse itself. Here, juggalettes figure in a major way into the weekend's festivities, with a number of events at the festival, many designed just for them.
Among these are a number of events in which the participating juggalettes wind up scantily clad. For instance, there's female mud wrestling, and wet T-shirt contests which see the participants doused with Faygo soda, the juggalos' semi-official favorite beverage.
There are chants of "areola!" for no reason in which female revelers shed their tops. Sometimes, women even use these flashes as a currency of sorts. And probably the most notorious event at the Gathering is the Ms. Jugalette contest, a hybrid beauty/talent contest in which anything -- anything -- goes.
Still, the power dynamic here is interesting. While a lot of this sounds male-centric, ask the juggalettes how they feel about it and their answers might surprise you.
Though there are many juggalettes, there are still fewer of them than male juggalos, so they hold most of the power. What's more, the juggalo subculture is very accepting of all kinds of looks and body types, and appreciative of all of them.
When a juggalette does anything at a juggalo gathering, many times, it's an opportunity to feel the kind of appreciation not often shown in more mainstream circles. And when the concerts or parties get started, juggalettes are equally welcome in the front row. The same simply cannot be said of most other underground hip-hop scenes.
