Masculine scripting and the mythology of motorcycling

Participant observation and interviews with bikers on the Old Road north of Sydney demonstrate that the performance of a motorcycling identity is related to naturalised discourses of masculinity. The mythological scripting of motorcycling masculinity is reinforced through the motorcycling media and the socialisation and initiation of young riders. The myths that are enacted are essentially myths of mastery, predominantly over self and machine, but by extension over nature, women and homosexual masculinities. We argue that the non–conforming behaviour of motorcyclists reflects not class–based alienation and resistance to authority but the performance of motorcycling mythologies based on aggressive masculinity.