The inclusion of women within the hypermasculinized space of Hip Hop has become apparent. This is because toxic masculine behavior is deeply rooted in hip hop, and is still performed in current hip hop culture. It has been a platform for male performers to prove themselves as men, usually at the expense of women. There’s a certain expectation of women to perform with the same ‘authenticity’ as men. This ‘authenticity’ refers to their ability to perform with masculinity. Macdonald says “To be accepted, a girl must behave like she is a boy. She must act as of she has “balls”…” (Pabon 43) She has recognized that this mindset makes the graffiti grrl deny her identity as a woman. In my opinion, saying that the woman must perform as well as a man and perform similarly to how men have performed to provide ‘realness’ or ‘authenticity’ to their work is a false promise of inclusivity for women.

However, after reading the chapter Performing Feminist Masculinity in a Post Feminist Era, I have learned that, to truly make hip hop culture a space that is recognized by society as performance art with equal contribution and inclusion of woman, we must change our perspective of what graffiti grrlz are performing. They are not performing a form of masculinity that represents the form of (toxic) masculinity commonly used by male performers, but rather an alternative to it. Instead, they are performing feminist masculinity, a “female masculinity” and “conceptualizes forms of masculinity in tandem in tandem with performances of feminitity” (Pabon 47) This allows graffiti grrlz to perform in a way that is “assertive and dominant, but not oppressive”. Performing feminist masculinity has even allowed a feminine aesthetic within the traditionally masculine art form, which is pretty huge. Allowing feminine styles to exist within an art form once perceived as only masculine will provide a space to play with gender identity and expression within hip hop culture in the future.