I want my car to look like a whore : lowriding and poetics of outlaw aesthetics

Abstract

Material culture can be understood materially, socially and symbolically. The lowrider cars of Los Angeles are often analyzed in perspective of theories on ethnicity and gender. Here they are instead analyzed in perspective of class, seeking to understand the aesthetical taste which is expressed in the lowrider cars in light of the socioeconomic status of the people who build and own the cars. A special focus is put on the outlaw aura which surrounds the lowriders, and the thesis attempts to describe how also this is related to the owner’s social standing in the American social hierarchy.