Early studies of female drug dealers suggest that women are marginalized, passive victims. In contrast, more recent studies describe women as skilful and competent dealers. In a Bourdieu-inspired theoretical framework of ‘street capital’, we suggest that the truth is somewhere in between. Female dealers can be successful, but they face more obstacles than men do. The illegal hard-drug economy is gendered and favours men. In this paper we discuss how female drug dealers develop particular strategies to prove they still belong in ‘the game’. Four such strategies are emphasized: desexualization, violent posture, emotional detachment and service-mindedness. These are common strategies for all drug dealers, but the gendered economy forces female dealers to be particularly careful about their business and self-presentation.

Based on interviews with 32 female drug dealers in Norway, this study investigates different gender performances among women situated in the illegal hard drug economy-a context with strong gendered "rules of the game." Using grounded theory methods, I have identified four predominant patterns in which women enact their gendered identities being part of the drug economy: performing emphasized femininity in the context of marginalization; performing street masculinity; employing a feminine business model; and last, flexible use of cultural repertoires. The findings suggest that different gender performances among dealers are rooted in variations in the cultural tool kits they have at their disposal. I find that the content of women's cultural tool kits varied with three sociodemographic factors: 1) age, 2) time of entrée to the drug economy, and 3) educational and employment history. Combined, these influenced the type of gender performances the dealers tended to use as well as their position in the drug market hierarchy. The research suggests that those dealers using cultural repertoires flexibly are the most successful as they skillfully employed the model best suited for the context they were in.

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this study examines negotiations of motherhood among women in the illegal hard drug economy in norway. Based on interviews with mothers who are users and dealers, this study analyzes four predominant maternal identities: grieving mothers, detached mothers, motherly dealers, and working mothers. Particularly relevant factors explaining variations in maternal identities include the timing of pregnancy, time spent with children, control over drug use, and place in the drug market hierarchy. By revealing patterns of intra-group variations by gender performances and work situation, the study expands upon previous work on how mothers who are structurally disadvantaged negotiate motherhood ideals.

This study investigates paternal identities among men who are involved in the illegal drug economy in Norway. Using data from life-history interviews, we identified two paternal identities relating to the role fatherhood played in their lives and crimes: struggling fathers and absent fathers. Our analysis demonstrates the structural constraints of fatherhood for crime-involved men, which is rooted in their class positions and enhanced by being situated in hyper-masculine drug markets with little access to hegemonic masculinity. Our study offers a contribution to scholarship on marginalized fatherhood, and highlights the import of paternal identities for understanding the relationship between fatherhood and crime over the life course.