A Postfeminist Sensibility at Work

Abstract

Postfeminism remains a relatively unexplored concept for scholars in the area of gender and organizations. In this article we first provide theoretical perspectives on postfeminism and elaborate a critical approach to it. Postfeminism is seen as a concept, rather than an identification, that can assist in understanding the patterning of gender in the modern workplace. The second part of the article illustrates different discursive moves that we observed in our own research exploring how sexism is repudiated and how gender fatigue is enacted. This meta‐theme is supported by four discursive moves: first, gender inequalities are routinely allocated to the past or, secondly, to other countries or contexts; third, women are seen as the advantaged sex; and fourth, the status quo is accepted as just how workplaces are. The article thereby makes a contribution to understanding the patterning of a postfeminist sensibility both theoretically and empirically in the work context.

Rendering sexism invisible in workplace narratives. A narrative analysis of female entrepreneurs’ stories of not being talked to by men

“…Second, neoliberalism promotes the notion of the enterprising, autonomous and self‐regulating subject and postfeminism views the subject as active, free choosing and self‐reinventing. Third, both concepts appear to call upon women more than men to undergo personal transformation, for example, to make themselves more confident or resilient (Gill, Kelan, & Scharff, , p. 231). For instance, within neoliberal society, women are compelled to become enterprising selves, to improve themselves and embrace the entrepreneurial ideal, and ‘within the enterprise culture, otherness and its ensuing disadvantages are seen as matters of individual responsibility and ambition, never as structural phenomena’ (Berglund et al, , p. 6).…”

“…This bears resemblance to the promotion of choice and disavowal of structure associated with postfeminism (Lewis, Benschop, & Simpson, , p. 213). Thus, the entrepreneurial landscape is shaped by an array of contradictory Discourses (Gill et al, ) which female entrepreneurs have to navigate.…”

Género y management en el marco neoliberal. Un análisis crítico para la emergencia de liderazgos feministas

“…Para desarrollar esta tarea final, deberemos enmarcar el modelo de mujer líder, identificado a través del análisis del discurso de la literatura popular del management dirigida a mujeres, en un escenario referido a la confluencia entre neoliberalismo y feminismo (Rottenberg 2017). De este modo, estaremos más cerca de comprender el sentido de las prescripciones de comportamiento que son lanzadas a través de esta literatura, y que contribuyen a la conformación de las mujeres como sujetos neoliberales por excelencia (Scharff 2016b;Gill, Kelan, y Scharff 2016).…”

“…To undertake this final task, we must frame the woman leader model identified by analysing the discourse of the popular management literature for women, done in a scenario that refers to the neoliberalism-feminism confluence (Rottenberg 2017). In this way, we will be better able to understand the sense of the prescriptions of behaviour that are launched by this literature, which contribute to outline women as neoliberal subjects par excellence (Scharff 2016b;Gill, Kelan & Scharff, 2016).…”

“…To undertake this final task, we must frame the woman leader model identified by analysing the discourse of the popular management literature for women, done in a scenario that refers to the neoliberalism-feminism confluence (Rottenberg 2017). In this way, we will be better able to understand the sense of the prescriptions of behaviour that are launched by this literature, which contribute to outline women as neoliberal subjects par excellence (Scharff 2016b;Gill, Kelan & Scharff, 2016).In parallel, as part of the task of criticising the leadership model that perpetuates an unequal gender structure in the company world, we must reflect on the limits of a dichotomic definition of gender models. In this way, if we move forward in the Theory of Gender Performativity by the author Judith Butler (1990Butler ( , 1993a), we will work on a gender conception that allows exclusive dichotomies Introduction 20 to be left behind in order to generate new identitarian spaces within business organisations that allow diversity to be included as a key value.…”