Care for the self, overcompensation and bodily crafting: The work–life balance of disabled people

Abstract

This article argues that studies on work–life balance have neglected the impact of the self‐care needs of disabled people in managing their health in and outside the workplace. Taking a social constructionist approach, we outline how the heteronormative discourse of work–life balance is not only gendered but also ableist in that it assumes an individual who is able‐bodied. By analysing the narratives of 66 male and female employees with a broad range of impairments, this article investigates how they experience work–life balance issues and reflects on how gender intersects with these. It further highlights the strategies disabled people develop, conceptualizing the individualized work of ‘bodily crafting’ that is undertaken to articulate work and life. Through the perspective of the Othered body, we extend current critical debates on fitness and health discourses in organizations.

Workplace Experiences of Women With Disability in Sport Organizations

“…We also contribute to the workplace disability literature which has shown that disability and gender considerations may require different human resource management approaches, but that while this is well recognized these needs are not necessarily addressed (Darcy et al, 2016;Shantz et al, 2018). Our findings regarding intersectionality also extend the literature in this area by showing the importance of deconstructing the nature of a disability, impairment and how this intersects with gender to shape one's articulation of work life (Jammaers and Williams, 2020).…”

“…Shifting the research focus to the individual could also be extended and applied from an intersectional perspective on women with disability to intersect with age and/or ethnicity (Jammaers and Williams, 2020). In doing so, research could delve into the sport setting to identify if the disability identity of women differs according to her age and/or ethnicity.…”

Far from “Fauda”: creators with disabilities in an established-outsider figuration in the Israeli film and television industries

“…The established-outsider figuration that is depicted in this study is sustained by the structural features of the Israeli FTI coupled with the social mechanisms of stigmatization and exclusion of creators with disabilities. Ample studies have found that the construction of work and organizations assume non-disability as an organizing norm (Jammaers and Williams, 2021;Jammaers and Zanoni, 2021;Jammaers et al, 2016;Roulstone et al, 2003;Vickers, 2014). The structural features of the Israeli FTIproject-based productions, long working hours and relatively low wages (Eikhof and Warhurst, 2013) are indeed indicative of an ableist work structure (Foster and Wass, 2013;Randle and Hardy, 2017).…”

“…academic institutions, see Kjaer and van Amsterdam, 2020). Jammaers and Williams (2021, p. 121) call this “the effort that goes into masking the carnal aspects of everyday life (e.g. pain, fatigue and inability to concentrate) inside the workplace.”…”

Women’s Health in/and Work: Menopause as an Intersectional Experience

“…At the same time, there is an established body of literature exploring how women at work experience intersectional disadvantage in composite with race [18][19][20], sexuality, disability [21] and class [22]. In particular, studies of embodiment at work have highlighted how workplace inequality manifests through particular bodies being indexed as more or less valuable or capable.…”