Indonesian women leaders navigating hegemonic femininity: A Gramscian lens

Abstract

Hegemonic femininity is a concept beginning to receive scholarly attention, and this paper illustrates how it has become a critical factor hindering women's leadership opportunities in Indonesia. This study aims to understand how women leaders adopt, modify, or reject forms of hegemonic femininity that interpellate their constructions of subjectivity. This paper employs a discourse analysis of interview texts with 36 women in leadership positions in a Muslim‐majority country, Indonesia. The finding shows how participants navigate hegemonic femininity by constructing their version of feminine subjectivity to negotiate their gender‐leadership roles in several ways. This paper expands the critical discursive understanding of women's leadership by (1) theorizing how hegemonic femininity challenges the acceptance of women's leadership and (2) delineating the way construction of femininity affects the way women do leadership.

Women's leadership communication patterns in the political areas in Lampung province Indonesia

“…So far there has been an opinion that the world of politics is identical to the world of men. This assumption arises from the existence of an "image" that is not entirely accurate about political life; namely that politics is dirty, hard, full of intrigue, and the like, which is identified with male characteristics (Oktaviani, 2023). As a result, the number of women involved in politics is small, including in countries where the level of democracy and equality of human rights is sufficient.…”