The sensuous governmentality of glitter: Educating managing women scientists with gleaming STEM Barbies

Abstract

This essay conceptualizes glitter as a sensuous materialization of governmentality. It does so, arguing that glitter governs in alluring ways by materializing light and sight. As such, the essay explores glitter as a sparkly substance, governing individuals in certain behavioural directions, which it also demonstrates in the illustrative case of a small group of gleaming STEM Barbies, intended to govern young girls in the direction of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics management careers, through sensuous stimulations of sight. However, in materializing light and sight, glitter leaves everything un-glittery in gloomy darkness, while governing with glitter also comes with the danger of producing an unfortunate ignorant blindness, potentially countering the aims behind the use of glitter as a governing means.