Woman in the ivory tower: Gendering feminised and masculinised identities
Journal of Organizational Change Management
ISSN: 0953-4814
Article publication date: 1 December 2005
Abstract
Purpose
To challenge dualistic concepts of masculinity and femininity via a case for understanding gender as a verb.
Design/methodology/approach
Using Deleuzian and feminist frameworks, the paper appraises six plateaus of desire and intensity through which gendered identities are assembled and re‐assembled in binary terms. The case study approach highlights the positioning and repositioning of a woman whose leadership of a leading academic institution involves breaking new ground in a male‐defined occupation, at a time when higher education is undergoing radical restructure.
Findings
The paper shows how masculinised and feminised identity positions are effected through attempts to affix certainty to indistinct and multiple dimensions of being and becoming.
Originality/value
Suggests that if we wish to understand gender in non‐dualistic terms we should think through the body to see both corporeality and identity as ambiguous and always unfinished assemblage
Keywords
Citation
Eveline, J. (2005), "Woman in the ivory tower: Gendering feminised and masculinised identities", Journal of Organizational Change Management, Vol. 18 No. 6, pp. 641-658. https://doi.org/10.1108/09534810510628558
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2005, Emerald Group Publishing Limited