 Redoing Gender: How Women in the Funeral Industry Use Essentialism for EqualityAllison†Scott Pruitt Gender, Work and Organization, 2018, vol. 25, issue 2, 144-158 Abstract: Although some research considers women's participation in traditionally male†dominated jobs as an ‘undoing’ of the gender system, other scholars argue that women's participation in non†traditional roles can actually maintain hegemonic masculinity. Because women have recently entered the funeral industry in unprecedented numbers, the profession offers a unique context to study how women negotiate a sense of belonging in male†dominated fields. I draw on 22 interviews with women in the funeral industry to reveal how gender is done and undone in an occupational context. In what Hughey (. Social Problems, 57, 653–679) refers to as a ‘paradox of participation’, I argue that women in the funeral industry redefine the image of the ideal funeral director by using gender essentialist logic, which originally acted as a barrier to their entry to the field, to justify their participation. By showing how gender essentialism and egalitarianism can constitute reinforcing logics instead of an opposing binary, this research contributes to the literature concerning women in non†traditional roles. Date: 2018 Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:gender:v:25:y:2018:i:2:p:144-158 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from Access Statistics for this article Gender, Work and Organization is currently edited by David Knights, Deborah Kerfoot and Ida Sabelis More articles in Gender, Work and Organization from Wiley Blackwell |
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