In this article, we develop a theory of Abject Appearance to explain women elite leaders’ embodied identity work within a context of intra-gender relations. The theory of Abject Appearance illuminates a dynamic and dialectical process whereby women elite leaders ‘manage’ the ambiguities of their ‘in-between’ and ‘abject’ status. This process is understood as a possible material effect or consequence of women’s abjection in organizations. Women elite leaders hold power through their formal positions, yet remain marginalized in social relations because their feminine bodies are out of place in organizations. In a qualitative study with women elite leaders, we illustrate how the theme Fascination with bodies and appearance depicts a dialectical process of simultaneous disgust and attraction with women’s bodies and appearance. We discuss how this material effect of abjection may be played out through two embodied identity work strategies in an intra-gender context, namely: Shifting focus from the body and appearance and Achieving a professional balance. We offer insights into how women’s embodiment in elite leader roles may be constrained in a context of intra-gender relations. We suggest opportunities to strengthen women’s agency by raising awareness to the theory of Abject Appearance and women leaders’ associated body work.
AndersonH (2008) Conversation, Language, and Possibilities: A Postmodern Approach to Therapy. New York: Basic Books.
2.
AshcraftKL (2013) The glass slipper: ‘Incorporating’ occupational identity in management studies. Academy of Management Review38(1): 6–31.
3.
BellESinclairA (2014) Reclaiming eroticism in the academy. Organization21(2): 268–280.
4.
BenjaminJ (1998) Shadow of the Other: Intersubjectivity and Gender in Psychoanalysis. New York: Routledge.
5.
BenschopY (2009) The micro-politics of gendering in networking. Gender, Work & Organization16(2): 217–237.
6.
ButlerJ (1989) The body politics of Julia Kristeva. Hypatia3(3): 105–118.
7.
ButlerJ (1993) Bodies that Matter: On the Discursive Limits of Sex. London: Routledge.
8.
ButlerJ (2004) Undoing Gender. New York: Routledge.
9.
CampbellA (2004) Female competition: Causes, constraints, content, and contexts. The Journal of Sex Research41(1): 16–26.
10.
CamussiELeccardiC (2005) Stereotypes of working women: The power of expectations. Social Science Information44(1): 113–140.
11.
CheslerP (2001) Woman’s Inhumanity to Woman. New York: Chicago Review Press.
12.
CixousH (1976) The laugh of the medusa (trans. Cohen K and Cohen P). Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society1(4): 875–893.
13.
ConnellRW (1987) Gender and Power. Sydney: Allen and Unwin.
14.
ConnellRWMesserschmidtJ (2005) Hegemonic masculinity: Rethinking the concept. Gender and Society19(6): 829–859.
15.
CunliffeAEriksenM (2011) Relational leadership. Human Relations64(11): 1425–1449.
16.
De BeauvoirS (1949) The Second Sex (trans. & edited by ParshleyHM, 1989). Toronto, Canada: Vintage Books.
17.
FenstermakerSWestC (2002) Doing Gender, Doing Difference: Inequality, Power and Institutional Change. New York: Routledge.
18.
FotakiM (2011) The sublime object of desire (for knowledge): Sexuality at work in business and management schools in England. British Journal of Management22(1): 42–53.
19.
FotakiM (2013) No woman is like a man (in academia): The masculine symbolic order and the unwanted female body. Organization Studies24(9): 1251–1275.
20.
FotakiMMetcalfeBDHardingN (2014) Writing materiality into management and organization studies through and with Luce Irigaray. Human Relations67(10): 1239–1263.
21.
FraserN (2000) Rethinking recognition. New Left Review3(May–June): 107–120.
22.
GatrellCJ (2013) Maternal body work: How women managers and professionals negotiate pregnancy and new motherhood at work. Human Relations66(5): 621–644.
23.
GatrellCJ (2014) Monstrous motherhood versus magical maternity? An exploration of conflicting attitudes to maternity within health discourses and organizational settings. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal33(7): 633–647.
24.
GherardiS (1994) The gender we think, the gender we do in everyday organizational life. Human Relations47(6): 591–609.
25.
GimlinD (2007) What is ‘body work’? A review of the literature. Sociology Compass1(1): 353–370.
26.
HardingNFordJFotakiM (2013) Is the ‘F’-word still dirty? A past present and future of/for feminist and gender studies in Organization. Organization20(1): 51–65.
27.
HaynesK (2012) Body beautiful? Gender identity and the body in professional services firms. Gender Work & Organization19(5): 489–507.
28.
HöpflH (2004) Julia Kristeva. In: LinsteadS (ed.) Organization Theory and Postmodern Thought. London: SAGE, 88–104.
29.
JonesL (2007) Women and abjection: Margins of difference bodies of art. Visual Culture & Gender2(1): 62–71.
30.
KanterRM (1987) Performance pressures: Life in the limelight. In: MinerVLonginoHE (eds) Competition, a Feminist Taboo?New York: Feminist Press at CUNY, 70–80.
31.
KelanEK (2013) The becoming of business bodies: Gender appearance and leadership development. Management Learning44(1): 45–61.
32.
KennyKM (2010) Beyond ourselves: Passion and the dark side of identification in an ethical organization. Human Relations63(6): 857–873.
33.
KristevaJ (1982) Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection. New York: Columbia University Press.
34.
LonghurstR (2008) Maternities: Gender Bodies and Space. New York: Routledge.
MavinS (2006) Venus envy: Problematizing solidarity behaviour and Queen Bees. Women in Management Review21(4): 264–276.
37.
MavinSGrandyGWilliamsJ (2014) Experiences of women elite leaders doing gender: Intra-gender micro-violence between women. British Journal of Management25(3): 439–455.
38.
MeijerIPrinsB (1998) How bodies come to matter: An interview with Judith Butler. Signs23(2): 275–286.
39.
MetcalfeBD (2003) Writing through the body: Autobiography femininity and organization. Literature and organization stream. Critical Management Studies Conference. Lancaster University, July.
40.
MumbyDKAshcraftKL (2006) Organizational communication studies and gendered organization: A response to Martin and Collinson. Gender, Work and Organization13(1): 68–90.
41.
O’LearyVE (1988) Women’s relationships with women in the workplace. In: GutekBALarwoodLStrombergAH (eds) Women and Work: An Annual Review. Beverly Hills, CA: SAGE, 189–213.
42.
O’NeillOAO’ReillyCA (2011) Reducing the backlash effect: Self-monitoring and women’s promotions. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology84(4): 825–832.
43.
OrbachSEichenbaumL (1987) Bitter Sweet. Love, Envy and Competition in Women’s Friendships. London: Century.
44.
PhillipsMRippinA (2010) Howard and the mermaid: Abjection and the Starbucks’ Foundation memoir. Organization17(4): 481–499.
45.
PhillipsMPullenARhodesC (2014) Writing organization as gendered practice: Interrupting the libidinal economy. Organization Studies35(3): 313–333.
46.
PrattM (2009) From the editors. For the lack of a boilerplate: Tips on writing up (and reviewing) qualitative research. Academy of Management Journal52(5): 856–862.
47.
RizqR (2013) States of abjection. Organization Studies34(9): 1277–1297.
48.
RodriguezJK (2013) Joining the dark side: Women in management in Dominican Republic. Gender Work and Organization20(1): 1–19.
49.
RussellAM (2013) Embodiment and abjection trafficking for sexual exploitation. Body & Society19(1): 82–107.
50.
SinclairA (2011) Leading with body. In: JeanesEKnightsDYancey MartinP (eds) Handbook of Gender, Work and Organization. Chichester: Wiley, 117–130.
51.
TanenbaumL (2002) Catfight: Women and Competition. New York: Seven Stories.
52.
TerjesenSSealyRSinghV (2009) Women directors on corporate boards: A review and research agenda. Corporate Governance: An International Review17(3): 320–337.
53.
ThanemT (2006) Living on the edge: Towards a monstrous organization theory. Organization13(2): 163–193.
54.
ThatcherL (2008) Powers of horror. Based on an essay in Abjection by Julia KristevaPhilo Agora. Available at: http://www.philoagora.com/content/view/92/104/, Accessed November 10, 2015.
TretheweyA (2001) Reproducing and resisting the master narrative of decline midlife professional women’s experiences of aging. Management Communication Quarterly15(2): 183–226.
57.
TylerI (2009) Against abjection. Feminist Theory10(1): 77–98.
58.
TylerM (2005) Women in change management: Simone De Beauvoir and the co-optation of women’s Otherness. Journal of Organizational Change Management18(6): 561–577.
59.
TylerM (2011) Tainted love: From dirty work to abject labour in Soho’s sex shopsHuman Relations64(11): 1477–1500.
60.
WaskulDDVan der RietP (2002) The abject embodiment of cancer patients: Dignity selfhood and the grotesque body. Symbolic Interaction25(4): 487–513.
