MANAGING MASCULINITY IN CONTEMPORARY ORGANIZATIONAL LIFE - A MANAGERIAL PROJECT

This paper seeks to theorize managerial discourses and practices in te rms of their effects upon sexuality, intimacy and power in organizatio ns. While accepting the real and immediate gendered material and socia l inequalities that are reinforced by the recent resurgence of unadult erated ''free market'' capitalism, the authors focus here on certain l imited aspects of femininity and masculinity that are important for an understanding of gender identity and sexuality. Acknowledging the mul tiplicity of masculinities and femininities, they speak of a predomina nt form of masculinity that is elevated and privileged in everyday lif e, not least in organizational settings. This form of masculinity offe rs many men a secure and ''comfortable'' identity in generating and su staining feminine dependence and a sexuality of men that displaces int imacy. By contrast, as a socially privileged yardstick by which women are judged, and judge themselves and one another, the model of what wo manhood has come to be is bound up in an image of passivity. Feminine passivity then, may be understood as an often ''reluctant collaborator '' in what can be seen as a silencing of women's authority and fuller participation in organizations. The authors argue that the idealized c onception of passive femininity and this silencing of women's authorit y has the effect of privileging men over women both materially and soc ially.