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Living Gendered Identities: Beyond Essentialism and Constructivism Towards Embodied Relationality

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Leadership, Gender, and Organization

Part of the book series: Issues in Business Ethics ((IBET,volume 63))

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Abstract

In this chapter, the embodied and institutionalized roots of gender discrimination in the workplace are explored. The chapter draws on a variety of feminist perspectives to discuss the implications that various approaches to gender differences have for thinking about leadership in organizational contexts. It comes to the conclusion that combining insight into the embodied practices of the lived body with an understanding of gender as a socially-constructed notion may yield the best possible model for thinking about gender within institutions. The chapter ends with an analysis of the systemic leadership approach, which may provide a productive space for conceptualizing a more gender-sensitive understanding of a variety of leadership styles and practices. It also argues for a broader understanding of certain leadership characteristics, such as vision.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Responsible and Sustainable Business Lab (RSB Lab), Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK

    Mollie Painter

  2. Gordon Institute of Business Science, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa

    Mollie Painter

Authors
  1. Mollie Painter
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Correspondence to Mollie Painter .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK

    Mollie Painter

  2. Chicago, IL, USA

    Patricia H. Werhane

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Painter, M. (2023). Living Gendered Identities: Beyond Essentialism and Constructivism Towards Embodied Relationality. In: Painter, M., Werhane, P.H. (eds) Leadership, Gender, and Organization. Issues in Business Ethics, vol 63. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-24445-2_2

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