A group of academic researchers has issued a robust challenge to what they describe as an 'anti-feminist' definition of the term 'feminised workplace', which is gaining ground in public discourse.
Reclaiming the Term from Conservative Narratives
The scholars, Dr Emily J Hogg, Dr Charlotte J Fabricius, and Dr Ida Aaskov Dolmer from the University of Southern Denmark, Odense, express dismay at the traction found by definitions promoted by conservative thinkers like Helen Andrews. They argue that portraying a 'feminised workplace' as one overwhelmed by women and characterised by excessive emotion dangerously oversimplifies a critical concept.
This simplistic view, they contend, suggests such workplaces are weakened and do not merit serious analysis. However, the researchers advocate for a different, critically engaged and feminist understanding of the term.
The Critical Feminist Definition of 'Feminisation'
In their view, 'feminisation' accurately describes the central role gender has played in the sweeping transformations of work over recent decades. This encompasses the decline of traditionally masculine sectors like heavy industry and the parallel rise of the service economy.
It also critically examines the problematic assumption that women's mere participation in paid labour is a straightforward measure of gender equality. 'Feminisation' in this sense makes visible the ways that contemporary capitalism exploits our ideas about gender, the experts state.
They are keen to clarify that their point is not to reinforce stereotypes, such as the idea that women are naturally more caring than men. Nor is it to suggest that feminisation is a phenomenon to be wholly praised or condemned.
A Call for Accurate Description to Drive Equity
The academics explicitly reject the right-wing implication that any field where women predominate is inherently weakened. While critiquing the 'great feminisation' thesis, they warn against throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
A feminist approach reveals that pay, working hours and working conditions are inseparably connected with the ways we define femininity and masculinity, they conclude. The vital first step towards creating more equitable working conditions for everyone, they argue, is to accurately describe and understand these deeply ingrained gendered dynamics.
Dr Hogg and Dr Fabricius are the editors of the work Feminized Work and the Labor of Literature.
