Genderwashing and militarization: women, war and social progressiveness

Jester, Natalie ORCID: 0000-0002-7995-3028 (2024) Genderwashing and militarization: women, war and social progressiveness. In: Genderwashing in Leadership: Power, Policies and Politics. Emerald Publishing Limited, pp. 153-166. ISBN 9781837539895

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Abstract

‘Genderwashing is an organizational tool that presents the myth of gender equality in organizations through discourse and text’ (Fox Kirk et al., 2020, p. 586). Existing literature focuses upon economy, e.g. considering how representations of equality are used to enhance profit. The contribution of this chapter is to show how two processes – genderwashing and militarization – might function in support of each other. To do this, I firstly argue that the concept of genderwashing should be broadened to consider spaces outside of economy. I show how sex, gender and feminism are employed in ways that position martial organizations (such as militaries and arms manufacturers) as socially progressive, “washing” their reputation for militarized violence. Secondly, analyses must consider how the impact of genderwashing goes beyond individual organizations. I show how martial organizations marginalize their female staff but argue that we must take this further. In a context in which people can be killed, we must consider what broader harms genderwashing visits upon civilian populations. Keywords: militarization, war, feminism, neoliberalism

Item Type:	Book Section
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Militarization; War; Feminism; Neoliberalism
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HF Commerce > HF5001 Business H Social Sciences > HM Sociology J Political Science > JZ International relations
Divisions:	Schools and Research Institutes > School of Business, Computing and Social Sciences
Research Priority Areas:	Society and Learning
Depositing User:	Natalie Jester
Date Deposited:	12 Oct 2023 08:34
Last Modified:	24 Oct 2024 15:00
URI:	https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/id/eprint/13294

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