On Dorothy E. Smith

Women in public relations (1982–2019)

“…In regard to the first theme, feminist theory of public relations, some studies theorised that women are more inclined to use symmetrical communication than men and that women would practise a “more cooperative, negotiation style of public relations than would men if women saw themselves in a managerial-rather than technical-role” (Grunig, 1991, p. 85–86; Grunig, 1999). This is a clear link with radical feminist theory, which traditionally argues that men and women are different and that women's distinctiveness has to be praised rather than used to undermine women's prospects (Daly, 1973; Rakow and Nastasia, 2009). Grunig (1991) argued that women and feminised men are more likely to use two-way, balanced communication, and thus praised female distinctiveness, which has always been an argument inherent to radical feminism.…”

“…Future research, therefore, needs to look at the position of women in public relations through radical lenses and investigate the organisational and social structures. Radical feminism argues that women and men are fundamentally different and these differences then translate to, for example, differences in communication style, leadership style and also affect interactions in organisations (Rakow and Nastasia, 2009).…”

It’s something that you should go to HR about' – banter, social interactions and career barriers for women in the advertising industry in England

“…Some also said they feel that men are better in pushing harder to get where they want to be, which brings about an issue of the organisational culture often centred on masculine ways of communication and behaviour (Crewe and Wang, 2018; Vukoičić, 2013; Merchant, 2012; Rakow and Nastasia, 2009; Acker, 1990; Tannen, 1990; West and Zimmerman, 1983) as well as the feminist argument of organisations being masculine and thus oppressing women by depriving them of opportunities (Acker, 1990). In other words, communication research shows that women often communicate in a relationship-building way, whereas men tend to be more direct and aggressive in their communication (Tannen, 1986, 1990, 1995; Yule, 2006), and in this study, women seem to be reporting that advertising offices are predominantly places for men and operate under masculine patriarchal structures, which also resonates with previous research in the field (Broyles and Grow, 2008, 2010; Crewe and Wang, 2018; Grow and Broyles, 2011).…”

“…In other words, communication research shows that women often communicate in a relationship-building way, whereas men tend to be more direct and aggressive in their communication (Tannen, 1986, 1990, 1995; Yule, 2006), and in this study, women seem to be reporting that advertising offices are predominantly places for men and operate under masculine patriarchal structures, which also resonates with previous research in the field (Broyles and Grow, 2008, 2010; Crewe and Wang, 2018; Grow and Broyles, 2011). Nevertheless, the responses from interviewees show that women indeed do things differently, in line with the Difference Approach (Vukoičić, 2013; Merchant, 2012; Rakow and Nastasia, 2009; Acker, 1990; Tannen, 1990; West and Zimmerman, 1983), however, they do not feel valued and they report organisational culture as man-dominated.…”

“…Studying social interactions by using the Difference Approach and the habitus theory is a largely unexplored field and the approach has relevance for understanding contemporary organisations since social rules have been set around masculine values and feminists argued that the oppression of women is embedded in every aspect of the society (Jaggar and Rothenberg, 1994; Daymon and Demetrious, 2010; Rakow and Nastasia, 2009). In organisational studies, feminists have denounced bureaucracy and hierarchy in organisations as “male-created and male-dominated structures of control that oppress women” (Acker, 1990, p. 141).…”