Political relations

Developing an original Café Delphi historical method to research women's individual and collective experiences of sex, sexuality and sexism in PR in the 1990s

“…Together these synopses hint at shared experiences of sex, sexuality and sexism, whereby the power of attitudes affected women's ability to achieve equality and empowerment in PR in the 1990s. Viewed as a dissection of paradoxical experiences, they contribute towards ongoing research and analysis of the rich discourse gathered from across of all three phases (Yaxley and Bowman, 2023). In this paper, the purpose of the synopses is to illustrate how creating a paradigm (articulated in Table 1: 3S conceptual framework) combined with the logical process set out in the integrated research workplan (Figure 1), led to the innovative design of an original Caf e Delphi historical method that met the intentions of the gendered case study.…”

“…Creating a paradigm: sex, sexuality and sexism An initial literature review showed women pursuing professional careers in PR in the 1990s encountered "the fallacy of increasing equality in the workplace" (Grunig et al, 2001, p. 50) alongside negative perceptions of the occupation (Spicer, 1993;Moloney, 2000). Achieving equality involves "inherent contradictions" and "intricate paradoxes" (Freinacht, 2019, p. 119) seen in divergent public portrayals of women and competing narratives around sex, sexism and sexuality (Yaxley and Bowman, 2023). Adopting Kierkegaard's sentiment that "paradox is the source of the thinker's passion" (2007, p. 35) led to development of a working interpretivist paradigm.…”