Stress at Work, Gendered Dys‐appearance and the Broken Body in Policing

Abstract

This paper explores how stress as a gendered mode of perception is characterized by processes that call the body to attention in ambiguous and incomplete ways -an experience Leder terms 'bodily dys-appearance'. Extending Leder's work through an engagement with feminist accounts of embodiment, we show how stress, as constituted through a corporeal demand to pay attention to pain or discomfort, becomes negated or misrecognized through the sociocultural, organizational or occupational privileging of normative masculinity. Our analysis of 20 in-depth interviews with female police managers in England explores the dys-appearance of stress in the context of policing, and the professional and bodily consequences of negotiating stress as a gendered mode of perception. This suggests the compulsion to make sense of bodily sensations cannot be separated from the systems, structures and ways of understanding that privilege masculinized knowledge claims. Questioning these claims may allow for a plurality of stress experiences to be recognized beyond patriarchal ways of organizing, and give voice to other body episodes that elude articulation or representation within normative organizational practices.

Chronicles of conflicting care in confinement: Documenting the work experiences of seven ‘patient zeros’

“…For Ludwine and Michèle, it was the first two weeks that were the worst, as they became isolated, avoided and stigmatized as patient zeros in their workplaces and hometowns (Murray & Schaller, 2016). For Lucie and Marie, stress was constant throughout their weeks of remote working which left serious marks on their bodies (Yates, Riach, & Johansson, 2018). Lucie in particular had to take up multiple discussions with higher management to keep her team and many others in the organization employed and as such felt a gendered moral obligation to perform the care others felt more comfortable with neglecting (De Coster & Zanoni, 2019).…”

The Menopause Taboo at Work: Examining Women’s Embodied Experiences of Menopause in the UK Police Service

“…Aspiring to be an ideal, disembodied worker demands discretion around bodily functions and leads to secrecy and concealment (Gatrell, 2013). Women must strive to minimise the visibility of their bodily demands, yet at times their bodies become obvious (Yates et al, 2018) and evidence of their reproductive capacities and/or bodily fluids is problematic (Kringen and Novich, 2018). Discourse thus positions reproduction and women's bodily functions as shameful, at least in the workplace, and they are often shrouded in stigma and secrecy (Grandey et al, 2020).…”

“…This context makes women's bodies problematic in the police service, where the 'ideal' officer has been constructed as being 'ever available' and wholly flexible (Dick, 2009;Silvestri et al, 2013). Bodies must conform (Yates et al, 2018) by being masculine, strong, fit and without family commitments (Charlesworth and Whittenbury, 2007;Dick, 2009;Westmarland, 2017). The male body is valorised (Kringen and Novich, 2018), while women's bodies are subject to intense scrutiny (Yates et al, 2018) and rendered as 'other' (Kringen and Novich, 2018).…”

Pandemic and macho organizations: Wake‐up call or business as usual?

“…Physical displays of masculinity and bravery to face danger, is a central characteristic that defines the ‘macho’ police officer (Crank, 2004; Dick & Cassell, 2004; Young, 1991). Another important element of police occupational culture is a masculine favouring of reason over emotion (Fassin, 2013) which can even play down stress in everyday police work (Yates, Riach, & Johansson, 2018).…”