The Embodiment of Women in Wine: Gender Inequality and Gendered Inscriptions of the Working Body in a Corporate Wine Organization

Abstract

This paper problematizes media representations that suggest women working in the traditionally patriarchal wine industry are no longer subject to structural constraints according to gender. It contributes theoretically driven empirical insights concerning the ways in which gender inequality is produced and embodied within a multinational wine organization. The paper draws on Acker's framework for understanding inequality regimens and Foucault's theorization of discourse and the body together with empirical data from interviews with women working at different hierarchical positions in the organization. The analysis examines the discursive inscription of the ideal body, weak bodies, reproducing bodies and home bodies to reveal the ways in which women's working bodies are problematized and constituted as deviant in relation to masculine norms for working bodies. The analysis develops the argument that naturalized and normalized gendered discourses of the body conceal the structural relations of power that constitute an inequality regimen within the organization.

Gender and Disability: Feminizing Male Employees with Visible Impairments in Danish Work Organizations

“…Furthermore, the analysis of the present study show that the stereotypical gender perceptions of employees with impairments is not related to the norms and culture of the particular industry as found in other studies (e.g., Bryant and Garnham, 2014;Buschmeyer, 2013;Clerc and Kels, 2013), for instance how stereotypically masculine perceptions create a particular work environment that causes female workers to compensate for their 'wrong' biological sex, typically through strategies of over-performance or neutralization (Butler and Charles, 2012;Claringbould and Knoppers, 2008;Herman et al, 2013;Irvine and Vermilya, 2010;Miller, 2004). Rather, the current study offers an alternative way of researching how stereotypical gender perceptions organize how managers and colleagues think about and perceive their colleague with impairments.…”

“…Gender is a relational, symbol-based interactive phenomenon that organizes both organizational work and human interaction (Mumby and Ashcraft, 2004). Studies show, for instance, how stereotypical male norms in work organizations lead to strategies of over-performance amongst female workers in a number of different industries (Butler and Charles, 2012;Casey et al, 2011;Clerc and Kels, 2013;Powell et al, 2009) such as the 'patriarchal' wine industry (Bryant and Garnham, 2014), the engineering industry (Hatmaker, 2013;Miller, 2004) and the fields of law and accounting (Haynes, 2012). Often, these studies examine how female employees must compensate for their biological sex when working in an industry dominated by stereotypical male norms in order to gain acceptance, etc., in the workplace.…”

Development of Technical Wine Assessment Skills in Tertiary Students

“…However, there was a higher proportion of male students at CSU and USQ where the students were also older and were more likely to have industry experience (87.5% of students at CSU and 100% at USQ compared with 44% at UA and 4% at UM). The greater number of students with experience at these two Universities might reflect the male dominance of the wine industry (ABS 2008;Bryant & Garnham, 2014). These students also scored significantly higher for the wine involvement scale.…”

A study of women in top business roles: the case of the wine industry

“…Control variables include firm age, firm size and export orientation, as inertia and other factors can impact the level of representation of women in top roles (Bryant and Garnham, 2014;Hillman et al, 2007). For firm age, categorical variables were established as follows: 1 ϭ 10 years old or less, 2 ϭ 11 to 20 years old, 3 ϭ 21 to 30 years old, 4 ϭ 31 to 40 years old, 5 ϭ 41 to 50 years old and 6 ϭ 51 years old or more.…”

“…First, little empirical research has examined the role of women in the wine industry. However, there is evidence to suggest that a false notion of women's advancement to top roles is being created (Bryant and Garnham, 2014), leading to a lack of understanding of the characteristics that impede or support progress. Second, previous research on gender in the wine industry predominately focuses on women as wine drinking consumers (Barber, 2010;Barber et al, 2006;Forbes, 2012), leaving little understanding of the role they play in the industry from a commercial perspective.…”