The ‘new industrial man’ as unhero: Doing postfeminist masculinities in an Italian pharmacological research centre

Abstract

Recent work has documented the need to engage with how men construct masculinities within postfeminist discourses in the workplace. Postfeminism has sparked debates concerning the changing ideals of masculinities, highlighting the tensions between traditional forms of patriarchy and ‘new’ ways of being a man (e.g., emotional, a ‘new father’, in crisis). Men have been depicted as being in search of a new identity, opposed to the ever‐growing confidence and empowerment of women. In mobilizing postfeminism as a discourse, this article illustrates how men working in an Italian pharmacological research centre (managed by men but dominated by women) assume subject positions that contradictorily fluctuate between tradition and fluid modernity, to reveal a masculinity which we identify with the ‘new industrial man’. The postfeminist masculinities exposed in the analysis mesh pro‐ and anti‐feminist ideas by appealing to un/heroic and romanticized subjectivities. The analysis also shows how un/heroic masculinities and men's appeal to biological differences to reinforce social ones and devalue the feminine obfuscate organizational gender inequalities. The article advances masculinity theory by offering a nuanced analysis of how masculinities and men are affected by paradoxical contemporary pressures for more egalitarian gender relations and a renewed emphasis on patriarchal traditions, which continue to support the gendering of the workplace.

Missing voices: the absence of women from Italy’s Covid-19 pandemic response

“…The Italian strong feminist tradition, which started in the renaissance period (Ross, 2009) has been deeply affected by the country's historical legacy, specifically its fascist past and its governments' entanglement with the Catholic Church. Both fascism and Catholicism envisage woman's duty to be procreation, placing great emphasis on women's role within the traditional family (Pecis and Priola, 2019). The effects of such influences continue to be felt to date as the feminist movement renews its attempts to dismantle representations of women as objects of desire and/or located in the realm of the house (as wives and mothers).…”

“…This picture rests against a backdrop of a greater proportion of women with higher education qualifications than men (Istat, 2019). Social pressures for change, concerning greater participation of women in the labour market, greater formal support for alternative models of family, including same-sex marriages, are part of political agendas of many groups in the country (including some political parties) (Pecis and Priola, 2019). Nonetheless, Italy still has the lowest gender equality index in the EU (EIGE, 2019), and one of the lowest percentage of women's participation in the labour market (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD], 2018), at 56.2% as compared to an EU28 average of 68.3% (Carta, 2019).…”

“…We suggest policy changes that are more attuned to the diversity of contemporary Italian families (single parents, dual earners, separated and/or recomposed families, and non-heterosexual parenting models) are needed. This should be accompanied by cultural changes regarding the recognition and expectation that fathers do want and should be part of childcare work, by taking on caring and emotional responsibilities of the family (Pecis and Priola, 2019).…”

“…We propose that the answers to these questions lie in the rooted social and cultural notions of what constitute and reward competence (Ely and Meyerson, 2000), as well as an inability of “letting go” a problematic cultural legacy of political entanglements with Catholic and fascist ideologies. Both traditions are embedded in patriarchal precepts that position women within the remit of the house (Pecis and Priola, 2019). These deeply rooted assumptions might explain some of the main obstacles to women’s participation in decision-making roles, in politics and organisations that generally prevail over women’s competences and abilities.…”

Conditions for workplace learning: a gender divide?

“…Doing gender and gendered organisations as analytical tools Gender in this paper refers to social constructions of gender, gender as something we do, rather than something we are, expressed through mundane practices (Acker, 1999;Gherardi, 1994;Korvajärvi, 1998;Wahl, 2014;West and Zimmerman, 1987). Further, we have a processual view on organisations (Acker, 2006(Acker, , 2012, where the individual and organisational levels are gendered and integrated into each other (Acker, 1990;Pecis and Priola, 2019). This processual view on both organisations and gender open up for change, once it is illustrated how the organisation is gendered as doing gender often is unintentional and un-reflexive (Amundsdotter, 2009;Martin, 2006).…”