IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/gender/v28y2021i5p1840-1858.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

“Against a sharp white background”: How Black women experience the white gaze at work

Author

Listed:
  • Verónica Caridad Rabelo
  • Kathrina J. Robotham
  • Courtney L. McCluney

Abstract

Whiteness is a pervasive context in (post)colonial organizations that maintains its enduring presence through everyday practices such as the white gaze: seeing people's bodies through the lens of whiteness. The white gaze distorts perceptions of people who deviate from whiteness, subjecting them to bodily scrutiny and control. Understanding how the white gaze manifests is therefore important for understanding the marginalization of particular bodies in organizations. We therefore center Black women's narratives to examine the following research question: How is the white gaze enacted and experienced at work? We conducted a critical discourse analysis of 1169 tweets containing the hashtag #BlackWomenAtWork and identified four mechanisms of the white gaze whereby whiteness is imposed, presumed, venerated, and forced on Black women's bodies. We conclude with a discussion of the white gaze as an apparatus to enforce gendered racialized hierarchies vis‐à‐vis the body and how foregrounding whiteness deepens our understanding of marginalization at work.

Suggested Citation

  • Verónica Caridad Rabelo & Kathrina J. Robotham & Courtney L. McCluney, 2021. "“Against a sharp white background”: How Black women experience the white gaze at work," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(5), pages 1840-1858, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:gender:v:28:y:2021:i:5:p:1840-1858
    DOI: 10.1111/gwao.12564
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12564
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/gwao.12564?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jenny Rodriguez & Evangelina Holvino & Joyce K. Fletcher & Stella M. Nkomo & Nasima Mohamed Hoosen Carrim & Stella M. Nkomo, 2016. "Wedding Intersectionality Theory and Identity Work in Organizations: South African Indian Women Negotiating Managerial Identity," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(3), pages 261-277, May.
    2. Härtel, Charmine E. J. & O’Connor, Jennifer M., 2014. "Contextualizing research: Putting context back into organizational behavior research," Journal of Management & Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(4), pages 417-422, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Charles Barthold & Victor Krawczyk & Marco Berti & Vincenza Priola, 2022. "Intersectionality on screen. A coloniality perspective to understand popular culture representations of intersecting oppressions at work," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(6), pages 1890-1909, November.
    2. Victoria Opara & Ruth Sealy & Michelle K. Ryan, 2020. "The workplace experiences of BAME professional women: Understanding experiences at the intersection," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(6), pages 1192-1213, November.
    3. Mrinalini Greedharry & rashné limki & Marjana Johansson & Jennifer L Johnson & Pasi Ahonen, 2023. "Race difference and power: Recursions of coloniality in work and organization," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(2), pages 457-468, March.
    4. Gina Netto & Mike Noon & Maria Hudson & Nicolina Kamenou‐Aigbekaen & Filip Sosenko, 2020. "Intersectionality, identity work and migrant progression from low‐paid work: A critical realist approach," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(6), pages 1020-1039, November.
    5. Michael Adu Okyere & Boqiang Lin, 2023. "Invisible among the vulnerable: a nuanced perspective of energy poverty at the intersection of gender and disability in South Africa," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-14, December.
    6. Ngarava, Saul & Zhou, Leocadia & Ningi, Thulani & Chari, Martin M. & Mdiya, Lwandiso, 2022. "Gender and ethnic disparities in energy poverty: The case of South Africa," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    7. Nkechinyelu Ann Edeh & Sarah Riley & Patrizia Kokot‐Blamey, 2022. "The production of difference and “becoming Black”: The experiences of female Nigerian doctors and nurses working in the National Health Service," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 520-535, March.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:gender:v:28:y:2021:i:5:p:1840-1858. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0968-6673 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.