With(out) pleasure: Desexualization, gender and sexuality at work
(2014) In Organization 21(3). p.346-364- Abstract
- This article explores desexualization in massage therapy as a complex interaction between therapists and clients wherein sexual subjectivities are co-constructed, reified and in one case revised to highlight how workers can create a professional sexual identity in the spaces between desexualization and re-eroticization. Findings suggest that organizational mandates for desexualization as well as therapists' own framing maintains gendered subjectivities that paint men as aggressors and women as victims. It also offers, through the philosophy of one female therapist, an alternative to desexualization that seeks to encourage sexuality based on professionalism, respect and choice. A key implication of this study is that a more holistic and... (More)
- This article explores desexualization in massage therapy as a complex interaction between therapists and clients wherein sexual subjectivities are co-constructed, reified and in one case revised to highlight how workers can create a professional sexual identity in the spaces between desexualization and re-eroticization. Findings suggest that organizational mandates for desexualization as well as therapists' own framing maintains gendered subjectivities that paint men as aggressors and women as victims. It also offers, through the philosophy of one female therapist, an alternative to desexualization that seeks to encourage sexuality based on professionalism, respect and choice. A key implication of this study is that a more holistic and context-dependent view of work and workers is necessary for scholars and practitioners to understand the promise and perils of organizational desexualization. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/4482542
- author
- Sullivan, Katie LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2014
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- re-eroticization, gender, ethnography, professionalization, desexualization
- in
- Organization
- volume
- 21
- issue
- 3
- pages
- 346 - 364
- publisher
- SAGE Publications
- external identifiers
-
- wos:000335449500005
- scopus:84899644921
- ISSN
- 1350-5084
- DOI
- 10.1177/1350508413519765
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- c3c8a58a-912e-48db-bd1a-c1500063019d (old id 4482542)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 14:57:26
- date last changed
- 2022-02-04 23:33:10
@article{c3c8a58a-912e-48db-bd1a-c1500063019d,
abstract = {{This article explores desexualization in massage therapy as a complex interaction between therapists and clients wherein sexual subjectivities are co-constructed, reified and in one case revised to highlight how workers can create a professional sexual identity in the spaces between desexualization and re-eroticization. Findings suggest that organizational mandates for desexualization as well as therapists' own framing maintains gendered subjectivities that paint men as aggressors and women as victims. It also offers, through the philosophy of one female therapist, an alternative to desexualization that seeks to encourage sexuality based on professionalism, respect and choice. A key implication of this study is that a more holistic and context-dependent view of work and workers is necessary for scholars and practitioners to understand the promise and perils of organizational desexualization.}},
author = {{Sullivan, Katie}},
issn = {{1350-5084}},
keywords = {{re-eroticization; gender; ethnography; professionalization; desexualization}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{3}},
pages = {{346--364}},
publisher = {{SAGE Publications}},
series = {{Organization}},
title = {{With(out) pleasure: Desexualization, gender and sexuality at work}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1350508413519765}},
doi = {{10.1177/1350508413519765}},
volume = {{21}},
year = {{2014}},
}