Abstract
The study develops the concept of “spacing sexuality” to explore the construction of alternative women-oriented workspaces aimed at challenging traditional workplace gender norms and fostering a new ideal type of woman entrepreneur. By highlighting the dialectical process of spacing, the study investigates how sexuality is constructed through aesthetic means and how space users negotiate and experience this. Based on two coworking spaces in New York and Tel Aviv, the study explores the interplay among space, sexuality, and gender, and it offers a theoretical framework to understand the role of sexuality in establishing women-oriented workspaces. Its contribution is threefold: first, it illuminates how workspaces for women are shaped through spacing processes and aesthetic assemblages that involve complex negotiations around femininity. Second, it highlights that sexuality is both empowering women at work—as it challenges gender norms and fosters a supportive community and a sense of belonging—and is rooted in unequal gender power relations. Finally, it explores how the construction of alternative gender regimes in women-oriented spaces intersects with the pressures of the entrepreneurial world, emphasizing the nuanced negotiation of femininity and success.
Presenters
Varda WassermanProfessor, Management, The Open University of Israel, Israel Michal Frenkel
Student, Professor, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Spacing gender; Women-oriented spaces; Alternative sexualities and identities; Feminist aesthetics
