“Against a sharp white background”: How Black women experience the white gaze at work
dc.contributor.author | Rabelo, Verónica Caridad | |
dc.contributor.author | Robotham, Kathrina J. | |
dc.contributor.author | McCluney, Courtney L. | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2021-10-05T15:09:03Z | |
dc.date.available | 2022-10-05 11:09:01 | en |
dc.date.available | 2021-10-05T15:09:03Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2021-09 | |
dc.identifier.citation | Rabelo, Verónica Caridad ; Robotham, Kathrina J.; McCluney, Courtney L. (2021). "“Against a sharp white background”: How Black women experience the white gaze at work." Gender, Work & Organization 28(5): 1840-1858. | |
dc.identifier.issn | 0968-6673 | |
dc.identifier.issn | 1468-0432 | |
dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/170283 | |
dc.description.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. | |
dc.publisher | Springer | |
dc.publisher | Wiley Periodicals, Inc. | |
dc.subject.other | embodiment | |
dc.subject.other | white gaze | |
dc.subject.other | critical whiteness studies | |
dc.subject.other | critical discourse analysis | |
dc.subject.other | Black women | |
dc.title | “Against a sharp white background”: How Black women experience the white gaze at work | |
dc.type | Article | |
dc.rights.robots | IndexNoFollow | |
dc.subject.hlbsecondlevel | Business (General) | |
dc.subject.hlbtoplevel | Business | |
dc.description.peerreviewed | Peer Reviewed | |
dc.description.bitstreamurl | http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/170283/1/gwao12564.pdf | |
dc.description.bitstreamurl | http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/170283/2/gwao12564_am.pdf | |
dc.identifier.doi | 10.1111/gwao.12564 | |
dc.identifier.source | Gender, Work & Organization | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Parker, P. S. ( 2003 ). Control, resistance, and empowerment in raced, gendered, and classed work contexts: The case of African American women. Annals of the International Communication Association, 27 ( 1 ), 257 – 291. https://doi.org/10.1080/23808985.2003.11679028 | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Pérez Huber, L. ( 2016 ). Make America great again: Donald Trump, racist nativism and the virulent adherence to white supremacy amid U.S. demographic change. Charleston Law Review, 10 ( 2 ), 215 – 250. | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Rabelo, V. C., & Cortina, L. M. ( 2016 ). Intersectionality: Infusing I‐O psychology with feminist thought. In T.‐A. Roberts, N. Curtin, L. M. Cortina, & L. E. Duncan (Eds.), Feminist perspectives on building a better psychological science of gender (pp. 179 – 197 ). New York, NY: Springer. | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Rankine, C. ( 2014 ). Citizen: An American lyric. Minneapolis, MI: Graywolf Press. | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Ray, V. ( 2016 ). The unbearable whiteness of mesearch. Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved from https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2016/10/21/me-studies-are-not-just-conducted-people-color-essay | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Ray, V. ( 2019 ). A theory of racialized organizations. American Sociological Review, 84 ( 1 ), 26 – 53. https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122418822335 | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Richards, Z., & Hewstone, M. ( 2001 ). Subtyping and subgrouping: Processes for the prevention and promotion of stereotype change. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 5 ( 1 ), 52 – 73. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327957PSPR05014 | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Roberts, L. M., & Roberts, D. D. ( 2007 ). Testing the limits of antidiscrimination law: The business, legal, and ethical ramifications of cultural profiling at work. Duke Journal of Gender Law & Policy, 14, 369 – 405. | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Robinson‐Moore, C. L. ( 2008 ). Beauty standards reflect Eurocentric paradigms—So what? Skin color, identity, and Black female beauty. The Journal of Race & Policy, 4 ( 1 ), 66 – 85. | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Rosette, A. S., Leonardelli, G. J., & Phillips, K. W. ( 2008 ). The White standard: Racial bias in leader categorization. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93 ( 4 ), 758 – 777. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.93.4.758 | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Rosette, A. S., & Livingston, R. W. ( 2012 ). Failure is not an option for Black women: Effects of organizational performance on leaders with single versus dual‐subordinate identities. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 48 ( 5 ), 1162 – 1167. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2012.05.002 | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Rousseau, D. M., & Fried, Y. ( 2001 ). Location, location, location: Contextualizing organizational research. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 22 ( 1 ), 1 – 13. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.78 | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Saldaña, J., & Omasta, M. ( 2017 ). Qualitative research: Analyzing life. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Settles, I. H., Buchanan, N. T., & Dotson, K. ( 2019 ). Scrutinized but not recognized: (In)visibility and hypervisibility experiences of faculty of color. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 113, 62 – 74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2018.06.003 | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Smith, A. N., Baskerville, M., Ladge, J. J., & Carlton, P. ( 2019 ). Making the invisible visible: Paradoxical effects of intersectional invisibility on the career experiences of executive Black women in the workplace. Academy of Management Journal, 62 ( 6 ), 1705 – 1734. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2017.1513 | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Styhre, A. ( 2004 ). The (re)embodied organization: Four perspectives on the body in organizations. Human Resource Development International, 7 ( 1 ), 101 – 116. https://doi.org/10.1080/1367886032000150578 | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Sue, D. W. ( 2006 ). The invisible whiteness of being: Whiteness, white supremacy, white privilege, and racism. In M. G. Constantine & D. W. Sue (Eds.), Addressing racism: Facilitating cultural competence in mental health and educational settings (pp. 15 – 30 ). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley. | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Tomkins, L., & Eatough, V. ( 2013 ). Meanings and manifestations of care: A celebration of hermeneutic multiplicity in Heidegger. The Humanistic Psychologist, 41 ( 1 ), 4 – 24. https://doi.org/10.1080/08873267.2012.694123 | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Williams, S. J. ( 1996 ). The vicissitudes of embodiment across the chronic illness trajectory. Body & Society, 2 ( 2 ), 23 – 47. | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Wingfield, A. H. ( 2010 ). Are some emotions marked “Whites only”? Racialized feeling rules in professional workplaces. Social Problems, 57 ( 2 ), 251 – 268. | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Yancy, G. ( 2013 ). Walking while Black in the white gaze. New York Times. Retrieved from www.nytimes.com | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Young, I. M. ( 1980 ). Throwing like a girl: A phenomenology of feminine body comportment motility and spatiality. Human Studies, 3, 137 – 156. | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Acker, J. ( 1990 ). Hierarchies, jobs, bodies: A theory of gendered organizations. Gender & Society, 4 ( 2 ), 139 – 158. https://doi.org/10.1177/089124390004002002 | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Adler, E., & Pouliot, V. ( 2011 ). International practices. International Theory, 3 ( 1 ), 1 – 36. https://doi.org/10.1017/S175297191000031X | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Ainsworth, J. ( 2014 ). What’s wrong with pink pearls and cornrow braids? Employee dress codes and the semiotic performance of race and gender in the workplace. In A. Wagner & R. K. Sherwin (Eds.), Law, culture and visual studies (pp. 241 – 260 ). New York, NY: Springer. | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Barnard Center for Research on Women. ( 2018 ). Building accountable communities [Webinar]. Retrieved from http://bcrw.barnard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Online-Event-Building-Accountable-Communities-transcript.pdf | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Beauboeuf‐Lafontant, T. ( 2009 ). Behind the mask of the strong Black woman: Voice and the embodiment of a costly performance. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press. | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Bell, E. L. J. E., & Nkomo, S. M. ( 2001 ). Our separate ways: Black and white women and the struggle for professional identity. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press. | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Bhattacharya, K. ( 2015 ). The vulnerable academic: Personal narratives and strategic de/colonizing of academic structures. Qualitative Inquiry, 22 ( 5 ), 309 – 321. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800415615619 | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Bisel, R. S., Barge, J. K., Dougherty, D. S., Lucas, K., & Tracy, S. J. ( 2014 ). A round‐table discussion of “big” data in qualitative organizational communication research. Management Communication Quarterly, 28 ( 4 ), 625 – 649. | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Bloodsworth‐Lugo, M. K., & Lugo‐Lugo, C. R. ( 2010 ). Containing (un)American bodies: Race, sexuality, and post‐9/11 constructions of citizenship. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Brill. | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Bourdieu, P. ( 1977 ). Outline of a theory of a practice. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Browne, I., & Kennelly, I. ( 1999 ). Stereotypes and realities: Images of Black women in the labor market. In I. Browne (Ed.), Latinas and African American women at work: Race, gender, and economic inequality (pp. 302 – 326 ). New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation. | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Carrim, N. M. H., & Nkomo, S. M. ( 2016 ). Wedding intersectionality theory and identity work in organizations: South African Indian women negotiating managerial identity. Gender, Work and Organization, 23 ( 3 ), 261 – 277. | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Carton, A. M., & Rosette, A. S. ( 2011 ). Explaining bias against Black leaders: Integrating theory on information processing and goal‐based stereotyping. Academy of Management Journal, 54 ( 6 ), 1141 – 1158. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2009.0745 | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Collins, P. H. ( 2000 ). Black feminist thought: Knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment ( 2nd ed. ). New York, NY: Routledge. | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Crenshaw, K. ( 1989 ). Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: A Black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory and antiracist politics. University of Chicago Legal Forum, 140 ( 1 ), 139 – 167. | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Dickerson, V. D. ( 2001 ). Summoning SomeBody: The flesh made word in Toni Morrison’s fiction. In M. Bennett & V. D. Dickerson (Eds.), Recovering the Black female body: Self‐representations by African American women (pp. 195 – 216 ). New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press. | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Duncan, B. L. ( 1976 ). Differential social perception and attribution of intergroup violence: Testing the lower limits of stereotyping of Blacks. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 34 ( 4 ), 590 – 598. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.34.4.590 | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Edes, A., & Taylor, J. ( 2017 ). #BlackWomenAtWork: Women speak out after criticism of journalist, Congresswoman. NPR. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2017/03/29/521954040/-blackwomenatwork-women-speak-out-after-criticism-of-journalist-congresswoman | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Erskine, S. E., & Bilimoria, D. ( 2019 ). White allyship of Afro‐diasporic women in the workplace: A transformative strategy for organizational change. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 26 ( 3 ), 319 – 338. https://doi.org/10.1177/1548051819848993 | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Fairclough, N. ( 1992 ). Discourse and social change. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press. | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Fairclough, N. ( 1995 ). Critical discourse analysis: The critical study of language. London, UK: Longman. | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Fairclough, N. ( 2001 ). Critical discourse analysis as a method in social scientific research. In R. Wodak & M. Meyer (Eds.), Methods of critical discourse analysis ( 1st ed., pp. 121 – 138 ). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Fanon, F. ( 1986 ). Black skin, white masks. London, UK: Pluto Press. | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Foucault, M. ( 1979 ). Discipline and punish: The birth of the prison. New York, NY: Vintage Books. | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Grandey, A. A., Houston, L., & Avery, D. R. ( 2019 ). Fake it to make it? Emotional labor reduces the racial disparity in service performance judgments. Journal of Management, 45 ( 5 ), 2163 – 2192. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206318757019 | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Gualtieri, S. ( 2009 ). Between Arab and white: Race and ethnicity in the early Syrian American diaspora. Berkeley: University of California Press. | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Gutiérrez y Muhs, G., Flores Niemann, Y., González, C. G., & Harris, A. P. (Eds.). ( 2012 ). Presumed incompetent: The intersections of race and class for women in academia. Boulder: The University of Colorado Press. | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Guy‐Shefthall, B. ( 1995 ). Introduction. In B. Guy‐Shefthall (Ed.), Words of fire: An anthology of African‐American feminist thought (p. 359 ). New York: The New York Press. | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Harrison, M. S., & Thomas, K. M. ( 2009 ). The hidden prejudice in selection: A research investigation on skin color bias. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 39 ( 1 ), 134 – 168. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2008.00433.x | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Härtel, C. E. J., & O’Connor, J. M. ( 2014 ). Contextualizing research: Putting context back into organizational behavior research. Journal of Management and Organization, 20 ( 4 ), 417 – 422. https://doi.org/10.1017/jmo.2014.61 | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Hicken, M. T., Lee, H., Ailshire, J., Burgard, S. A., & Williams, D. R. ( 2013 ). “Every shut eye, ain’t sleep”: The role of racism‐related vigilance in racial/ethnic disparities in sleep difficulty. Race and social problems, 5 ( 2 ), 100 – 112. | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Holvino, E. ( 2010 ). Intersections: The simultaneity of race, gender and class in organization studies. Gender, Work and Organization, 17 ( 3 ), 248 – 277. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0432.2008.00400.x | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | hooks, b. ( 1981 ). Ain’t I a woman: Black women and feminism. Boston, MA: South End Press. | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | hooks, b. ( 1992 ). Black looks: Race and representation. Boston, MA: South End Press. | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Hurston, Z. N. ( 1928 ). How it feels to be colored me. The World Tomorrow. | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Jerald, M. C., Cole, E. R., Ward, L. M., & Avery, L. R. ( 2017 ). Controlling images: How awareness of group stereotypes affects Black women’s well‐being. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 64 ( 5 ), 487 – 499. https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000233 | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Johns, G. ( 2006 ). The essential impact of context on organizational behavior. Academy of Management Review, 31 ( 2 ), 386 – 408. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2006.20208687 | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Jules, B. ( 2017 ). #BlackWomenAtWork [Text]. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.6086/D1PP4P | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Kwan, S., & Trautner, M. N. ( 2009 ). Beauty work: Individual and institutional rewards, the reproduction of gender, and questions of agency. Sociology Compass, 3 ( 1 ), 49 – 71. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-9020.2008.00179.x | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Liu, H. ( 2017 ). Undoing whiteness: The Dao of anti‐racist diversity practice. Gender Work and Organization, 24 ( 5 ), 457 – 471. | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | May, V. M. ( 2015 ). Pursuing intersectionality, unsettling dominant imaginaries. New York, NY: Routledge. | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | McCall, L. ( 2005 ). The complexity of intersectionality. Signs, 30 ( 3 ), 1771 – 1800. https://doi.org/10.1086/426800 | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | McCluney, C. L., Bryant, C., King, D., & Ali, A. ( 2017 ). Calling in Black: A dynamic model of racially traumatic events, resourcing, and safety. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, 36 ( 8 ), 767 – 786. https://doi.org/10.1108/EDI-01-2017-0012 | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | McCluney, C. L., & Rabelo, V. C. ( 2019a ). Conditions of visibility: An intersectional examination of Black women’s belongingness and distinctiveness at work. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 113, 143 – 152. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2018.09.008 | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | McCluney, C. L., & Rabelo, V. C. ( 2019b ). Managing diversity, managing Blackness? An intersectional critique of diversity management practices. In L. M. Roberts, A. J. Mayo, & D. A. Thomas (Eds.), Race, work, and leadership: New perspectives on the Black experience. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review. | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Merleau‐Ponty, M. ( 1962 ). Phenomenology of perception. London, UK: Routledge. | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | McCluney, C. L., & Rabelo, V. C. ( 2020 ). From managing diversity to dismantling anti‐Blackness: Recalibrating efforts to advance racial equity. The Executive Leadership Council Journal, Fall 2020, 3 – 13. https://issuu.com/elcinfo/docs/elc_brochure_f20_30sep20-edit | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Mills, K. A. ( 2019 ). Big data for qualitative research. London, UK: Routledge. | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Mirchandani, K. ( 2003 ). Challenging racial silences in studies of emotion work: Contributions from anti‐racist feminist theory. Organization Studies, 24 ( 5 ), 721 – 742. https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840603024005003 | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Mumby, D. K. ( 2006 ). Introduction. In B. J. Dow & J. T. Wood (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of gender and communication (pp. 89 – 95 ). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Nkomo, S. M., & Ariss, A. A. ( 2014 ). The historical origins of ethnic (white) privilege in US organizations. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 29 ( 4 ), 389 – 404. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMP-06-2012-0178 | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Okun, T. ( 2000 ). White supremacy culture. In Anti-Racism Reader. Greensboro, NC: Leadership and Empowerment Institute. | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Opie, T. R., & Phillips, K. W. ( 2015 ). Hair penalties: The negative influence of Afrocentric hair on ratings of Black women’s dominance and professionalism. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 1311. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01311 | |
dc.identifier.citedreference | Oswick, C. ( 2012 ). Discourse analysis and discursive research. In G. Symon & C. Cassell (Eds.), Qualitative organizational research: Core methods and current challenges (pp. 473 – 491 ). London, UK: Sage. | |
dc.working.doi | NO | en |
dc.owningcollname | Interdisciplinary and Peer-Reviewed |
Files in this item
Remediation of Harmful Language
The University of Michigan Library aims to describe library materials in a way that respects the people and communities who create, use, and are represented in our collections. Report harmful or offensive language in catalog records, finding aids, or elsewhere in our collections anonymously through our metadata feedback form. More information at Remediation of Harmful Language.
Accessibility
If you are unable to use this file in its current format, please select the Contact Us link and we can modify it to make it more accessible to you.