The Ambivalent Dynamics of Secretarial `Bitching': Control, Resistance, and the Construction of Identity

We conceptualize bitching as an ambivalent communicative practice that takes place in and contributes to the construction of gendered organizational identities. Through interpretive analyses of in situ bitching among corporate secretaries, we show how the ambivalent dynamics of their collective bitc...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Organization (London, England) England), 1999-02, Vol.6 (1), p.57-80
Main Authors: Sotirin, Patty, Gottfried, Heidi
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Clerical Workers
Communication
Gender roles
Grievances
Identity
Identity formation
Organization theory
Sex Role Identity
Sexual Division of Labor
Stereotypes
Verbal Communication
Work Environment
Working Women
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Summary:We conceptualize bitching as an ambivalent communicative practice that takes place in and contributes to the construction of gendered organizational identities. Through interpretive analyses of in situ bitching among corporate secretaries, we show how the ambivalent dynamics of their collective bitching both maintained stereotypical gender attributes and destabilized the properly professional secretarial identity. By elaborating the ambivalent dynamics of bitching, we offer a more nuanced understanding of the interplay of control and resistance in the communicative construction of gendered workplace identities.
ISSN:1350-5084
1461-7323
DOI:10.1177/135050849961003