Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
I n t c r n a t i o n aP
l r a q m a t i q sA s s o c i a t i o n
l. Introduction
t
This papcr was written with thc support o[ thc Instituto tlc la Mujcr (Ministerio de
A s u n t o sS o c i a l e s )W
. c w o u l d l i k c t o t h a n k a l s o C I M O P a n d o u r c o l l e a q u e sR a c h e l W h i t a k c r a n d
Luis Eguren for their collaboration.
1 9 B 5 : 1 i 0 ) . I t i s p r e c i s e l y t h a t i m p c r f e c t c e n s o r s h i pw h i c h g i v e s r i s e to different
degreesof inhibition. depending on the context of interilction.
From the ar:ralysis of our datu, rve will clraw a distinction among three types
of sexism:
I) iriltihited androcentris,n (see section 4.1), which is present in more formal
s i t u a t i o n s o f ' l i n g u i s t i c i n t e r a c t i o n .T h i s i s a r a d i c a l t y p e o f e x c l u s i o n ,w h i c h e n t a i l s
'suppression'
(see van Leeuwen 1995).
2) urgument-bosedse.vism(see section 4.2). which is typical of -.ituationsin which the
s p e a k e r i s u r g e d t o t a k e a s t a n d c o n c e r n i n ud i s c r i m i n a t i o na g a i n s tw o m e n . I t e n t a i l s
t h e u s e c l f a d i l f e r c n t k i n d o f c x c l u s i o np r o c e d u r e st h a t a r e u r t i c u l i r t e dc l n t l , ^ / oz r x e s :
DIVIDING. and REJECTING (Foucault l9l1).
3) bluturtt or or(il .re'.usnr(see section 6). which contrirsts with hoth forms of
i n h i b i t e d s e x i s m . i r n d i s o p e n i y s t a t c d a s s o o n a s t h e r r r t c r l o c u t o r sd i s c o v e r s h a r c d
v i e w p o i n t s u n d e r l y i n g t h e i r i n h i b i t i o n s a t t h e e n d o f t h e g r o u p m e e t i n g s .T h i s o v e r t
form of sexism discredits and completcly cxcludes the subject who is being
discriminated. All these three forms of sexir;m seem complementary, yet alsu
o p p o s e d . l n h i b i t i o n s u b t l y r e p r e s e n t sa n u n d e r l y i n g ,a b s o l u t e r e l e c t i c l no f e q u a l i t y ,
w h i l e r e c o g n i z i n gi t s v a l u e a t t h e s a m e t i r n e . I t s i m u l t a n e o u s l yd e n i e s a n d m a i n t a i n s
b o t h t h e a c t o f r e j e c t i n g a n d t h a t w h i c h i s r e j e c t e d .s c lt h a t , a s B o u r d i e u ( i 9 t i 5 : 1 i 5 )
p o i n t s o u t , " i t a l k l w s t h e m o n o p o l i z a t i o n o f a l l t h e a d v a n t a g e s st,h e a d v a n t a g e o f
saying and thc advantagc of rct'uting what is suid by the wav it is said" (see section
0).
The diukryic orgunizuliott of discourse allows firr the interpenetrzrtion of
m u l t i p l e v o i c e s a n d f o r t h e s c t t l e r n c n to f i n t e r d i s c t ) u r s i v er 'e l a t i o n s a s w e l l . I n t h e
ciise under study, legitrmate and normative discourse is invoked, and the ways in
w h i c h b o t h i n h i h i t e d s c x i s m a n d o v c r t s e x i s n r? l r e c x p r e s s e dm a y s h o w t h e d e g r e e
clf adherence to accepted norms (such as the equality between genders). A
comrnonly accepted norm is neither true nor faise; what is at stake here is the
d e g r e e i n w h i c h i n d i v i d u a l sa d h e r e t o t h a t n o r m . I n t h i s r e s p e c t ,t h e p r o c e s s e sb e i n g
generated within group meetings can be a rich solrrce of data in urder to observe
both the degree of adherence to a norm, and how the process of manutzrcturing
c o n s e n s u st a k e s p l a c e ( s e e s e c t i o n2 . 1 ) .
O u r r e s e a r c h i s p a r t o f a b n r a d e r s t u d y c l n t h e r e p r es e n t a t i o n c l f w o m e n i n
competitive working envirr.rnmentsw . ith particular reference to positions of
r e s p o n s i b i l i t y . rV . r y f e w w o m e n o c c L r p yp o s i t i o n s l i k e t h o s e i n S p a i n . d e s p i t e t h e
t a c t t h a t m a n y o f t h e m h a v e t h e r e q u i r e d l e v e l c l f c l u a l i f i c a t i o nT. ' h i s c l e a r l y p o i n t s
to a dcgree clf discrirnination. The resulting discourse is significantly sexrst.in that
i t i s d i r e c t e d t o r v a r c l sg e n c r a t i n g o r s u s t a i n i n ga s i t u a t i c l no f i n e q u a l i t y b e t w e e n
g e n d e r s , r a t h e r t h a n c o n t r i b u t i n g t o i t s a m e l i o r a t i o n .A s w i l l b e s e e n b e k r w , i t i s
p r e c i s c l y t h i s l a c k o f c o h e r e n c c b e t w e e n t h c l e g i t i r n a t ed i s c o u r s eo f e c l u a l i t ya n d
d i s c r i m i n a t o r y s o c i a l p r a c t i c e sw h i c h p r o d u c e s a n d e x p l a i n s i n h i b i t i o n .
B o t h s o c i a l p r a c t r c e sa r c r e l e v a n t f u r t h e d c f i n i t i o n o f i d e n t i t y : F i r s t , a s F o u c a u l t
r ConchaC6mcz,
L u i s a M a r t i n R o j o , J a v i c rC a l l c j o a n d J u a n M a n u c l D c l g a i l o . " [ - a i m a g e n
d e l a m u j c r c n s i t u u c i o n c sd e c o m p c t i t i v i d a dl a b o r a l " ( T h e i m a g c o [ w o m c n i n c o m p e t i t i v c w o r k
c o n t c x t s ) . 1 9 9 5 , i \ 4 a d r i d :S i g l o X X I 1 i n p r c s s ) ; r c s e a r c hp r o j c c t s u p p o r t c d b y t h c l n s t i t u t o d e l a
M u j c r o f t h c M i n i s t c r i o d c A s u n t o s S o c i a l c s ,M a d r i d , A p r i l 1 9 9 . 1 .
St.xi.ynt
in the discrturscof Spunish executit,es 457
2. Methods
T h e d i s c o u r s e st h a t f b r m o u r s a m p l e w e r e p r o d u c e d d u r i n g t h r e e m e e t i n g s h e l d i n
Madrid by groups of men aged between 28 and 45. Two of the grclups were made
uP of, on the one hand middle-level employee.sand, on the other hancl upper-level
managers,all of whom work either for the public administraticln or tor large
national or multinational corporations. The third was made up of prot'essionals
(lawyers,doctors, etc.).4
Group discussionis a qualitative social researchtechnique with a noteworthy
tradition in Spain (see for instzince lblfiez 7979, 1990, 1994; Orti 1986 and Alonso
1994). It consists essentially of a siturition of group communication in which
ideologlcaldiscoursesand socierlrepresentationsof shared knowledge are analyzed.
The main features clf group discussionare the follclwing: a) it is made up of
seven,eight or nine individuals; b) the participants belong to the same social sector,
that is, there is group homogeneity: c) except under some circumstances (in small
villages,for instance), participants do not know each other; cl) it lasts two hours or
so; e) ttlpics are not introduced in a direct way and closed questions are avoided.
Once the topic of the meeting is suggested,the participants produce the discourse.
They themselvescontrol both its sequencing and its content. In contrast with the
role it piays in clinical psychology,group discussiondoes not have any therapeutic
'Ihe
aim within sociology. point here is quite different. We want to know hclw the
membersof a particular social sector build their idcntity as they develop the
suggestedtopic. And, at the same time, we try tcl discover how the social
phenomenon under study is built up from the identity of that social sector.
Group discussion is a potentially porverful tool to isolate the ideological
valuesof the social sectors represented within the group during the process of the
manuf-acture of consensus.The participants construct the social object of discussion
in such a way that, though experimentul, it is close to a typical everyclay social
interactittn:a) at the infclrmation level, they talk erboutn wurlcl that they know and
t h e r ei s a n i n t e n t i o n t o b e t r u t h f u l ( w h a t t h c y s a v o f t h a t w o r l d m a t c h e s t h e w o r l d
4 Wc
will usc the folklwing abtrrcr,iations:
RG, Prof.: Mcn. Betwccn .15and 45. Professionals.
RG, Dir.: Mcn. Between 35 and 45. Exccutivcs and uppcr-lcvcl managers of thc public
A d m i n i s t r a t i o no r o f l a r g e m u l t i n a t i o n a l c n t c r p r i s c s .
R G , A d m . : M e n . B e t w e e n2 8 a n d 3 5 . M i t l d l c - l e v c l c m p l o y c c sw i t h p c o p l c u n < l e rr h c i r r c s p o n s i b i l i t y .
,158 Luiso lvlart[n Ro.1tt
antl Jttt'ierCall{o Gallqlo
t h e y k n o w ) : b ) a t t h e c o m m u n i c a t i o n l e v e l ,t h e y t a l k t o p e o p l e w h o b e l o n g t o t h e i r
'world
o.[ life'(l{a'bermas l9fJ5, 1987, 1989). This allows the reinftrrcemcnt of
t r u t h f u l n e s s - ' ,t h a t i s , t h e m a t c h i n g b e t w e e n w h a t i s s a i d a n d w h a t i s r e a l l y f e l t
ahout what i.ssaid, because. in principle, nohoclv is likely to deceive those who are
'world
one's macrosocial equals (belclngingto the same of lde') and one's microsocial
equals (having identical turn-taking rightswithin the group context).
H a v i n g s t r e s s e dt h e m e t h o d o l o g i c a l p o t e n t i a l o f t h e g r o u p m e e t i n g . i t i s
n e c : e s s a r tyo m e n t i o n t h e p r o b l e m s a n d c o n s t r a i n t st h i s r e s e a r c hm e t h o d h a s i n a
s p e c i f i cs i t u a t i o n . W h e n t a l k i n g a b o u t w o m e n , t h e w a y t h e y a r e r e p r e s e n t e dm a y b e
v e r y s u b o r d i n a t e t o t h e d o m i n a n t p r e v a i l i n g d i s c o u r s e ,t h a t w h i c h i s m o s t r e a d i l y
a c c e p t e d w i t h i n t h e g n t u p t h i s r e s e u r c hm e t h o d f o c u s e so n . i t i s e a s i e r t o g e t t o a
consensus on what is considered legitimate than on what is considered
n o n - l e g i t i m a t e . T h i n g s b e i n g s o . t h e p r o r : e s so f r a t i o n u l i z a t i o n m a y y i e l d t o t h e
d o m i n a n t s t e r e o t y p e sa n d c o n c e a l t h e d e g r e e r > fe m o t i o n a l i n v o l v e m e n t r . l , i t ht h e
. h c t r u t h f u l n e s so f t h e s t a t e m e n t sr e m a i n s
s c l c i a lr e p r e s e n t a t i o n sb e i n g e x p r e s s e d T
q u e s t i o n a b l e .T h i s h a p p e n s w h e n e v e r f i e l d s i n w h i c h t h e r e i s a h i g h l y d o n t i n a n t
'democratic:'
d i s c o u r s em o d e l a r e s t u d i e d ( f o r e x a m p l c . t o c o n s i d e ro n e s e l f in the
'non-racist'
field of politics. in the field of social relartions,or, in the case under
'non-sexist').
study, to consider oneself
T h e p a r t i c i p a n t s t e n d t o r a t i o n a l i z c t h e d i s c o u r s ea n d t r y t o p r e s e n t t h e i r
'clemocratic'. 'non-racist' 'non-sexist',
own behaviour as or hiding their
'non-democratic','racist'or'sexist'attitudes.
This is w h y, afier an initial stageof
group consolidation, the meetings rnove into a second stage in which the moderatclr
p l a y s a m o r e a c t i v e r o l e , i n t r o d u c i n g o r r e i n f o r c i n gp a r t i c u l a r t o p i c s . f o r i n s t a n c e .
promotions within the labour world clr working attitudes and values in contemporary
society. The idea is that the group should not only reproduce the acceptable,
c o n v e n t i o n a l r e s p o n s e so f f o r m a l d i s c o u r s c .
It wzrs noticed from the outset that the discussion on women within the
w o r k i n g e n v i r o n m e n t w i l s r c s t r i c t c d a n d n o n s p o n t a n e o u sT . his inhibition could be
seen in two kinds of situations:
1. Whenever the participants are not urged to take a stand on the source of contlict
( t h e b u s i n e s sw o m a n ) , t h e m a i n m e c h a n i s r no f c x c l u s i o ni s e v a s i o n :T h e y j u s t d o n o t
speak about the soci:rl object which is excluded. The lack of coherence between
e x p e n e n c e a t t h e w o r k i n g p l a c e a n d t h e d i s c o u r s co f e q u a l i t y b e t w e e n g e n d e r s r s
p r e c i s e l y w h a t r e m a i n s h i d d e n h c r c . A s t h e d i s c u s s i o ng o e s o n . t h c p r e s s u r e o f
e x p e r i e n c e e v e n t u a l l y l e a d s t o p u t t i n g a s i d e c o n c e a l m e n t( F r e u d 1 9 f t 5 : 1 t 3 8 ) .
T h e s e a v o i d a n c e s t r a t e g i c se v e n t u a l l y d i s a p p c a r a s g r o u p d y n a m i c s i n t h e
meeting lead towards the creation of a'basic group'(Bion I974), which is ruled by
Ihe pleu.surepirtc'iplc (the fulfilrnent of desires).From this point on. we begin to find
t H a b c r m a sc l e l i n e st r u t h f u l n c s su s : " a c l a i m v a l i d i t y
of l i n k c c lt o r c p r e s e n t a t i v es p c c c ha c t s .
a c : l a i mw h i c h s a v st h a t , w i t h t h e i n t e n t i o n s I s h o w . I m c a n c x a c t l vw h a t I s a y .A s p c a k c r r s t r u t h f u l
u h c n h c / s h c n e i t h c r d c c c i v c sh i m r h c r s c l l ' n o ro t h c r s [ . . . ]i n s e l f - c x p r e s s i vscp c c r c ha c t sI s t a t c n o t h i n g
a b o u t m v o w n i n t e r n a l c p i s o d c s . I d o n o t m a k c a n v c l a i m , I j u s t e x p r c s ss o m c t h i n g w h i c h i s
s u b j c c t i v c "( H a b c r m a s 1 9 8 9 : 1 ( X ) ) A . s c a n b c g u c s s e dt,h c d e g r e co l ' t r u t h f u l n e s si s n o t o n l y r e l a t c d
1 o h o u ' t h c r e s e a r c hi s c a r r i e do u t , h u t a l s t ' rt o t h c p a r t i c i p a n t sd' c g r c c o f i n v c l l v e m c nw t ith thc social
o b j e c t o f s t u d - vT - :h c g r c a t c r t h c p e r s o n a li n v o l v em c n t , t h e m o r c m e a n i n g f u lw i l l b e t h e p r o b l c m s
c o n c e r n i n g t r u t h f u l n c s s .s i n c c t h c s u b j c c tw i l l b c m o r c c a u t i o u si n h i s , t r e rs t a l e m c n t s .
Sexisntin the discourse of Spanish erecuth.,es 459
2.2.Discourseanalr*sis
2.2.l. Fuce-to-.face
interactiortarnlysis
(Our translation).
7
Ft.r, u detailecl analysis sec G6mez Esteban et al. 1995. In diffcrent parts of this morc
gencral ongoing research,we are close to the etnography of speaking,specially as regards the rolc
p l a y e d b y i n t e r a c t i o n i n s o c i a l o r g a n i z - a t i o n( c r e a t i o n , d e l i m i t a t i o n , a n d m a i n t e n a n c eo f s o c i a l
g r o u p s ) . a n d i n t h c c u n s o l i d a t i o no f v a l u c sa n d b c l i e f s .
Sexi.snt
in the discourseof Spanishexecutives 46I
1 0A f , r . * o f s v m b o l i cr e p r c s e n t a t i o n
o f s o c i a la c t o r s ,i n w h i c h s o c i a la c t o r sa r e r e p r e s e n t e d
a s p a r t i c i p a t i n g .a t t h c s a m e t i m c , i n n r r r r ct h a n o n c s o c i a lp r a c t i c e '( v a n l r e u w e n 1 9 9 5 b :2 I - 2 3 : s e e
a l s o v a n L e c u w e n 1 9 9 5 a :1 0 1 ) .
in thediscourse
Serisnt of Spanish
erecutiy,es463
'...Then,what want
I to say is that the companydoesn'tvalue your
technicalknowledgeor your capacityfor work...'(R. Dir:17)
' . . .T h e nw
, h e re
i s tru e p ro mo ti o n ?'(R . D i r:6)
'You
haveto work with a personwith more or lessthe sameopinions
as yours,a personwith the sarneideas,becauseif not...'(R. Dir:10)
s u p e r f i c i a lw a y ' ( R . D i r : 1 3 )
3. However, there are subjective elements that are so generally accepted that they
ett'ectrvelymove trom being considered subjective to being accepted as objective,
such as, for example, those with respect to the difficultics that women have in taking
r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e sa n d d o i n g t a s k s r e q u i r i n g s u b s t a n t i a lc o m m i t m e n t . I n t h i s w a y , t h e
'double
widespread so-cerlled duty' (a double or even triple shifi) of the wurking
wornan -who is assumed to be the person who takes on the duties of the hclusewife
i s c r e a t e d . T h i s b e c o m e s a r e a s o n f b r d i s c r i m i n a t i o na g a i n s tw o m e n w i t h r e s p e c t t o
men; a reason which is acccpted and normalized in promotion proccsses.
'...if Ramr)nsaysto
vou everyday that he has to fetch the kids from
school,you say: 'just thrs once. but don't ask me cvery day. But.,
at in thc end it becomcsa hafrit"..(R.
Margaritrrgocseveryday anctr.
P r of :l 8 )
W h a t w e f i n d i n t h i s c a s e i s a t a c t i c o f s e l f - d e f e n s e( i f t h e c r i t e r r a a r e n o t
o h j e c t i v e .t h e a c r c u s a t i o n
o f d i s c r i m i n a t i o na g a r n s tw o m e n c a n b c f b r m u l a t e d c l n t h e
basis of this key argument). The conscquence of this defensive tactic is zr
s e l f - e x c u l p a t o r yd i s c o u r s e o n t h e p a r t o f m e n ( s e e s e c t i o n 6 ) : " W e s e i e c t o u r
p e r s o n n e l o n t h e b a s i s o f q u a l i t y a n d t h e d e g r e e o f c o m m i t m c n t t t ) w o r k " ( s e e ,v a n
D U k 1 9 9 1 : c h . 4 , f o r v e r y s i m i l a r r e m a r k s ) . A f i e r t h e j u s t i f i c a t i o no f t h e p r o m o t i o n
'good
critenon of personal relationships'(which could be understood as also
r e f e r r i n g t o t h e m a l e - f ' e m a l er e l a t i o n s i n t h e w o r k p l a c e ) . t h e i n t r o d u c t i o n r n t o t h e
discussiclnof female references by the moderator produced manv changes.
1 . T h e e l i m i n a t i o n o f c e r t a i n e l e m e n t s f r c m t h e d i s c u s s i o n :C r i t i c i s m s a g a i n s t t h e
system disappear and biased criteria are not referred to again. so that it may be
inferred thart.even if decisions taken with regard to the promotion of me n seem to
bc debatable, this is not the cersefor decisions concerning women: Not promoting
t h e m . i n t h i s c a s e . T h e t a i l u r e o f w o m e n t o b e p r o m c l t c d ,a s w e s h a l l s e e i n 4 . 2 ,
must be for objective reasons: "Thcy don't deserve it", "they disqualify themselves".
"they aren't committed to the firm", and so on. In this wzry,there is a movement
f r o m a v o i d a n c e o f t h e s u b l e c t i n d i s c c l u r s et o c x c l u s i o nw i t h i n t h e d i s c o u r s e ,h a s e d
on the argument that it is wclmen who exclr"rdethemselves.
2 . O n t h e o t h e r h a n d , s u b j e c t i v ec r i t e r i a a r e m a i n t a i n e d :W h a t i s i m p o r t a n t i s t o g e t
on well with a colleague. All reference to the existence of bias, that is, promclting
friends or politicking, disappear. The criteria are not questioned: T'hey are fair. In
c o n t r a s t . c u l t u r a l d i t f e r e n c e sa r e h i g h l i g h t e d :" l c a n ' t r e l a t e t o h e r " ( R , D i r ) . " T h e y
h a v e a d i f f e r e n t v a l u e s y s t e m " ( R , D i r ) . T h e c o n s e q u e n c eo f s u c h s t a t e m c n t s i s
clear: I can't accept within my working context and'world rf life' someone who wars
very tar fn;rn it in thc first piace. Exclusion is mainly established by means of
Sexisntin the discourse of Spanish executives 465
emphasizing
dittbrences.
(6) Yo desdeluego siempreme lrc tirado por los hombres,y me guslon las
telt? (r,sus).(R.Dir:41)
ntuJeres,
5.Thesedifferences
can turn into an argumentaboutthe processof promotion:Not
to discnminatc
women is to discriminatemen, as in the next fragmentof the group
discussion:
'There
are a lot of men -but I don't includemyself-,in thosemeetings
with about twenty five rnen,and everybodybeginsto tight and swear,
so there are a lot of peoplewho can't open the mouth once there is
a woman present(...)but the president[of the company]may not like
it, and this is another way of discrirnination:He cannot express
him s e l fa s h e w a n ts ...'(R . D i r:3 8 )
The fact that they change their ludgements and attitudes regarding the
c r i t e r i a t o r p r o m o t i o n w h e n t h e t o p i c o f w o m e n i s i n t r o d u c e d i s p o s s i b l yb e c a u s e ,
in principle. the referent of general discussionson the workplace is cxclusivelymale"
These argument strategies cannot be disconnected from the image the speaker
projects (Gotfman 19tt6a; l9t36h): They are an attempt at self-exonert\tion.
ln the follclwing section we analyze the strategies and discourse procedures tl-tzrt
r e v e a l t h e p r e s e n c e o f d i f f e r e n t k i n d s o f s e x i s m :T h e f i r s t s e c t i o n ( 4 . 1 ) f b c u s e s o r l
a n d r o c e n t r i s m a n d t h e d i s a p p e a r e n c ec l f w o m e n , a n d r v i l l a l l o w u s t o c o n s i d e r b o t h
a s p c c t si n r e l a t i o n t o p c r s o n a l e x p er i e n c e s .T h e s e c o n c sJ e c t i o n( 4 . 2 ) , c r l r r e s p o n d i n g
to the process of objectivisation of what has previously been subjective,ullows us tcr
c o n c e n t r a t e o n r a t i o n a l i s e ds e x i s m .I n b o t h t h e r e i s i n h i b i t i o n .
d i t f i c u l t y .a s t e r m s w h i c h r e f e r t o b o t h w o m e n a n d m e n . S u c h t e r m s c a n b e
'low'gencrics.
consideredirs if compared with other possible choices llke indit,iduo,
g i v e n t h a t t h e y s u g g e s ta s p c c i f i c i n t e r p r c t a t i o n . " A s a c o n s e q u c n c e ,d i s c o u r s e i s
a m b i s u o u s .w i t h r e g a r d s t o t h e g e n d e r o f t h e p e o p l e w h c l m a k e u p t h i s l a b o u r
w o r l d . S u c h a m b i g u i t y i s a l l o w e d a n d s u p p o r t e d b y g r a m n ) a t i c a lg e n d e r . T h i s t a c t
hecomeseven more confusing by the use of./eritine e.ttettsit'e tenns, such:rs (tma)
'high
p e r s o n o( ' p e r s o n ' ) : o r ( l u ) g e r t e ( ' p e o p l e ' ) . r v h i c h c a n b e c o n s i d e r e d a s
-{enerics'llH . o w e v e r . o n c e t h e m o d e r a t o r i n c l u d e s t h e i s s r - r eo f g e n c l e r i n t h e
discussion (the true objcct of invcstiuationw , hich is unknown to the participants).
a number of phenomena appear which make it clear that the referents of the
d i s c u s s i o hn a v e b e c n p r e d o m i n r r n t l vm r r s c L r l i n eu.p t o t h a t p o i n t . T h e s e p h e n o m e n z r
s h o wt h e i n t c r p r e t a t i o na s s i g n e da n d , a t t h e s a m e t i m e , p l a y a r o l e i n w h : t t s p e a k e r s
w a n t t o a c h i c v eb v m e a n s o f t h e u s e o f m a l e a n d _ { e n e r i cf i r r m s . I n a p a r a l l e l r v a y .
t h e v c h a n g e n o t o n l v t h e c o n t e n t s o f t h c d i s c u s s i o n ,b u t a l s o t h e s t r a t e g i e s f i l r
a r t u i n g .T h e u s e < l f t h e s e g e n e r i c t e r m s . w h i c h h i d e t h e i r s p c c i f i c r e f e r e n c e .c a n h e
c o n s i d e r c da s t h e c o n s c q u e n c eo f t h e i n l i i b i t i o n o f a n d n r c e n t r i s m .
A m i l n q t h e r e s o u r c c st h a t r e v e a l u n c l c r l v i n ga n d r o c e n t r i s m w, h i c h e n t a i l st h a t
r e f e r c n t so f d i s c o u r s ea b o u t w o r k a r e p r e f e r a b l v r n e n , t h e r c a r e t h e f o l l c l w i n g :
1. Alternating terms: Generic fcnrale terms such as persono ('person') or
g e r i l e( ' p e o p l c " ) ( c p i c c n e t e r m s ) s c e m i n t e r c h a n g e a b l er n t h e d i s c u s s i o nr n i l v t o r
m a s c u l i n et e r m s l i k e : I i o ( ' g u y ' ) ; s e i i r r ( ' m a n ' ) : I ' c p i t o ( ' M r S o - a n d - s o " ) e. t c .
2 . C c n d e r a g r c c m c n t : G e n t c ( ' p e o p l c ' ) a n d p e r . \ o n { t .(\' p e o p l e ' ) a r e t y p i c a l l y
c o m b i n e c iw i t h m z r s c u l i n ep r o n o u n s . r v h i c h r e s t r i c t s t h e i n c l u s i v e v a l u e o f t h e
a n t c c c d c n t sa.n d i n d i c a t e st h a t t h e r c f c r c n t s f r o r n w h i c h t h e d i s c o u r s ci s c o n s t r u c t e d
a b o u tt h e w o r k p l a c e a r e c o n c ep t u a l i z e da s r n e n . G c n d e r i r g r e e m e n td e p e n d s o n t h e
s e xo f a n o n g i v c n r e f c r e n t r i l t h e r t h r i n o n t h c g e n d e r c l a s so f t h e a n t e c c d e n t ,
3 . M odif ier sS
: omc s e m e rn tigca p s o c c u r i n th c di scourse, parti cul arl yw hen the
modcratrrr focusesthe discussion on womcn.Frorn this point on, terms like persottu
('p er s on' )and gc n te (' p e o p l e )' , w h i c h i l re .fe mi rti tteextert.si ve
tenns appear
a cc om panied bv mo d i fi e rsth a t re s tri c th
t e i r m e a n i ngand stressthe femal egender:
The examplcs in (9) and (10) indicate horv,bcfore the question of wornen
' ' P c r i s s i n o t t os t u d i c s
hou' malc tcrms are usuallv indcrstood as intcnsivc (cxcluding
w o m c n ) .T h i s a u t h o r o u t l i n e d a s c ; r l co [ g c n c r i c s .i n u ' h i c h h t n r i t r t ( n t u n ) g c t s a l ( ) 1 , 1o l ' { c n c n c
i n t c r p r c t a t i o nw, h i l c t n d i v i d u or c a c h c sa n l t 0 7 ( s c c P c r i s s i n o t t o1 9 1 3 23:l ) .
1 2 T h c v o b t a i n a 9 0 ( ; "or f q e
n c r i c i n l c r r r r c t a t i o n si.n P c r i s s i n o t t i l ' ss c a l c .
46tJ Lui.srtMurtin Rojotrul Jay'icrCulltjrtGullcgo
a r i s c s ,t h e r e f e r c n t o f p e r s o t t o( ' p c r s o n ' ) , i t n d o f t h e d i s c o u r s ei n g e n e r a l , h n s b e e n
prcdomrnantly male. Fctrms like persortus.femettitttt.sa,re extremely unusual in
Spanish. and ciearly strcss how the tendency to make a specific or intensive
rntcrprctittiott of male terms is cxtended to t'emalegenerics.Both malc and t'emalc
genenc terms offer differerrt interpretative possibilities,which allow speakers to
expresstheir c<lmmon concc[)tionof thc world of wurk places(McConnell-Ginet
19f3ft:95):
(e) ettiotrc:escuctttdo lti t,tt.su elcgir vcs qLrc tto, que rn tiertes ct rtittgtttttt
personu femettiltu puru elegir y es que no lu lruv, en cumbir) ett otrus
rufttu.\. (RG, Dir)
'So
w h e n y o u a r e g o i n _ qt o c h o o s c y o u s e e t h a t y o u d o n ' t , y o u d o n ' t
h a v e i t n y " t e m a l e p e r s r ) n " to choosc from. ancl its because there
a r c n ' t a n y . L r n l i k ei n o t h e r b r a n c h e s '( R G , D i r )
'At
thc auxiliirrv or administrativc ievels there are these "ternale
p e r s r ) n s "t h a t l i v c f r l r t h e i r 1 o b . a n d o t h e r s t h a t a r e e i t h e r m a r r i e d , i n
g e n e r a l t h e y a r c n i a r r i e d u r u s u a l l yh a v c j u s t h a d a k i d o r s o m e t h i n g
. . . ' ( R G .D i r )
F r o m t h c i n d e t en n i n a t i o n i n t h e l i n g u i s t i cp r c s e n t a t i c l no f w o r k e r s w h o c a n
be employed and promoted. the sp*rkcrs movc to a new stage, in which they use
m a n y s t r a t e g i e so f d e t e r m i n a t i o n o t ' w o m e n a s p e o p l e w h o a r e n e i t h e r v a l u e d n o r
employed (tirr thc study o1' lin-quistic resources of bclth determinatic>n and
indetermination. see virn Leeuwen 1995: l6). These examples could be seen as
paradigmutic institncesof a theorl, that "people are rnale unless proven otherwise,
t h a t f e m a l e n e s si s c o n t r a s t e dw i t h m a l e n c s si n b e i n g a s p e c i a l a n d d i s t i n c t i v ef o r m
o f h u m u n n c s s . a r n a r s i n a l c o n d i t i o n " ( N , l c C o n e l l - G i n e t tl 9 t t u : 9 3 - 9 4 ) . A t a n y
m c l m e n t . s u c h i n t e r p r e t a t i o n , b y w h i c h p a r t i c i p a n t sm a k e e x p l i c i t t h e c o n n e c t i o n
between typicalitv and malenc.ssin work pliices, seems to be controversizrl,but
s h a r e d b y p a r t i c i p a n t s .a n c l s o c i a l i vs i t u a t e d .
U n d e r l v i n g a n c l r o c e n t r i s ma l l o w s u s t o s p e a k o i i n h i b i t i o n , a n d c a n b e
c o n s i d e r e di t s u t a c t i c o f i g n r t r a n c :aen d e v i r s i o n e , q u i v a l e n tt o o t h e r p r a c t i c e ss t u d i e d
h v v a n D i j k i n c o r p o r a l e d i s c o u r s ea b o u t c t h n i c m i n o r i t i c s( s e e v a n D U k 1 9 9 1 :c h . 4 ) .
A t f i r s t . u p J r a r c n t l y .t h e t w o s t r a t e g i e so f e x c l u s i o ne s t a b l i s h e db y F o u c a u l t ( 1 9 1 1 ) ,
'division"and'rejection'.
i l r e n o t e x p l i c i t l , ve m p l , r y e d :l ' h a t r s .a d i v i d i n g l i n e b e t w e e n
m c n i t n d w o m e n i n t h c w o r k p l a c e i s n o t e s t a b l i s h e d ,n e i t h e r i s t h e r e a c c t n f l i c t
bctween bctth groups luter nn. Folkrwing van Leeuwen in his study clf "The
r e p r e s e n t a t i o n o f s o c i a l a c t o r s " .w e c c t n s i d e rt h i s t o b e a k i n d o f e x c l u s i o n w h i c h
l e a v e s n o t r i t c c s i n t h c r e p r e s c n t i t t i o n ,m : r k i n g b o t h t h e s o c i a l a c t u r s a n d t h e i r
a c t i v i t i e s d i s a p p e a r ( s e c v a n L c e u w e n 1 9 9 5 b ) : G e n e r i c a n d a l l - i n c l u s i v et e r m s ,
whose rcferents may be hoth men and womcn, ilre used. However, such 'radical
Sc-rrsnr
tn th( discaurse
of Spanislterecutiv'es 469
e x c l u s i o n ' s h o w us p o n c e w o m e n a p p e a r o n t h e s c e n e ,a n d t h e p h e n o m e n a i n d i c a t e d
above show that. up to thrrt moment, the referents of the discoursewere exclusively
m a l e ,a n d w o m c n h i r d i n f n c t b e e n e x c l u d e d .O n c e w o m e n a p p e i l r o n t h e s c e n e ,t h e
s t r a t e g i c so f e x c l u s i o nd o n o t d e p e n d o n s i m p l e o m i s s i o n :t h e y s t o p b e i n g i m p l i c i t .
T h e s t r a t c g i c so f s e x i s mc : a nn o w b e s e e n a s h e i n g b a s e d o n a r g u m e n t s .
4.2. The exclusion of women from the lahour world: The argurnentation of sexism
'two
kinds of workinu women. those whu make home and work
4l(\ Lttt.stt Llrtrtin Rcl() ttni! .luyrt'r Cttllcto (ittllt,,grt
c o m p a t i b l e .a n d t h o s e w , h of i g h t
A s c ; t n b e s e c n i n c x : t m p l c sl i k c t h c s c .s p e a k e r sa c t i v a t et w o : r x e so f d i v i s i g n :
l. A i i r s t a x i s o t ' r i i v i s i o n ,w h i c h s e p a r a t e sm c n i l n c i w o l n e n . p r o d u c i n g
a c o n t r i i s t r v h i c h . n o w e v e r . r e r n a i n sl m p l i c i t "
A s c c o n c l i t x l s o t ' d i v r s i o r r .r v i t h i n t h e { I r o u p o f w o m e n . w h i c h
c li s t r n g ur s l . r c sb e t r v c cn :
A t t h c h c l t r t o f t h i s r ) p p o s i t i o nt h c r e l i e s t h e n o n - w r t r k i n gm o t h e r , w h o n c t s
:.ls it ret'crcnt. c,u'cn it' lier prcsencc is not crplicitly titrmulated (tbllowing our
i r n a l v s i s t. h e y e r n b o c i i c ctl h e p r o t t l t v p e o l ' r v t l m e n ) .T h c p r c s e n t a t i o nw e m a k e h e r e
o f t h r s t i t x o n i t t t t vi s n o t c r h a u s t i v e .h u t t h e e x a m p l e sw e i n c l u d e s l r o w t h a t i t p l z r y s
r ur c l c v a n t r o l c i n t h e r l c v e k ) p m e n tt t f t h c u r g u m e n t u t i o n .
-l-hcrc
i t r c n u m b c r o f d i f f c r c n t k i n d s o f a t t r i b u t e sa n d a c t i o n s o f b o t h t y p e s
t t f r v t t m e t r .r v i r i c h c a n n o t t r c a n a l v z c d i n d e t a i l i n t h i s p a p e r . N e v e r t h e l e s sb c t t h w i l l
b c r e f ' c r r c d t o i n t h c c r i t r n i n a t i o no f u n c c d o t c sb c k t w , ( s e e G r ' l m e z e ta l . . l 9 9 5 :c h . 2 ,
t ' c t r i t d c t a i l c d l t n r t l v s i so f t h e i r n u q e s o f w o m c n i n c o r n p e t i t i v e w r t r k c o n t e x t s ) .
R e l a t c d t o t h t s i - r t t r n tr.v h i r t i s n r o r c r c l e v l r n t i s t h c r o l e p l a v e d b v t h i s t a x o n o m y i n
I t r q u n l c n l i t t i o n : I i t t h k r n d o f r v o n r c ni r r c e l c a r z r q c n t so 1 ' t h c i r o w n d i s c r r n t a t r o n :
'l
E- d o n ' t t h i n k t h a t d i s c r i m i n a t i o ne x i s t s .n o t a t a l l . . '
'cJon't
D- vou'.)'
'l
E- m e a n t h a t I d o n ' t t h i n k t h a t d i s c r i m i n a t i o ne x i s t s '
'What
[r- h i r p p c l t s i s t h a t \ \ ' o n t e nd i s c r i m i n i l t et h e l n s e l v e s
Sr'rr.rnrtn thc tliscourserf ,stxtttislte.rccutiv't's 47 1
I n c c l n t r a s tw i t h s e c t i o n 4 . 1 . . i n t h i s c A S ew e s e e a t e n d e n c v t o w a r d s t h e
d e t e r m i n u t i o no f a g c n t s a n d a c t i i l n s .b v g i v i n g a l o t o f n c g a t i v e c l a t a .T h i s f a v o u r s
t h e p a r t i c i p a n t s s' e l f - e x o n e r a t i o n .
R e j e c t i o na f f e c t s b o t h k i n d s o f w o m e n , i r n d t h e p r o c e d u r c s u s e d a r e t h e s a m e .
Anecdotesplay an essential role in carrying out exclusion pror:edures.Arnong their
f u n c t i o n st h e f o l l o w i n g s t a n d o u t : a ) t h e p r e s e n t a t i o no f e x a m p l e s o f b e h a v i o u r s ,
which persuasively transmit and confirm the stereotypes; b) through them the
mechanisrnsof generalizaticlnwhich are uriented towards the exclusion of women
are put into practice; c) they produce an overdetcrminationof women; d) they
p e r m i t t h e p r e s e n t a t i o no f a n e g a t i v e i m a g e o f u ' o m e n , w h o a p p e a r a s t h e a g e n t s
o f t h e i r o w n e x c l u s i c l nT. h r s n e g a t i v e p r e s e n t a t i o no f w o m e n h a s i t s c o r c l l a r y i n a
p o s i t r v es e l f - p r e s e n t a t i o no f m e n .
1 . 2 . 2 . 1P. a t t c r n sa n d s c h e m a t a o f a n e c d o t e s
a particulilr vrew of the state of affairs is imposed. This axis has a key rclle
l n t h e s t r u c t u r i n g o f d i s c r ) L r r s eb,e c a u s e s p e a k e r s a r e d e a l i n g w i t h s o c i a l
c h a n g e s .t h o s e r e l a t e d t o t h e s i t u a t i o n o f w o m e n . S o m e o f t h e m a r e a l r e a d y
a c c o r n p l i s h e d ,o t h e r s a r e o r e d i c t a b l e "
D) E x p r e s s i o n o f f e e l i n g s .A n e c d o t e s e m b o d y t h e a t t i t u d e s o f t h e p a r t i c i p a n t s ,
specially their contempt fur women whcl are devclted tcl their work (see.
s p e c i a l l y ,R G . D i r : 2 8 - 2 9 y 4 5 - 4 7 ) ,a n d t h e i r s c o r n t o w a r d s t h e t a s k n f b r i n g i n g
u p t h e c h i l d r e n ( s e e ,f i r r c x a m p l e ,( l l ) a n d ( 1 4 ) ) .
T h e a n e c d o t e s m e n t i o n e d a b o v e f a l l i n t o a p a t t e r n . I n t h e c z r s eo f c o v e r t
s e x i s m . w e h a v e s e e n t h a t m e a n i n g f u l a n e c d o t e sa r e u s e d . b u t t h e g e n e r a l i s a t i o n
i t s e l f i s n o t t i r r m u l a t e d . T h e s e z t n e c d o t e so p e r a t e a s a s t i m u l u s s o t l i a t t h e h e a r e r
i t r r i v e s a t t h e i n t e n d e d c o n c l u s i o nb y h i m s e l f .T h e t e n d e n c y t o a d m i t e q u a l i t y , i n
a b s t r a c t t e r m s , i n t h e t h e e x p l i c i t e x p r e s s i o no f c r i t i c a l j u d g m e n t s a n d o f n e g a t i v e
attrtudestowards women.
4 . 2 . 2 . 2 .M c c h i t n r s r n so f i n d u c t i o n a n d d c d L r c : t r o n
'I-he
a n a l y s i so f t h e a n e c d o t e s ( e x a m p l e s ( 8 ) a n d ( 1 0 ) ) r e v e a l s ,t h a t i n o r d e r t o
express and impose upon wornen their perception of their environment, men,
particularly those of managerial status.use a way of rcasoning that appears to
c o m b i n e s i n d u c t i o n a n d d e d u c t l o n : f . i n d u c t i o n : F r o m o b s e r v a t i o n s ,i n s t a n t i a t i n g
examples. -carefully selectecl anecdotes about women in the workplace-,
g c n e r a l i s i t t i o n sa b o u t w o m e n a r e d e r i v e d : W o m e n a r e n o t s u f f i c i e n t l yd e v o t e d t c r
w o r k ; 2 . d e d u c t i o n : C e r t a i n c o n c l u s i o n sa r e d r a w n : W o m e n l i m i t t h e i r c l w n c h a n c e s .
d i s c r i m i n a t e a g z r i n s t h e m s c l v e s :a n d p r e d i c t i o n sa r e m a d e : T h e s i t u a t i o n w i l l o n l y
chan,r.te when they chan_rle themselves,without which nothing will change. By means
of this strertegy,there is an attempt to legitimise masculine discourse, ii discourse
that. tirr its understanding and persuasiveness,requires the control of the negative
'Ihese
female stereotypesand clear masculinevalues that are typical of overt sexism.
stereotypes. though partly distorted as a result of the rationalisation that still holds
in the discourse, are marnly cierived from questions asked by the moderator about
t h e l i m i t e d p r e s e n c e o f w o m e n i n p o s i t i o n s o f r e s p o n s i b i l i t y .A s G a r f i n k e l ( 1 9 t 3 4 :
1 8 4 ) s u g g c s t s .r a t i o n a l i s a t i o ni s n e c e s s a r ys i n c e e x p l a n a t i r ) n sa r e r e q u i r e d .
(l1) Yo os r'ov u cotttur utt coso, .suryi1 urt problemu, tne llam6 el direc:tor
o utto rewi1tt urgente por lu turde, y la setktritu qLte se lluma Elvira
dijo: "iulti, pues \,o tto nrc puedo quetlur, me tierrcn tpte uvisttr c'ott
veirttic'uutro lutrus, porque los ttinos...". Y dije ttsted .sequedu, y cluro,
pero es tlue lu sulitlu que tuvo Erc si lu contidu de los nirlos es que a ml
tro se me ocuffe, buerto es qtte ),o rto trubujar[a leriertdct rtitlos lo
pimero... (RG, Dir:20)
'l'm
going to tell you about one *rse, a problem came up, the boss
called me firr an urgcnt mcetinq fur the afternoon, and the girl,
called Elvira, said " Ah! Well, I can't stay, you have tct give me
t w e n t y - f o u r h o u r s n o t i c e ,b e c a u s et h e k i d s . . . "A n d I s a i d " y c l uh a v e t c l
Sc.rrsnrin the dist'utrsc of Spunish ertclttives 473
stily", obviously, but the reason she gave was the kids'dinner. I would
never have think of. Well. I wouldn't work if I had kids ...' fRG.
Dir:20)
T r i p e r s u a d e o t h e r s a n d t h e m s c l v e s ,m e n u s c o b s e r v a t i o n a n c l i n d u c t i o n
( ' t h a t ' sw h a t w e s e e ' ; ' t h a t ' s w h a t h a p p e n s ' ;' w e a r e o b j e c t i v e ' ) .M e n w a n t t o p r e s e n t
the discourseas something clbjective,and not as the particular view of an individual
or a gender; their argument is bersedon a prejudice regarding'ilossible objectivity'
'objectivity
as as an ideal aim'. In this way, the weaving clf motives in this
argumentationstrate!ry,developed within the dynamics of the group, has the effect
of cclnsolidatingstereotypes-which of'fer direct support in overt sexism and indirect
'Women
support in inhibited sexism- and producing new ones: managers lack
t'eminineattributes'. At the same time, they project of their own positive image ("we
a r e n ' t t h e o n e s r e s p o n s i b l e " ) ,a n d e x c l u d e w o m e n .
(16) Tti subes lo borito qLte es llegar a la oficirta y qLte te diga el jefe toma
Ituz esle papel a mdquirtu ), Iuc, lec, loc, sucor el informe y lomo pLtm,
u tomar cafd, iamos tto me digusi. Hny vecesque vierrcrt a la una y me
dicert nte duele el estdmugo, cluro sdlo toms.s ca.f€. No, rlo ddjate Ete
es muy bortito llegar o la o.fic'irtaque taigart el papelito :t que se va]tort
u casita lncer la comidu u lo.s ninos ), agLtarttor u kts tinos... (RG,
Dir:22,)
'You 'go
know how great it is to get tcl the oftlce and the boss says
'here
and type this paper and find me that report', you are', and then
you have a cot-fbe,isn't that right I There are times when they come
at one o' clock tcl tell me that they've got a stomachache,'of course,
you don't do anything except to drink coffee'. No, nc), fclrget it, its
great to get to the office and to type a bit of paper and go home to
make lunch firr the kids and put up with them' (RG, Dir:22)
41 4 Lurso lvlurtin Ro.1tt
ond .levt('rCullt'1oGullt,,gtt
4 . 1 . 1 . 3 .O v c r t l c t e n l u n r t ti t ) r t
I n t h e s e a n c c d o t e s . w o r ] . ) e ni r r c ( ) v e r d e t e r r n i n e d t, h a s , t h e y a r e r e p r c s e n t e d a s
p u r t i c i p a t i n g . a t t h c s a m e t i r n e . i n n r o r e t h a n o n e s o c i a lp r a c t i c c " ( s e e f o o t n o t e 1 0 ) .
I n o u r c a s c , t h i s p r o c l u c e si l n c x c e s so f i n f o r m a t i o n a b o u t w o m e n m i x i n g d e t a i l s
l ' r o n r d i f f c r c n t d o m a i n s , u n d f e a t u r e s o f t r a d i t i o n a l s t e r e o t y p e sa n d n e w i m a g e s o f
'l-hc
wrlrking women. e x a m p l es i n c l u d d i t f e r e n t k i n d s o f o v e r d e t e r m i n a t i c l ns, p e c i a l l y
t h a t c a l l e d b y v l u r L e c u r v e n ' i n v c r s i o n ' .i n w h i c h s o c i a l a c t o r s i l r e c o n n e c t e d t o t w ( )
p r i r c t i c e sw h i c h i r r c . l n i t c c r t r u nw t r v .o p p o s i t c s A : c t i v i t i e ss u i t a b l ef o r m e n ( t o s p e n d
t h c i r t i m e i t t t h e o t ' fi c c . t o r v r l r k t u r m o n c y . c t c . ) a n d a c t i v i t i e ss r - r i t a h l tei r r w o m e n
( t o k r o k a f t c r t h c c h i l d r e n .t o p r c p { r r ct h e d r n n e r .t o p a i n t t h e i r n a i l s ,t o m a k e u s e
o t ' t h e i r s c x u a l c l u a l i t i c s ) :t h e s e c o n c lk i n c l o f t r a d i t i o n a l l y a t t r i h u t e d a c t i v i t i e s
rnevitabiv prcvent them from doirrg first type -their rvork- properly. Since the
t r a c l i t i o n u l t y p e o f a c t i v i t y - t h o s e c o n s i d e r e ds u i t a h l e f o r w o m e n - ? l r e r e p e a t e d i n
i n c n s a n c c d o t c s r r i r r . l u t h e n r . s L r c ha c t i v i t i e sa r c p r e s c n t e d a s n a t u r i t l t o r v o m e n .
w h r i c t h e i r p l r o r n o t i o ni r t r v o r k r s c l i r s s i f i e di t s u n s u i t a b l cf o r t h c m .
4 . 2 . 2 . - +P. o s r t i v e / n c g a t r v cs c l f p r c s e n t i r t i ( ) n
'l'he
e x u m p l c s t ' r c k r r vs h o r v h o w e x c l u s i o nr s r c a l i s e d b y m e a n s o f t h e t w o p r a c t i c e s :
'division' 'rcjection'.
irncl D i v i s i o n o c c u r s p a r t r c u l a r l yr n t h t l s e a n e c d o t e st h a t a l k r w
t h e i m p l i c i t e s t a b l i s h n r e not l t w ' o d o n r a i n s :T h a t o f t h e h o m e , r u l e d b y w o m e n , a n d
t h a t o l ' t h c w r l r k p i a c c . r u l e d h v m c n . C ) n c et h i s i s e s t a b l i s h e d a . negativeim:rgeof
w o r n e n w h t r h r e a k i n t o t h e m a l e s p a c e i s g e n c r u t e d ,a n d t h e n o n - p a r t i c i p a t i o n o f
r n e n i n t h e h o u s e h o l d r s l u s t i f i c d . A n e c d o t e s z r r ea p o w e r f u l m e a n s o f c o n s t r u c t i n g
a n e g a t r v el m i r g e o f w o m e n , w h o a p p c a r a s t h e a g e n t s o f t h e i r o w n e x c l u s i o n .
The projcction of the nesutive image clf women plays a key role in the
rationalization of sexisrn ;rnd hidcs several contradictions that underlie male
d i s c o u r s e "I n n o c a s e , : r r c m e n p r e s e n t e d a s t h e a g e n t s o f t h i s d i s c r i m r n a t r o n .
(Exirrnplc13 is repcatcd hcre as 17;.
(l7) - Si, .ii,.. t' t'udu rez mus, \,o lo lrc notudo cadu t,ez luty tnu.sntujeras."
("..)
- Yo rtri crco quc luvu discrirnittuc'itirtut ubsolutrt..
- L t t o?
()
- Quicrc dec'ir que no creo qua lruyu disc'rimittucirlrt..
- Es qua lu rnujerasse uuto elirnitturt tnLttLtomatttec'utttrcloernpiezurt stt
vidu prut.f'csirnn1...
't
b e l i c v e th e r e ' s all ..
therc'.''
4 . 2 . 2 . 5P. u r p o s e o f t h e a n e c d o t e s
1. Anecdotes in the conversation are used to oblectivize the statements that are
made about women in the workplace. In this wily, statements about women seem
to be based on real expenences and not on evaluative judgments.
'this
2. The use of anccdotes supports and fbsters generalisationsof the type is not
a n i s o l a t e dc a s e ' o r ' a l l w o m e n a r e l i k e t h a t ' . b u t a l s o d i s t o r t s t h e i n f c l r m a t i o n .F o r
example,in ( 1a) the anecdote about the woman who did not wish to stay any longer
at u'ork than she was obliged tcl by her contract was used as evidence for the limited
commitment of women to the firm.
3. Anecdotes express once again the statements made about women, allowing the
hearer to infer others that are left implicit. Abductive reasoning is used so that, from
a consequence(the anecdote presented), an antecedent can be inferred by the
audience('women are like thzrt'),thanks to premises that they already have in their
m t n d s( P e i r c e 1 9 6 6 : 1 5 8 1 ) .T h e g e n e r a l i s a t i o ni s b a s e d o n p r e j u d i c e . A s i n a l m o s t
all the parts of the process of rationaliszrtion,it is fed by n pioi belief-s(Boudon
1 9 9 2 :I I I ) .
4 . A n e c d o t e sj u s t i f v s o c i a l o p e r a t i n g c o n s e q u e n c : e sD:i s c r i m i n a t i o n i s d e n i e d o r , a t
l e a s t .i s r u s t i f i e d .
who reaches a post achieves this by means of her sexual merit), such rrs male values
a n d h a b i t s , d e s c r i p t i o n so f h o w w o m e n e m p h a s i z et h e i r p h y s i c a la s p e c t sa n d i g n o r e
o t h c r q u a l i t i e s .e t c .
( 18) yo me acuerdo uttq chicu grac'ios{simaque ,[ue,pues surgi(t tut tema, ellrt
Ilevabo u,tos co,ttenedores pttra baxtra, vo rto s,! qu( ltucfa wta clica
vertdiettdo o alquilctndo contetrcdorespara basura. buon pues conlo ero
tun ab.utrdo la situaci1n, a mf me resultuba e.ytro,7opues que wtu chicrt
mono y tal cort un medio uttiforme, tutu clicu muv grac'iosu,irttertluru
ulEilarte o t,endcrle uno.t temos de cotttettedores de basuru pues Vo le
digo frartcumetrte qLte a mf eso pues me descerttrutbu,\,o sctbltt lo quc
co.stubu lo que prxlfa llcgur el prec'io Io Erc rto y lul, perut el Ete .fucru
cse lipo de clicu y rto st Erc pues rn lu veiu ert ese tnonletilo y de
ulgtutu fonnu mc setttiu rutro, yo creo rtue ellus lo Lttiliztut, imagilut que
el director de mdrketirtg o de comercial de esu empresu utilizabn clricus
en ese senlldo porquc erutt rttuclto md\ no se, etttrubtttt rnds, o vetulftt
wt proclucto tun (\trutio cotno €sepues coti Luto rupidez. (RG, Prof:19)
:::1i i^1.i1,
?i,r, I?:1t"',,1
i:;ff:II3';'J::l',? ii:1
:If ?,:: lil,X,l
of strange,I think that they useit, I guessthat the marketingrlr sales
director of that companywas usinggirls like that becausethey were
much more, I don't know, they gcltthroughmore, or could sell such
a struingeproduct as that reallyfast' (RG, Prof:19)
To go beyondthe thct that "the girl waspretty and very pleasing",to the fact
that she was able to sell thingscluickly,and finally,to the generalization(l believe
that "they make use of it" withclutspecifyingwhat it is that they make use of), it is
necessaryto deducethat she used her physicalqualitiesas a woman to sell. This
conclusionis supportedin the tact that it seemedstrangeto hirn that she appeared
to take it seriously.From this rather inconclusive anecdote,it is dedr,rced that "they
make use of it". and what is evenworse.it is not evenwomen themselves, but their
b o s s eswho
, t ak e a d v a n ta g eo f w o m e n ' ss e x u a a
l t tracti ons
and reap the benefi ts.
One of the conclusionswe can draw from this exampleis "that they are
u seles st,hey ar e t ro u b l e s o m ea, n d i f th e y g e t th ere w e al l know w hy i t i s" . The
stereotypesand male valuesalkrw this reasoningtcl be used and, to be taken as
so m et hinggener a l l ya g re e du p o n ,s i n c eth e s ei n terpretati onsdo not appearto l ead
to divergenceamong the group. The anecdotesrevert to these stereotypes,
reafflrmins them.
Sexisnt
in the discourse
of Spanishexecutiv'es477
T h i s q u e s t i o n i s r e e l a b o r a t e d b y s p e a k e r sa s ( 2 0 ) a n d , l a t e r o n , a s ( 2 1 ) :
'this
wits your question. wasn't it? Are women discriminated in
prornotion only because of the fact that they are women'1. As far as
I a m c o n c e r n e d ,t h e y a r e n ' t '
(21) -vo lu pregltttta lu lte entertdido Ete si prtr el mero lrccho de ser mujer
se le disciminu u la horu de promocionar, tto ero esa la pregunta?
-Buern, pregtuttaba por lo vslores concrelamente.
s e l f - p r e s e n t a t r o ns t r a t e g i e s( s e e e x a m p l e ( 1 7 ) ) .
T h e i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f t h e m o d e r a t o r ' si n t e r y e n t i o n .a n d t h e p c l s i t i o n sa s s u m e d
by one ol the participants, who admits in a restrained way the existence of
d i s c r i m i n i t t i o n . p e r m i t s t h e c o n s t r u c t i o n o f a n e x c u l p a t o r y d i s c o u r s e ,i n w h i c h a
s e r i e s o f a r g u m e n t s a r e e x a m i n e d a n d n e g o t i a t e d( d i s c r i m i n a t i o nd u e s n o t e x i s t i n
m u n a g c m e n t p o s i t i o n s a n d p o s i t i o n s o f r e s p o n s i b i l i t y ;i t i . st h e c r i t e r i o n o f q u a l i t y
t h a t i r n p c d e s t h e p r o m o t i o n o f w o m e n , - b e c a u s eo f t h e i r l o w c o m m i t m e n t . a n d s c r
o n ) . S i n c e e x p l i c i t a c c u s a t i o n so r d e c l a r a t i o n so f s e x i s ma r e n o t f u r m u l a t e d b y a n y
o f t h e i n t e r k r c u t o r s ,s e l f - d e f ' e n c tea c t i c sc o u l d o n l y b e e x p l a i n e de v o c a t i n ga n d b e r n g
a w a r e o f t h c l e g i t i m a t e d i s c o u r s eo f t h e e q u a l i t y o f g e n d e r s :a d i s c o u r s et h a t d o e s
n o t a l k r w o n c t o c o n f e s st o b c i n g s e x i s t .
T h e c o n t r a d i c t i o nt h a t e x i s tb e t w c e n I e g i t i r n a t ed i s c c l u r s e
and labour pructices
a n d b e h a v i o u r s . a n d t h e d e f i n i t i o n o f l a b o L r rs p a c e a s e m i n e n t l y m a l e . i n w h i c h
w o m e n p l a y a m a r g i n a l a n d s u b s i d i a r yr o l e ( ( 1 5 ) , ( 1 6 ) . a n d ( 1 7 ) ) , h a s t w o
c o n s e q u e n c e s :I ) o n t h e o n e h a n d . i t p r e v e n t s t ' r v c r te x p r e s s i o n so f s e x i s t p o s i t i o n s
a n d t h e r e c o g n i t i o n o f s e x i s t p r a c t i c e s( i t w o u l d b e e q u r v a l e n tt o t h e t r a n s g r c s s r o n
'democratization
o f l e g i t i m a t e d i s c o u r s c ,a n d i n t h i s w a y . w e c a n s p e z r ka b o u t t h e of
di.scourse')2 ; ) o n t h e o t h e r h a n d , i t p r t l n r t l t c sm c n ' s n e e d t o d e f e n d t h e i r w o r k
space fnrm the other gender. and to keep their dominant position in it. These
c o n s t r a i n t sd e r i v e i n s e x i s ts o c i a l p r a c t i c e s ,w h i c h c a n n o t b e o p e n l y a d r n i t t e d . T h i s
i s w h a t p r o d u c e s i n h i b i t i o n . z l s: r w i l y o f r a t i o n e r l i z a t i o n .
B y r a t i o n a l i s a t i o nw e m e a n t h e a t t e m p t t o m a k e s o m e t h i n g ( o n e ' s o w n l i f e
e x p e r i e n c e s .z r no p i n i o n . a f e e l i n g ,e t c ) p u b l i c a l l ya c c e p t a b l e( G a r f i n k e l 1 9 U 4 :2 6 7 ) .
I n t h i s s e n s e . r a t i o n a l i s : r t i o nc o n t r a s t s w i t h s p o n t a n e i t y .a s H a b e r m a . s d e s c r i b e d
rcgarding the mtionalisation implicit in dramatic action. This distinction can be
a p p l i e d t o t h e c o n t e x t o f o u r g r o L r pm e e t i n g : I n i n t e r a c t i c l n ," t h e p a r t i c i p a n t s t a k e
i t d v a n t a g eo f t h e s i t u a t i o n a n d o r g a n i z et h e i r i n t e r a c t i o nb y m e z r n so f r e g u l a t i o n a n d
control of the reciprocaf access to each other's subjectivitv. The concept of
self-prescntation meirns. thercfore. not spontaneous expressivebehaviour, but the
stylization of the expression clf their own cxperiences,presented with a concern tor
the irnage that each would wish to give to an observer" (Habermas 19ft9: 487).
H o w c v e r , t h e f a c t t h a t i t i s n o t s p o n t a n c o u sd o c s n o t n c c e s s a r i l ym e a n t h a t t h e
speaker who uses rationzrlis;rtionsis conscior-rsly attemptjng to deceive the listener.
sinc:e.as Weber indicates. the underlying motives may conceal. even fnrm the actor
h i m s c l f , t h e t r u e s o u r c e o f h i s l h e r a c t i c t n s( W e b e r 1 9 7 9 : 9 \ . 1 3
A s w c h a v e s e e n . t h e f i n a l c o n s e q u e n c eo f t h i s d i s c u s s i o nd o m i n a t e d f r v
sexism is the exclusion of women, not only from the workplace, but frclm the wrlrld
r u fa l l t h a t i s p o s i t i v e ,o f t h e v a l u e d a n d v a l u a b l e .A r g u m e n t - b a s e ds e x i s md r s c r e d i t s
the opposite gender. and at the same time brings praise for one's own gender.
Thus, inhibitic-rn, as part of the rationalization process. permits self-
e x o n e r a t i o n : " P a r t i a l e x p r e s s i t ) n sn o t c l n l y r e s u l t f n l m c o g n i t i v ea n d c o m m u n i c a t i v e
economy. but may also be a functional move in strategy of impression formation, in
which speakers want tcl avoid negative inferences about their social belief.s"(Arkin
1 9 [ t l ) . W e f i n d i n t h e d i s c o u r s e sa n a l y z e d a c l e a r e x a m p l e o f h c l w e x p r e s s i o n
'face-keeping'
s t r a t e _ { i eas r e d i r c c t l v r e l a t e d t o i n t e r a c t i o n a ls t r a t e _ r 1 ioefs or positive
l3
F , l , d i f f c r c n t t i c f i n i r i o n so l ' r a t i o n a l i s u t i o ns.c c S c h u t z( 1 9 7 . 1 ) .
Sarisnr in the discourseof Spanish e-yecutives 479
(22) -Tti tiertes ntds po.sibilidad tle equivocqrte con urw mujer para ciertos
puestos que con tut hombre, en combio tti puedes tneter a urt hombre
de escibiente, de secretaio y furtciorn estLtpendemette...
- Yo te puedo decir Ete las dos que tenemos e,t vettas sort rtefasta.s...
- Y lttego rlue si estd e,t eslodo, que si va a t(ner wt ttifto... (RG, Dir:
4s)
-'You are more likely to make a mistake with a woman for certain
positions than with a man, you can put a man as a clerk, a secretary,
and he does really well ...'
-'l can tell you the two we have in Sales are dreadful'
-'And then she gets pregnant, she's going to have a kid'
(RG, Dir:45)
7. Conclusions:
Towardsan interpretationof inhibited sexism
r e a s o n i n g a s t h e n o r m a t i v e d i s c o u r s e ,a n d c o n s i d e r i t t o b e c l e a r l y d i s c r i m i n a t o r y ,
because declarations of equality, always in abstract terms ('all human beings are
equal'), exist side-by-sidewith a kind of reasoning which is clearly sexist and which
supports traditional negative stereotypes and the androcentric perspective of the
workplace. Our analysis.suggeststwo possible answers.The flrst is related to social
a n d e t h i c a l c h a n g e s ,w h i c h e n t a i l c h a n g e si n d i s c o u r s e ,i n t h e s a m e w a y t h a t t h e
democratisation of n society tends to restrain the formulation of explicit, negative
l u d g m e n t s c o n c e r n i n g g e n d e r o r r a c e . S e x i s ma n d r a c i s m a r e i n h i b i t e d i n d i s c o u r s e .
The second answer is related to the first: The excessive emphasis on
s e l f - e x o n e r a t i o nd e m o n s t r a t e st h e a w a r e n e s st h a t t h e r e e x i s t sa f e m i n i n e c r i t i c i s m
w h i c h a c c u s e sm e n o f p r a c t i s i n gd i s c r i r n i n a t i o ni n t h e w o r k p l a c e . I n m a l e d i s c o u r s e
we can observe an implicit aw?lrenessof this criticism by women. by means of an
i m p l i c i t p o l i p h o n y ,w h i c h i m p l i e s t h a t f e m a l e d i s c o u r s ei s b e c o m i n gm o r e e s t a b l i s h ed
and gaining suppclrt, opening the breach zrlreadyr;pened by the democratrzatron oi
s o c i e t y i n n o r m a t i v e d i s c o u r s e( s e e ( 1 3 ) ) .
The fact that a discourse is refuted. when it is neither present. nor referred
to. but already internalized from thc moment it is acknowledged and the need tcl
reply to it is telt, shows that the fcmale argument has gathered sutficient force sc-l
that a man who openly admits to discriminatory practices cannot count on having
il positive social image. The position of these men is made difficult, almost
untenable: How can they maintain the idea that both genders are equals and
simultaneously not support the accessclf women in the workplace and, in particular,
to managerial positions; how can they argue that the woman's wrlrk should remain
as a help to the tamily budget and, similarly. that the man's role in the household
'lending
should be restrictedto a h a n d ' ; h o w c a n t h e y a r g u e t h a t s u c c e s si n l i f e i s
based on protessional success,on personal achievements,but, in the case of the
woman, what should satisfu her should be looking atter the children. Inhibited
sexism minimises and hides these contradictions, but does not sustain them; tcr
support them, the participants return to the discourseof exclusion,of the observable
'They
discrimination that is a feature of overt sexism: should have a place but
they're either not capable or they exclude themselves'.
Finally. inhibition also indicates a key moment in the process of relations
b e t w e e n g e n d e r s . I n h i b i t i o n i s t h e t h r e s h o l d o f t w o d i s t i n c t t e n d e n c i e s ,t h e b o r d e r
l i n e b c t w e e n t w o a l t e r n a t i v e s :1 . I n h i b i t e d s e x i s mh a s n o t t a k e n t h e c o m p l e t e s t e p .
Overt sexism can re-cmerges in ditficult times. such as the present with the
w o r s e n i n g o f t h e e c o n o m i c c r i s i s l r . O n e p o s s i t r i l i t yt h e n i s e i t h e r t h e r e t u r n , i r s a
refuge, to a more or less traditional sexism or the appearance of new forms. 2. The
other possibility is to go the whole way to the full recognition of the legitimacy of
equality and its practical application in daily lite.
T h e c o n c e p t o f a d i v i n d i n g l i n e w h i c h i s s t r a t e g i ca n d i n d i c a t e st h e s t o p p i n g
of a process can he clarified by using the mathematical topology of catastrophe
' * l t d o c r sn o t a P p c a r t o b e a c o i n c i d e n c ct h a t v a r i o u s s o c i a l a n a l v s t sa g r e e i n c o n s i d e r i n g
c o n t c m p o r a r vs o c r e t va s a s o c i e t vo f r i s k : L u h m a n n ( 1 9 7 9 ) ,B c c k ( l 9 t t 6 , 1 9 9 1 ,1 9 9 2 ) .G i d d e n s ( 1 9 9 3 ) .
N e i t h c r d o c s i t s e c m c t l i n c i d e n t a lt h a t t h e r c n c w a l o f a m o r e o p c n s e x i s mc o - ( ) c c u r sw i t h m o m c n t s
of crisis - ti'pically'b , u t n o t n c c c s s a r i l vf,i n a n c i a l .a s c o u l d h c o b s e n ' e dw i t h i n t h c L l n i t c d S t a t c s
d u r i n g t h e c r a o f R e a g a n i s m( R e a g a n- B u s h ) .
Selasntin the discourse of Spanish executives 4tt1
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