Negotiating oppositions and uncertainties: Gendered conflicts in creative identity work

Work in the contemporary creative industries has been celebrated for offering freedom and fulfilment. An alternative interpretation is that the creative worker can be party to her own exploitation, tolerating precariousness employment and uncertain rewards for love of the work. This article explores the problems of creative working for women, looking beyond the practical difficulties of reconciling precarity and parenting responsibilities. It investigates gendered conflicts around creative identities and contemporary feminine subjectification through a narrative-discursive analysis of interview material. The article argues that for women creatives the promise of self-actualization through creative work is countered by conflicts arising from an 'other-directedness' that is part of a more conventional feminine identity.