'Mobilizing masculinities': Women's experiences of men at work

To understand gender relations in organizations, I use feminist standpoint theory and critical scholarship on men and masculinities to guide an analysis of accounts from six women about their experiences with/interpretations of men at work. Restricting these accounts to those in which women perceived men as not intending harm to themselves or other women, I conclude that men routinely act in concert to 'mobilize masculinities' at work, that men routinely conflate masculinities and work dynamics, that often men are only liminally aware of mobilizing masculinities,, and that women experience masculinities mobilization, especially when conflated with work, as harmful. The discussion notes how the gender institution makes men's masculinities mobilizing behavior possible, and shapes women's interpretations and experiences of these behaviors. To subvert gender practices that harm people, I call for more research on how these practices are mobilized and conflated with work relations.