IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/gender/v31y2024i2p535-553.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Fashion as embodied resistance: The case of Jewish ultraorthodox female entrepreneurs

Author

Listed:
  • Varda Wasserman
  • Avital Baikovich

Abstract

Drawing on the qualitative research of Jewish ultraorthodox female fashion entrepreneurs (JUFFE) in Israel, we examine how women's body regulations are collectively negotiated, challenged, and resisted. Our paper shows that, through the disruption of religious clothing and hairstyling, JUFFEs have challenged the patriarchal expectations of women's ideal type in their authoritative society and triggered various changes that allowed for the construction of alternative forms of femininity. Our contributions are twofold: First, we advance the understanding of the body as a site of resistance by exposing the analytical constituents of embodied resistance, namely, the forms of femininity constructed through embodied resistance, which demands are challenged, which types of modesty are resisted, which bodily means are used in women's resistance acts, and the implications of the resistance. By deepening our understanding of the constitutive resources of embodied resistance, we offer a more nuanced and detailed analysis of the various embodied ways and means through which women of religious communities may prompt changes regarding women's visibility and economic status. Second, we broaden the conceptualization of resistance's outcomes in authoritarian regimes by demonstrating how alternative religious femininities are constructed through the collective power of fashion. We present two manifestations of femininity: femininity as a marker of diversity (individualized femininity) and femininity as a marker of economic status (affluent femininity)—both deviate from the one prescribed by their leadership and community. We demonstrate how entrepreneurs' subversive messages are diffused through their clientele's bodies as the carriers of their subversive messages.

Suggested Citation

  • Varda Wasserman & Avital Baikovich, 2024. "Fashion as embodied resistance: The case of Jewish ultraorthodox female entrepreneurs," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(2), pages 535-553, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:gender:v:31:y:2024:i:2:p:535-553
    DOI: 10.1111/gwao.13093
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.13093
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/gwao.13093?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Van Laer, Koen & Janssens, Maddy, 2014. "Between the devil and the deep blue sea: Exploring the hybrid identity narratives of ethnic minority professionals," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 186-196.
    2. David Courpasson & Vanessa Monties, 2017. "“I Am My Body”. Physical Selves of Police Officers in a Changing Institution," Post-Print hal-02311902, HAL.
    3. David Courpasson & Vanessa Monties, 2017. "“I Am My Body”. Physical Selves of Police Officers in a Changing Institution," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(1), pages 32-57, January.
    4. Özlem Sandikci & Güliz Ger, 2010. "Veiling in Style: How Does a Stigmatized Practice Become Fashionable?," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 37(1), pages 15-36, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zanette, Maria Carolina & Scaraboto, Daiane, 2019. "“To Spanx or not to Spanx”: How objects that carry contradictory institutional logics trigger identity conflict for consumers," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 443-453.
    2. Rafael Alcadipani, 2020. "Pandemic and macho organizations: Wake‐up call or business as usual?," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(5), pages 734-746, September.
    3. Robin Burrow & Rebecca Scott & David Courpasson, 2024. "Bloody suffering and durability : How chefs forge embodied identities in elite kitchens," Post-Print hal-04325642, HAL.
    4. Anica Zeyen & Oana Branzei, 2023. "Disabled at Work: Body-Centric Cycles of Meaning-Making," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 185(4), pages 767-810, July.
    5. Emmanouela Mandalaki & Marianna Fotaki, 2020. "The Bodies of the Commons: Towards a Relational Embodied Ethics of the Commons," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 166(4), pages 745-760, November.
    6. Michael J. R. Butler & Ann L. Cunliffe, 2024. "The Dent in the Floor: Ecological Knowing in the Skilful Performance of Work," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(5), pages 1766-1791, July.
    7. Srinath Jagannathan & Rajnish Rai & Christophe Jaffrelot, 2022. "Fear and Violence as Organizational Strategies: The Possibility of a Derridean Lens to Analyze Extra-judicial Police Violence," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 175(3), pages 465-484, January.
    8. Nora Meziani & Laure Cabantous, 2020. "Acting Intuition into Sense: How Film Crews Make Sense with Embodied Ways of Knowing," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(7), pages 1384-1419, November.
    9. Daniela Andreini & Diego Rinallo & Giuseppe Pedeliento & Mara Bergamaschi, 2017. "Brands and Religion in the Secularized Marketplace and Workplace: Insights from the Case of an Italian Hospital Renamed After a Roman Catholic Pope," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 141(3), pages 529-550, March.
    10. Stefano Pace & Matteo Corciolani & Giacomo Gistri, 2017. "Consumers? responses to ethical brand crises on social media platforms," MERCATI & COMPETITIVIT?, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2017(1), pages 141-157.
    11. Lydia Ottlewski, 2021. "Building and Strengthening Community at the Margins of Society through Social Enterprise," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-15, October.
    12. Jenna Drenten & Robert L Harrison & Nicholas J Pendarvis, 2023. "More Gamer, Less Girl: Gendered Boundaries, Tokenism, and the Cultural Persistence of Masculine Dominance," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 50(1), pages 2-24.
    13. Silhouette-Dercourt, Virginie & de Lassus, Christel & Darpy, Denis, 2014. "How second-generation consumers choose where to shop: A cross-cultural semiotic analysis," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 21(6), pages 1059-1067.
    14. Matthew Hawkins, 2019. "The effect of activity identity fusion on negative consumer behavior," Post-Print hal-02014635, HAL.
    15. Muhammad Abdullah Khan & Usman Ghani & Sadia Aziz, 2019. "Impact of Islamic Religiosity on Consumers’ Attitudes towards Islamic and Conventional ways of Advertisements, Attitude towards Brands and Purchase Intentions," Business & Economic Review, Institute of Management Sciences, Peshawar, Pakistan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-30, March.
    16. Slater, Stephanie & Demangeot, Catherine, 2021. "Marketer acculturation to diversity needs: The case of modest fashion across two multicultural contexts," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 702-715.
    17. Victoria Wells & Nick Ellis & Richard Slack & Mona Moufahim, 2019. "“It’s Us, You Know, There’s a Feeling of Community”: Exploring Notions of Community in a Consumer Co-operative," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 158(3), pages 617-635, September.
    18. Sophie Hennekam & Sabine Bacouel-Jentjens & Inju Yang, 2020. "Perceptions of Diversity Management Practices among First- versus Second-generation Migrants," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 34(5), pages 844-863, October.
    19. Younes Younes & Halleh Ghorashi & Elena Ponzoni, 2021. "Conflicting Experiences With Welcoming Encounters: Narratives of Newly Arrived Refugees in the Netherlands," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 9(4), pages 222-231.
    20. Andriani Kusumawati & Sari Listyorini & Suharyono & Edy Yulianto, 2020. "The Role of Religiosity on Fashion Store Patronage Intention of Muslim Consumers in Indonesia," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(2), pages 21582440209, May.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:gender:v:31:y:2024:i:2:p:535-553. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0968-6673 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.