IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/socres/v25y2020i3p386-404.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Introducing the Red Tent: A Discursive and Critically Hopeful Exploration of Women’s Circles in a Neoliberal Postfeminist Context

Author

Listed:
  • Madeleine Castro

Abstract

Red Tents (RTs) are women’s circles that have increased in popularity in recent years, but they are an under-researched movement. This article explores the way in which RTs are presented online by those involved. Setting these groups in a postfeminist context, and building on the work of Longman, I explore the place of RTs in relation to neoliberal discourses of individualism and autonomy. Via an analysis of the RTs online presence, I argue that the RT presents as a place of acceptance (of self and others) where negative emotions can be aired and bonds between women are formed. While acknowledging several caveats to accepting this presentation at face value – not least the potential perpetuation of hegemonic power relations, systemic inequalities and privilege, particularly regarding biological essentialism and whiteness – I also assert that the full picture is more nuanced. Drawing on a feminist position of possibility, ultimately I argue that RTs appear to offer a refuge of resistance from neoliberalism.

Suggested Citation

  • Madeleine Castro, 2020. "Introducing the Red Tent: A Discursive and Critically Hopeful Exploration of Women’s Circles in a Neoliberal Postfeminist Context," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 25(3), pages 386-404, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:socres:v:25:y:2020:i:3:p:386-404
    DOI: 10.1177/1360780419889973
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1360780419889973
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/1360780419889973?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. Anna Bull & Kim Allen, 2018. "Introduction: Sociological Interrogations of the Turn to Character," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 23(2), pages 392-398, June.
    2. Rosalind Gill & Shani Orgad, 2018. "The Amazing Bounce-Backable Woman: Resilience and the Psychological Turn in Neoliberalism," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 23(2), pages 477-495, 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. Uma Jogulu & Esmé Franken, 2023. "The career resilience of senior women managers: A cross‐cultural perspective," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(1), pages 280-300, January.
    2. Erica Burman, 2018. "(Re)sourcing the Character and Resilience Manifesto: Suppressions and Slippages of (Re)presentation and Selective Affectivities," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 23(2), pages 416-437, June.
    3. Sharon Kishik & Justine Grønbæk Pors, 2024. "“It hits me in the weirdest moments”: How future female workers experience loss in times of planetary crisis," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(4), pages 1409-1424, July.
    4. Daniel Nehring & Mariano Plotkin & Piroska Csúri & Nicolás Viotti, 2024. "Re-Thinking Therapeutic Cultures: Tracing Change and Continuity in a Time of Crisis and Change," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 29(2), pages 287-298, June.
    5. Maree Martinussen, 2019. "Reason, Season, or Life? Heterorelationality and the Limits of Intimacy between Women Friends," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 24(3), pages 297-313, September.
    6. Kirsty Morrin, 2018. "Tensions in Teaching Character: How the ‘Entrepreneurial Character’ is Reproduced, ‘Refused’, and Negotiated in an English Academy School," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 23(2), pages 459-476, June.
    7. Ben Kerrane & Emma Banister & Hadi Wijaya, 2022. "Exploring the lived experiences of Singapore’s “opt‐out” mothers: Introducing “Professional Motherhood”," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(3), pages 863-879, May.
    8. Holly Thorpe & Julie Brice & Anoosh Soltani & Mihi Nemani & Grace O’Leary & Nikki Barrett, 2023. "The pandemic as gender arrhythmia: Women’s bodies, counter rhythms and critique of everyday life," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(5), pages 1552-1570, September.
    9. Ciccone, Vanessa, 2020. "Vulnerable resilience: the politics of vulnerability as a self-improvement discourse," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 106701, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    10. Krystal Wilkinson & Julia Rouse, 2023. "Solo‐living and childless professional women: Navigating the ‘balanced mother ideal’ over the fertile years," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(1), pages 68-85, January.
    11. Helen Delaney & Katie R. Sullivan, 2021. "The political is personal: Postfeminism and the construction of the ideal working mother," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(4), pages 1697-1710, July.
    12. Anna Bull & Kim Allen, 2018. "Introduction: Sociological Interrogations of the Turn to Character," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 23(2), pages 392-398, June.
    13. Kim Allen & Anna Bull, 2018. "Following Policy: A Network Ethnography of the UK Character Education Policy Community," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 23(2), pages 438-458, June.
    14. Nicola Ingram & Sol Gamsu, 2022. "Talking the Talk of Social Mobility: The Political Performance of a Misguided Agenda," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 27(1), pages 189-206, March.
    15. Irem Güney‐Frahm, 2020. "Neoliberal motherhood during the pandemic: Some reflections," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(5), pages 847-856, September.
    16. Jo Longman & Rebecca Patrick & Sarah Bernays & Fiona Charlson, 2023. "Three Reasons Why Expecting ‘Recovery’ in the Context of the Mental Health Impacts of Climate Change Is Problematic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(10), pages 1-5, May.
    17. Daniel Nehring, 2024. "The Self in Self-Help: A Re-Appraisal of Therapeutic Culture in a Time of Crisis," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 29(2), pages 316-333, June.

    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:sae:socres:v:25:y:2020:i:3:p:386-404. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    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.