"Doing gender" by female police officers

Abstract

The article explores the practice of "doing gender" by female police officers in the Vologda region. The study is based on the interviews with 22 female police officers working in the Vologda police; interviews were conducted in February 2017. The author examines whether the female police officers are involved in gender construction, and what practices they use for that. Findings show that the female police officers are "doing gender" by reproducing typically male or typically female behavior patterns; they consider it fair to divide the labor between men and women, regard certain female and male traits important and accept the help of male police officers.