Indonesian women leaders navigating hegemonic femininity: A Gramscian lens

Abstract

Hegemonic femininity is a concept beginning to receive scholarly attention, and this paper illustrates how it has become a critical factor hindering women's leadership opportunities in Indonesia. This study aims to understand how women leaders adopt, modify, or reject forms of hegemonic femininity that interpellate their constructions of subjectivity. This paper employs a discourse analysis of interview texts with 36 women in leadership positions in a Muslim-majority country, Indonesia. The finding shows how participants navigate hegemonic femininity by constructing their version of feminine subjectivity to negotiate their gender-leadership roles in several ways. This paper expands the critical discursive understanding of women's leadership by (1) theorizing how hegemonic femininity challenges the acceptance of women's leadership and (2) delineating the way construction of femininity affects the way women do leadership.