“LOOK at YOU!”: Disembodiment between ugly bodies and able minds

Damianidou, Eleni; Georgiadou, Andri

Abstract

Evidence points to embodiment being perceived as a lived human experience that bridges the natural and the cultural. Therefore, embodied social identities seem to be related with the way people perceive their body as beautiful/ugly, namely worthy/not worthy. Using data from interviews with employees with disability, this paper explores the process of shaping the body within the post‐colonial masculine organizational culture. On these grounds, we argue that the above process involves taking decisions at three levels: firstly, one must decide what their body is, secondly, define what their body can be and thirdly, assume what their body will be. Further, the data revealed how those with “ugly bodies” construct their identities in relation to non‐disabled colleagues. Our theoretical and managerial contribution includes a better understanding of how workplace and social life tend to be organized based on the ideal (able) body.

Citation

Damianidou, E., & Georgiadou, A. (2021). “LOOK at YOU!”: Disembodiment between ugly bodies and able minds. Gender, Work and Organization, 28(5), 1823-1839. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12648

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 17, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Feb 24, 2021
• Publication Date: 2021-09
• Deposit Date: Feb 25, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 25, 2023
• Journal: Gender, Work and Organization
• Print ISSN: 0968-6673
• Electronic ISSN: 1468-0432
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 28
• Issue: 5
• Pages: 1823-1839
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12648
• Keywords: Ugly body; disabled people; symbolic embodiment; social exclusion; bodies in organizations Gender; Work & Organization
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/5349857
• Publisher URL: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/gwao.12648
• Additional Information: This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Damianidou, E. and Georgiadou, A. (2021), ‘LOOK AT YOU!’: DISEMBODIMENT BETWEEN UGLY BODIES AND ABLE MINDS. Gender Work Organ. Accepted Author Manuscript, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12648. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.