Double jeopardy: the paradox and promise of coaching women leaders from a critical feminist perspective

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to interrogate the "double-jeopardy” in widely adopted women's leadership development interventions aimed at "fixing” women, explore critical feminist coaching (CFC) perspectives and practices and offer more equitable and just alternatives for developing women leaders.Design/methodology/approachThis paper includes a literature review of post-feminist and critical feminist perspectives and a critical examination of coaching for women leaders from each perspective.FindingsPostfeminist approaches in organizations are little scrutinized because of the dominant postfeminist discourse that women's subordination and oppression have been "resolved” through neoliberal, individualistic interventions, such as postfeminist coaching programs. Infusing the message of "fixing women” through emphasizing "4 C's” – confidence, control, courage and competition – postfeminist coaching programs have been submitting women leaders to "double jeopardy.” The authors critique this postfeminist coaching paradox from a critical feminist perspective foregrounding "4 R's” – reflecting, reforming, raising and rebuilding – promising more equitable, just development.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first attempt to describe CFC and presentation of a conceptual and practical model of the process. The authors define postfeminist coaching as the disavowal of feminist values and failure to challenge gender hegemony in the coaching process. The authors propose a model of CFC defined as the explicit embrace of feminist values and challenge of gender hegemony in the coaching process. The authors offer alternatives for developing women leaders amid paradoxical, complex, capitalist systems, with a critical lens challenging postfeminism.

The Burdened Burdensome Woman: A Poststructural Feminist Analysis of Discussions of The New York Times' Homeschooling Gender (Dis)Parity Article

As the COVID-19 pandemic swept America in 2020, schools closed and families shifted to children learning online from home. This labor was dominantly covered by mothers, many of whom still had careers to maintain. A 2020 New York Times article reporting on the homeschooling shift concluded with the polarizing declaration that while women did most of the labor associated with homeschooling, men did not perceive the gender imbalance. Guided by a critical feminist lens, the authors examined the comments posted in the article's comment section to unpack the discourse. Western society places pressure on women to flawlessly perform motherhood and other tasks simultaneously;as such, the COVID-19 pandemic provided a context rich for further subjugation and subordination of pink-collar work. © 2022 Southern States Communication Association.

The Burdened Burdensome Woman: A Poststructural Feminist Analysis of Discussions of The New York Times’ Homeschooling Gender (Dis)Parity Article

As the COVID-19 pandemic swept America in 2020, schools closed and families shifted to children learning online from home. This labor was dominantly covered by mothers, many of whom still had careers to maintain. A 2020 New York Times article reporting on the homeschooling shift concluded with the polarizing declaration that while women did most of the labor associated with homeschooling, men did not perceive the gender imbalance. Guided by a critical feminist lens, the authors examined the comments posted in the article's comment section to unpack the discourse. Western society places pressure on women to flawlessly perform motherhood and other tasks simultaneously;as such, the COVID-19 pandemic provided a context rich for further subjugation and subordination of pink-collar work.