Embodying wilfulness

Investigating the unequal power dynamics of informal organisational body work through the case of women in stand-up comedy

Bibliographic Data

ID9889015
AuthorsEline Jammaers (0000-0001-9730-5297, Hasselt University, corresponding author), Dide van Eck (0000-0002-4150-0664, Utrecht School of Governance, the Netherlands,, corresponding author), Silvia Cinque (0000-0002-6345-1058, University of Liverpool Management School, UK,, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume78
Issue10
Pages1225-1251
Publication date2025-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueHuman Relations (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0018-7267 • E-ISSN: 1741-282X
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/00187267241288685
OpenAlexW4403739601
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited54

Women who step into the spotlight may be burdened with managing their sexualised bodies, unlike men. This is true also in stand-up comedy, where more women than ever are entering the field. Investigating this unequally distributed body work, we use Sara Ahmed’s idea of the wilful subject to spot naturalised beliefs of women as unfunny who ‘will too much’. We do so through a qualitative study carried out with 26 professionals. We contribute by showing how ‘informal’ organisational body work, which comprises the purposeful efforts workers undertake on their and others’ bodies as part of informal role demands, is underpinned by diversity-related power dynamics. Anticipating how the burden of such ‘work’ does not fall equally on the shoulders of everyone is key in imagining more egalitarian futures of work. We demonstrate the embodied and political merits of wilfulness as an analytical tool focusing on the historically persistent labelling of women as wilful, a difficult-to-spot inequality, while taking into account how such wilfulness charges are mobilised by the target. Inspired by queering and cripping, we introduce the term ‘hagging’ to indicate women reclaiming positions of power and reappropriating their sexual objectification in male-dominated sexist environments

Art · Comedy · Dynamics (music · Pedagogy · Power (physics · Sociology · Visual arts · Work (physics · Cultural Industries and Urban Development · Engineering · Gender Studies · Management and Organizational Studies · Psychology · Theatre and Performance Studies

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Open DOIOpen Access