Relational Power, Legitimation, and Pregnancy Discrimination
Relational Power, Legitimation, and Pregnancy Discrimination
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DOI：
10.1177/0891243214523123
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发表时间：
2014-06-01
期刊：
影响因子：
5.5
通讯作者：
Roscigno, Vincent J.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Byron, Reginald A.;Roscigno, Vincent J.
长期以来，基于怀孕的就业歧视一直是性别不平等学者和民权机构感兴趣的话题。先前的工作表明，雇主的刻板印象和经济利益使孕妇很容易被解雇。然而，我们仍然对女性对终止妊娠的解释知之甚少，也不知道雇主如何在可以说是保护性的法律面前为这样的决定辩护。这篇文章对这种动态进行了非常必要的、深入的分析，并对基于怀孕的就业歧视索赔进行了相关说明。我们详细阐述了关于权力的理论阐述和围绕组织生活的父权性质的研究，利用了来自经核实的怀孕解雇歧视案例的独特的定量和定性数据。我们的分析揭示了一个双管齐下的合法化过程，雇主象征性地诋毁怀孕工人，同时放大表面上的任人唯贤的组织程序和担忧。怀孕歧视原告试图反驳雇主的论点。然而，他们在组织等级中的有限权力，以及雇主逻辑在文化上的共鸣性质，似乎是性别中立的逻辑，但这些逻辑将性别假设具体化，并优先考虑企业盈利，使孕妇处于相当不利的地位。如果不关注这种文化和结构性权力失衡以及支撑这些失衡的关系进程，怀孕歧视仍将是一个重大问题。
Pregnancy-based employment discrimination has long been a topic of interest for gender inequality scholars and civil rights agencies. Prior work suggests that employer stereotypes and financial interests leave pregnant women vulnerable to being fired. We still know little, however, about women's interpretations of their terminations and how employers justify such decisions in the face of arguably protective laws. This article provides much needed, in-depth analyses of such dynamics and a relational account of pregnancy-based employment discrimination claims. Elaborating on theoretical expositions of power and research surrounding the patriarchal character of organizational life, we draw on unique quantitative and qualitative data from verified cases of pregnancy-based firing discrimination. Our analyses reveal a two-pronged legitimation process where employers symbolically vilified pregnant workers while simultaneously amplifying ostensibly meritocratic organizational procedures and concerns. Pregnancy discrimination plaintiffs attempted to counter employer arguments. Yet, their limited power within the organizational hierarchy along with the culturally resonant nature of employer logicslogics that seem gender-neutral but that reify gendered assumptions and prioritize business profitplace pregnant women at a considerable disadvantage. Without attending to such cultural and structural power imbalances and the relational processes that undergird them, pregnancy discrimination will remain a significant problem.