In pursuit of modesty: contextual emotionallabour and the dilemma for working women inIslamic societies

Jawad Syed and Faiza AliDepartment of Business, Division of Economic and Financial Studies,

Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia

Fax: +61–2-9850 6065 E-mail: thejawad@yahoo.com

E-mail: fali@efs.mq.edu.au

Diana Winstanley*Kingston Business School, Kingston University,

Kingston Hill, Kingston, Surrey, KT2 7LB, UK

Fax: +44 (0)20 8547 7026 E-mail: d.winstanley@kingston.ac.uk

*Corresponding author

Abstract: The paper explores the experience of working women in Islamicsocieties from the perspective of the concept of modesty. While female modestyoccurs as a value in many cultures, it is a particularly explicit and strong featureof Islamic doctrine. The paper describes the doctrinal underpinnings of thisconcept to suggest the probable ways in which this frames the experience ofworking women. The contrast between the emotional requirements of ‘modesty’and the emotional demands of modern international organisations, suggests twosets of competing claims in the successful performance of a work role. This canlead to emotional tensions for working women, which demand further emotionalwork upon the self by the subject. In exploring the literature on emotionallabour, we believe that the concept has ignored strong contextual dimensionsparticularly religion-based social norms.

Keywords: emotional labour, gender, identity, Islam, modesty, organisations,Pakistan.

Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Syed, J., Ali, F. andWinstanley, D. (2005) ‘In pursuit of modesty: contextual emotional labour andthe dilemma for working women in Islamic societies’, Int. J. Work Organisationand Emotion, Vol. 1, No. 2, pp.150–167.

Biographical notes: Jawad Syed is a doctoral student at Macquarie University,Sydney. He is currently completing his dissertation on the cross-culturalcomparisons of diversity management in Pakistan and Australia. Jawadpossesses more than ten years of HRM related experience in public and privatesectors in Pakistan and Australia. He has presented his research on HRM,diversity and gender at various international forums including Australia–NewZealand Academy of Management, British Sociological Association, UNESCO,Lahore University of Management Sciences and the Academy of Management.He is also developing a culturally sensitive scale (3PDO) to evaluate thepractices, perspectives and prospects for diversity in organisations. Jawad canbe reached at thejawad@yahoo.com

150 Int. J. Work Organisation and Emotion, Vol. 1, No. 2, 2005

Copyright © 2005 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

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In pursuit of modesty 151

Faiza Ali is a doctoral student at Macquarie University, Sydney. She is currentlycompleting her dissertation on the prospects of equal employment opportunityfor women in Islamic society. Faiza has previously worked as research associatein the Small and Medium Enterprises Developing Authority, Pakistan. She haspresented her research on diversity and gender at various international forumsincluding the Academy of Management, International Congress of HistoricalSciences, Australia–New Zealand Academy of Management and Lahore Universityof Management Sciences. Faiza can be reached at fali@efs.mq.edu.au

Professor Diana Winstanley Bsc PhD FCIPD is Director of PostgraduateProgrammes at Kingston Business School, Kingston University, London. Shehas written five books and over 50 articles on management development, humanresource management, diversity, stakeholding, business ethics, learning andpersonal development. Her latest book is Personal Effectiveness: A Guide toAction (CIPD, 2005). She is a trained humanistic counsellor. Her currentresearch interests include work on stories and narratives, some of which are todo with motherhood and others connected to international students and theirexperience of learning. She is also developing a diagnostic tool to understandstudents learning orientations on masters level management programmes.

1 Introduction

To date, the emotional labour debate has been cast mostly in European and American

terms and according to implicit Euro-American sensibilities. For example the ‘default’

Christian sensibilities and gender assumptions that pervade the West and under which

emotional labour gets done, remain ‘un-marked’. Not much thought is given to asking

whether emotion work or emotional labour is different elsewhere and in what ways

‘different’. Cross-cultural comparison helps to foreground any differences.

Anthropological and linguistic research on emotion (not on emotional labour

specifically) shows no such limitations and generates much evidence of both fascinating

similarities and of differences in emotions between cultures. The organisational studies

literature is largely ignorant of this research. See Wierzbicka (1999) for a fascinating

introduction to emotional ‘diversity and universals’.

We feel that a promising way of going about demonstrating that emotional labour may

have important religious and gender components and taken-for-granted assumptions, is to

reflect on what happens when a Western, cheery and talkative ‘customer-facing’ service

company begins operations in an Islamic state. Our paper focuses primarily on relevant

Islamic dogma rather than on ethnographic evidence of lived experience under Islamic

Law. By ‘dogma’ what we mean is what is written in the scriptures, the official belief

systems, rules and law, although we have to beware the more negative connotations of the

concept relating to blinkered and restrictive readings of the text. However, two of the

authors have the advantage of being immersed in Islamic culture. We believe that

theological arguments are likely to connect especially strongly with lived experience in the

Islamic states some of whose ‘feeling rules’ (Hochschild, 1983) are stated formally. By

comparison, Western states are considerably more secular and Biblical Law enshrined to

a much less formal degree in Western statutes – though it is present in a more diffuse way,

especially in terms of assumptions about gender.

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As we are constrained by space, description of Christian doctrine and empirical

evidence of the reported experience of doing emotional labour under the contradictory

conditions that we will be describing, will be explored elsewhere. Instead we can establish

the comparative formal ethical position of women (and men) in terms of how the

‘managed heart’ should indeed be managed by Muslim female subjects. This paper

qualifies as a ‘hermeneutic’ piece in the traditional sense. It literally concentrates on the

meaning of religious text – as did early German hermeneutic scholarship – but also seeks

the likely practical outcomes for emotional labour and the conduct of collegial relations,

‘at the level of meaning’. The paper offers a comparative research design for a field study

whose findings will be reported in a later paper.

The ‘Christian component’ of this two-way comparison (i.e. Christian dogma on the

roles of men and women) is here ‘taken as read’, while Islamic law is described in detail.

There is probably some connection between Christian dogma and the moral evaluation and

performance of (gendered) service work in the West and we admit that there are some

parallels between gender norms in Islam and Christianity. However, we think that

emotional labour carries specific and stronger connotations for women working within theconstraints of Islamic doctrine. Islamic female employees are faced with having to make

‘emotional adjustments’ in themselves in order to reconcile certain contradictory

expectations as best they can. This unseen and unpaid process is largely emotional and

could be defined as ‘autonomous emotion work upon the self’.

It could be argued that ‘the Managed Heart’ is embedded in implicit Christian

sensibility (Smith, 1999) which has implications for the production of service labour. We

assume that orthodox Christianity is patriarchal in doctrinal terms, but possibly to a lesser

degree than Islam. For example one of the ‘High Christian’ theological objections to

female priests is based on the assumption that Christ ‘only chose male, not female

disciples’. Furthermore, women are exemplified by a chaste ideal in the form of Mary as

an archetypal, devoted and miraculous ‘virgin mother’. Meanwhile the role of her husband

Joseph is less important and he is not venerated, or discussed to the degree found in the

‘cult of Mary’.

One implication of this is that the ‘servant’ status of women (to men) found in

Christian dogma, has been appropriated into the ‘service relationship’ of women tocustomers in Delta Airlines and other such service based organisations. Likewise the

‘tougher’ image of males under patriarchy reappears in coercive service work, such as

among prison officers, in policing, debt-collecting and doorstep-security. These roles tend

to be dominated by men in a neo-Christian or post-Christian patriarchal cosmology

leaving women in the minority. It may be that a similar accommodation (between dogma

and emotional labour) will also be true eventually of capitalism in the Islamic states, in

due course. But in the meantime the difficulties facing women seem more particular and

acute here than for Western women working in nominally Christian geographic regions.

Here then is our call for further comparative research into the connections between

culture, gender, identity-management and the performance of emotional labour.

2 Asian context

Despite significant female participation in the informal economic sector, especially in

‘cottage manufacture’, in Muslim countries including Pakistan, Bangladesh and Malaysia,

152 J. Syed, F. Ali and D. Winstanley

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In pursuit of modesty 153

the socio-cultural, economic and legal infrastructures discourage female employment in

formal organisations (Ali, 2000). Popular religious interpretations and local traditions

promote sexual segregation, and discourage activity outside the walls of a woman’s house

(Mernissi, 1996). The print and electronic media project ‘mothers’, ‘sisters’ and ‘wives’

as ideal roles for Muslim women (Ali, 2000; Bennington, 2001). In this patriarchal setting,

a woman who steps out of her house and takes formal employment is less than ideal. She

is an object of criticism in the society and in the workplace, as someone who (whether by

compulsion or by choice) has violated sacred norms of seclusion and modesty.

A continuing conflict between her job-specific and her Islamic identity may have

adverse effects on self-esteem. A ‘modern’ job may demand self-assurance and candid

discourse as a teacher, business manager or quality control supervisor, and even verve in

sales. Her religion, culture and family might prefer her to remain out-of-the-way and

humble in her dealings, except with men who are her ‘Mehram’ (related to her) (Qur’an,

24:31). We will explore the female role found in the ‘concept of modesty’ and show how

this can affect the experience of Muslim women in formal employment. There is a

significant emotional aspect to observing or breaking with modesty, requiring a form of

unpaid ‘emotion work’ upon self, greater than in other cultures. Firstly, a note on

emotional labour.

3 Emotional labour

Emotional labour was defined as, “the induction or suppression of feeling in order tosustain the outward appearance that produces the proper state of mind in others” in return

for a wage (Hochschild, 1983, p.7). Here the focus is on the emotional effort that one has

to undergo in bringing about changes of affect in customers or clients. Hochschild

identifies three characteristics of emotional labour: face to face or voice to voice contact

with the public, the need to produce a specified emotional state in others and the

employer’s control over the worker. This definition restricts emotional labour to the effort

of meeting a job specification. Emotional labour adapts more general contextual display

rules: “behavioural expectations about which emotions ought to be expressed and which

ought to be hidden” (Rafaeli and Sutton, 1989, p.8). Display rules are thus subject to

occupational norms but also to societal and organisational norms (Ashforth and

Humphrey, 1993, p.91). “Occupational and organisational norms are often consistent with

societal norms although they may differ in degree or in kind” (Mann, 1997).

This presumption of consistency does not hold good for the Islamic context. The

determination of a Muslim woman’s emotional effort is not confined to the job

description. Her decision to take formal (non-domestic) employment brings her face to

face with religious and social impasse. She has to negotiate a path between modesty and

modernity throughout her professional career. We now outline the ‘default’ concept of

Islamic modesty to indicate the tension established with default ‘modern’ assumptions.

We also address the emotion work upon identity required in a woman who seeks to

articulate both sets of default assumptions. Bear in mind that Islam recognises

circumstantial constraints which the believer is trusted to negotiate in a pragmatic fashion,

such as conditions preventing prayer.

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4 Islamic female modesty

Women in Islamic society are subject to sexual segregation for religious reasons (Ali,

2000; Kazemi, 2000). Religion and its popular interpretations have historically restricted

women’s opportunities in the social, economic and political spheres. Indeed the Pakistani

equivalent of the word ‘woman’ in the Urdu language is Aurat, which derives from the

Arabic Aurah, meaning ‘privity’ or ‘a hidden thing’ (Hussain, 1987). Aurat is one of many

expressions of female seclusion. Chador (a big cloth to wrap around the body) and

Chardiwari (four walls of the house) are often described as two appropriate domains for

Pakistani women (Syed et al., 2005). A woman is expected to remain in Chador whenever

she is in the presence of men, related or unrelated to her, as a sign of modesty. Her

mobility outside Chardiwari is restricted because of the rationale of modesty (Haya),

family honour (Ghairat), and tribal tradition (Rivaj). Modesty is related to the concepts of

shame (Sharm) and humility (Ijz). It imposes physical and psychological boundaries on

Muslim working women. Modesty is embodied by the veil and serves the institution of

sexual segregation.

There are different types of veil (Chador, Hijab, Burka or Purdah) in different Muslim

cultures, which impact the social and organisational mobility of Muslim women to

different degrees. But there is an overarching protocol for male and female space. A

woman in the male space is ‘considered provocative and offensive’. By entering

male space, she “upset[s] the male’s order and his peace of mind … actually committing

an act of aggression against him merely by being present where she should not be. If

the woman is unveiled, the situation is aggravated” (Storti, 1990, pp.66–67). A Muslim

working woman thus contrives to uphold modesty and dignity, while justifying her job

and meeting the demands of the organisation. Publicly and probably privately to her self,

she symbolises defiance of religious and social norms, while proving her job-suitability

among specifically male colleagues. She may experience simultaneous fear, anxiety,

shame, guilt, depression and anger, in response to conflicting prescriptions and

proscriptions. Her attempt at ‘work/life balance’ is also a search for a workable

compromise between defiance and compliance; knowing that her moves are being

scrutinised and discussed in asides. These conflicts are ultimately, conflicts in self-hood.

Modesty also establishes protocols for the mobility and interaction of both genders,

which is generally more restrictive for women (Maududi, 1991). The concept entails

humility and restraint in dress, conversation and in dealings between men and women who

are not ‘Mehram’. Seclusion and sexual segregation is supported amply by traditional

sources in Islamic law. One rationale advanced by religious scholars is that modesty curbs

‘sexual anarchy’ otherwise prevalent in the world (Doi, 1989). This applies to Muslim

men and women (for example, Qur’an, 24:30–31), however on account of a difference in

nature between men and women, particularly in temperament, a greater amount of veiling

is required for women ‘especially in the matter of dress’ (Doi, 1989). Qur’an – the word

of God – and Hadith – the quite distinct traditions of the Prophet Muhammad – are often

quoted to highlight the importance of modesty and seclusion for Muslim women (Qur’an

24:31 and 33:59). For many centuries, Muslim scholars have promoted the ideal of female

confinement in the Harem or Chardiwari. The following verse is often cited in defence of

female seclusion:

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In pursuit of modesty 155

“And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard

their (sexual) modesty; and that they should not display their beauty and

ornaments except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof; that they should draw

their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty save to their husbands,

or their fathers or their husbands’ fathers, or their sons or their husbands’ sons,

or their brothers or their brothers’ sons, or their sisters’ sons, or their women, or

the slaves whom their right hands possess, or male servants free of physical desire,

or small children who have no sense of sex; and that they should not stamp their

feet in order to draw attention to their hidden ornaments. And O believers! Turn

all together towards Allah, that you may attain bliss.” (Qur’an, 24:31)

Further prohibitions are described in Hussain (1987, pp.143–157)

The Qur’an specifies use of an outer garment while going out of their dwellings:

“O Prophet! Tell thy wives and thy daughters and the women of the believers to

draw their gown or outer garments close around them (when they go out). That

will be better so that they may be recognised and not annoyed. Allah is

forgiving, Merciful.” (Qur’an, 33:59)

The Arabic word used for the gown is Jilbab, which orthodox scholars take to mean a veil

which also covers the face (Hussain, 1987, p.142). But opinions and practices differ as to

whether a Muslim woman must cover her face and hands in addition to Jilbab and

Khomor, while in the presence of unrelated men. Many influential religious scholars

including Ahmad bin Hanbal, Shafei and Abu Bakr bin Abdul Rehman treat a woman’s

whole body as ‘Aurah’ (privity not to be seen) (Alusi, 1983; Ibn Rushd, 1997). The

Hanafite School, followed by a majority of Muslims in Pakistan, initially considered the

uncovering of face and hands permissible for women, but this permission was later

withdrawn for fear of social corruption.

Some verses in the Qur’an are addressed to the wives of the Prophet Muhammad. For

instance the Qur’an outlines a detailed etiquette for conversation, seclusion and

ornamentation for the wives of the Prophet:

“O ye wives of the Prophet! Ye are not like any other women. If ye keep your

duty to Allah then be not soft of speech, let he in whose heart is a disease aspire

(to you) but utter customary speech. And stay in your homes. Do not display

your finery like it was displayed in the Time of Ignorance. Be regular in prayer,

and pay the poor due, and obey Allah and His Messenger. Allah’s wish is to

remove uncleanliness from you! O folk of the (Prophet’s) household and cleanse

you with a thorough cleansing.” (Qur’an, 33:32–33)

The wives of the Prophet are required to remain confined in their houses, and dedicate

themselves to Allah’s prayer in order to remain modest (‘clean’). They are also required

to adopt customary instead of soft speech in their conversation with strangers. According

to some religious scholars (such as Al-Jassas (1928)), the verses are applicable to allMuslim women: confine them to the house and forbid them from loitering outside their

houses (Doi, 1989).

The Qur’an also outlines a protocol around entrance and conversation in the house of

the Prophet. The following verse establishes the institution of Purdah (veil or curtain):

“. . . And when ye ask of them (the wives of the Prophet) anything, ask it of

them from behind a curtain. That is purer for your hearts and for their hearts.”

(Qur’an, 33:53)

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This injunction is the only unambiguous order from which the rule of a woman veiling her

face while going out on business is inferred. The injunction permits the wives of the

Prophet to converse with strangers subject to some restrictions, requiring them to remain

secluded and hidden from the gaze of the strangers. Orthodox scholars (Al Jassas, 1928;

Doi, 1989) however, consider this rule applicable to Muslim women in general (Hussain,

1987, p.149). The verses revealing the required seclusion of the Prophet’s wives were thus

generalised to all women, and it was declared that a woman is Aurah from head to foot

and no part of her body was to be made visible except for necessity (Doi, 1989; Maududi,

1991). The prohibition against stamping of feet ‘so as to reveal what they hid of their

ornament’ was used by Muslim jurists to argue that if ornaments should be inaudible to

others, then there is strong case that her voice should also not be audible to men. It was

further inferred that a woman could not call Azan (the call to prayer). A similar position

was adopted by Maududi (1991), considered an eminent religious scholar in Pakistan, who

declared the entire body of a woman to be Satr or Aurah from head to foot.

According to Maududi (1991), the male is aggressive by nature and if something

attracts him, he has a natural urge to acquire it. Woman, on the other hand is thought

naturally inhibited and seeking escape. Unless her nature is totally corrupted, she can

never be so aggressive, bold and fearless as to make the first advances towards the male

who has attracted her. While conceding that there is no absolute prohibition on women

looking at other men, Maududi castigates mixed gender gatherings, or looking at men in a

manner which may lead to evil results.

In addition to the generalisation of the meaning of the aforementioned verses for all

women, orthodox Ulema (Islamic scholars) cite a large number of traditions of the Prophet

in support of their position on Muslim woman’s veiled seclusion. Some traditions of the

Prophet recorded in different Islamic books (such as Trimidhi, Bukhari and Muslim)

support the orthodox version of seclusion and modesty.

“. . . A woman who freely mixes with other people and shows off her

decorations is without light and virtue.” (Tirmidhi)

“Do not call on women in the absence of their husbands, because Satan might

be circulating in any of you like blood.” (Tirmidhi)

“From this day no man is allowed to call on a woman in the absence of her

husband unless he is accompanied by one or two other men.” (Tirmidhi)

Some traditions restrict female beautification:

“The Messenger of Allah cursed women who tattooed, and those who got

themselves tattooed, those who engaged in sharpening the teeth (as a mark of

beauty) and those who had their teeth sharpened.” (Bukhari and Muslim)

“The Messenger of Allah cursed the women who plucked hair and those who

were employed to pluck the eyebrows.” (Abu Dawud)

Prohibited beautification includes shaving or trimming the eyebrows which made them

resemble inverted crescents (Doi, 1989).

The authority, authenticity and context of these traditions are, however, a matter of

debate (Hussain, 1987) and there have been mixed responses to restrictions from women.

M’Rabet, an Algerian writer and radio programme producer, tells her mother’s story in

which she was pulled out of school because her teacher asked her to stop wearing her head

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scarf in the class-room. Her mother decided that her daughter would remain uneducated

rather than violate the Muslim code of modesty. “Today they tell you to bare your head;

tomorrow they will make you eat pork.” The daughter led such a secluded life thereafter

that she did not leave home alone until she was 45 (M’Rabet, 1978).

Amina, a university student, uses the analogy of a hermit crab to describe her

experience of being an Arab woman:

“The hermit crab crawls into an empty snail shell on the beach because it has no

shell of its own to protect its soft underbelly. Like the hermit crab, which

outwardly assumed the identity of the invincible snail, the young woman seems

to be master of her destiny, judging by the impressive educational and

professional rights that she has gained. But she is vulnerable, because she does

not yet have full control over her own body.” (Minai, 1981, p.141)

In Pakistan, male supremacy is also indicated by proscriptions against women’s

participation in prayer at the mosque. While in many parts of West Asia women are free

to visit mosques, their attendance is beset with restrictions. Minai (1981) observes that

women never lead prayers or deliver the sermon. They occupy the least attractive corner

of the mosque during prayers. “As a result, they are denied the privilege of contemplating

the full splendour of the greatest architectural masterpiece of the Islamic world – just

because men are so weak as to forget God if women joined them in the main hall. Women

prayed alongside men during Muhammad’s times” (Minai, 1981, p.88).

Due to the considerable historical legacy of mistrust, exploitation, acrimony and

religious warfare, Muslim society is often suspicious of Western reforms of women’s

position. These attract suspicion as imperialist moves intended to corrupt native culture

and religious values. To traditionalists, modernisation means “nightclubs and mini-skirts

rather than schools and women’s rights” (Minai, 1981, p.77).

Non-orthodox voices notably Hussain (1987) in Pakistan and Al-Aqqad (1974) in

Egypt, support liberal, contextual interpretations of verses and traditions. Al-Aqqad

(1974) writes that many restrictions were laid down only for the wives of the Prophet and

that other Muslim women are not bound by them. For Hussain (1987, p.4) Islam grants

equality to men and women, with the exception of men’s additional duties and priority in

some aspects of family affairs. He interprets that Qur’anic verses ‘men are a degree above’

women (2:28) and that ‘men are in charge of women’ (4:34) only refer to man’s position

as head of the family consisting of his wife and children, whom he is duty-bound to

maintain (1987, p.9). This increases “man’s liabilities towards woman, makes her immune

from financial liabilities and thus magnifies her importance as a human being.” Like a man

she has:

“An independent individuality and is economically, socially and politically

identifiable as an entity different from her husband, father or son with right to

own property, earn money, vote at elections, hold electoral or other public

offices, and protect her legal and constitutional rights or interests. She is thus not

subject to the rule of segregation imposed on her by social customs, and

whenever necessary may appear in public with face unveiled and hands open.

The only restraint upon her is that of covering her adornments and

embellishments.” (Hussain, 1987, p.1)

Yet comparatively liberal voices like Al-Aqqad and Hussain are not heard in many parts,

notably the Arab states and the Indian subcontinent. Despite official ratification of several

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international instruments on gender equity and human rights, major barriers continue to

restrict women’s employment opportunities in Islamic society (UNDP, 2004). Gender inequity

has been described as a ‘freedom deficit’ found especially across Arabia (Haass, 2003).

In summary, female modesty is hegemonic – with some variations – throughout

Islamic society. Some opinion is moderate, but more restrictive. Detailed Islamic codes

govern dress, ornamentation, conversation, voice-pitch and segregation. How does

modesty affect Muslim women working in formal employment? What are its emotional

implications and how does it intersect modern organisation, especially where

organisations demand something heterodox to Muslim convention?

5 Emotional demands of modern organisation

Employers’ efforts to shape workers’ emotions and emotional display are an important

focus of Anglo-European organisational research (Wharton and Erickson, 1993, p.457).

Here gender remains an issue in which female employees confront “the vocational

development of middle class males” (Tyler, 1977). Masculine-feminine differentiation is

present and emotions continue to mark male supremacy and female exclusion from power

(Acker, 1992). The concept of management in the West has been tied to ideas about

masculinity (Hatcher, 2003, p.395). It has been suggested that to be successful in jobs,

women should adopt masculine styles. In the 1980s women were trained to speak and

engage in a more forthright style so that they could succeed (Hatcher, 2003). Ironically,

some men were also excluded from business opportunities because they lacked a

sufficiently ‘masculine’ aggressiveness (Fineman, 1993; Kerfoot and Knights, 1993).

The modern organisation has promoted the concept not only of, at least, nominal

gender equality but also of male and female managers and subordinates who are confident,

assertive and empowered (Clegg et al., 1995; Koller, 2004). Expressions of nominallyfeminine emotions such as caution and anxiety are evaluated negatively (Ashforth and

Humphrey, 1995). Employees who are forthright in manner and action, are somewhat

idealised.

Yet there is much that is paradoxical. Mission statements such as: DHL’s – “an

environment that rewards achievement, enthusiasm and team spirit”, Safeway Stores’ –

“contribute as part of an energetic and enthusiastic team” and Sun Life’s – “creating an

environment of professionalism, integrity and fun” (Foster, 1993) urge employees to be

both bold and demonstrative. Here, in Western terms we detect ‘masculine’

instrumentality married, oddly, to ‘feminine’ expressivity and team-altruism. Or in Islamic

terms, we see ‘natural male boldness’ tied with immodesty and expressivity inappropriate

in non-kin, mixed-sex association.

At a global political level, the United Nations ‘Beijing Platform for Action’ treats

women as equal partners in power and decision making, as a central part of its mission

statement. This challenges many Islamic and Western assumptions:

“The Platform for Action is an agenda for women’s empowerment. It aims at

. . . removing all the obstacles to women’s active participation in all spheres of

public and private life through a full and equal share in economic, social,

cultural and political decision making. This means that the principle of shared

power and responsibility should be established between women and men at

home, in the workplace and in the wider national and international

communities.” (FWCW, 1995)

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Minai (1981) reports her dialogue with Khadija, a highly successful Saudi Arabian

entrepreneur, who sees the ‘masculine’ foundation on which modern woman is building

her career and emancipation as problematic. Khadija observes that the ‘modern woman’

had become ‘like men’ in order to attain equality with male colleagues (echoing some

1980s voices which urged that she should take precisely this step). In the absence of

deeper changes which might reconcile the woman’s ‘natural role’ and her career in the

outside world, “They have in effect failed to break down the harem, since their

womanhood is still trapped in it” (Minai, 1981, p.219).

In the UK women continue to experience slower career advances, even at early stages

of their jobs, through a combination of persistent, implicitly male role models and

explicitly male selection criteria (Jackson and Hirsh, 1991). The ‘male paradigm’ makes

women managers alien “travellers in a male world” (Marshall, 1984, cited in Wajcman

(1998, p.50)); “still thinking like a man” (Schwartz, 1971). Schwartz did not rule out the

possibility of “some logical, pragmatic ladies hiding in the bushes [and] some men who

are in touch with their emotions” (Schwartz, 1971, pp.71–72) and there maybe some

degree of this in the mission statement reported above. However Bing (2004), reiterates

that from his experience, there remains no place for crying in the workplace. The crying

game was leached out of men during childhood. Noting that men have solved the

‘problem’, Bing suggests that women should inflict pain (yelling) instead of suffering it

(crying):

“Let me give you a suggestion, as a friend: Don’t get moist – get even. Very

often tears are a mask for anger that you’ve been taught not to express. The way

boys are taught not to blubber, girls are told to suppress unseemly rage. Look at

the big male morons around you who are doing well. Usually the ones most

capable of generating Olympian anger are doing the best, right? So when you feel

a sniffle building? Yell instead. Inflict pain – do not suffer it.” (Bing, 2004, p.88)

Traditional career models construct career-ambitious individual as fiercely competitiveengaged in tournament. Each round allocates a winner who moves up to the next career

ladder rung and a loser who stays where they are (O’Leary, 1997). By viewing careers

through the lens of traditional masculine career models, a woman (and man) who prefers

to work in an atmosphere of camaraderie, support and encouragement, where cooperative

enterprise replaces the idea of winners and losers, risks being construed as lacking in

ambition.

Clegg et al. (1995) point to the masculine military model as the model of traditional

management “with its bureaucratised ranks, uniforms, distinctions and command structure”

(1995, p.1303). Koller (2004) examines the metaphors describing women executives and

managers, hypothesising that the war metaphor reflects hegemonic masculinity in business

discourse. To test the hypothesis, Koller applied cognitive metaphor theory in combination

with Critical Discourse Analysis to two collections of business magazine features on

executives. Expressions including corporate killer, pugnacious and aggressive are used in

first-person and third-person references across genders. Koller thus finds the metaphor of

businesswomen as warriors, sustaining its male prototype.

Ross-Smith and Komberger (2004) find that organisational discourse continues to

reflect assumptions about masculinity and rationality that originate in earlier

organisational discourse. They find it expressed in earlier philosophical and sociological

descriptions of reason and rationality. Thus in their style of work and decision making,

women seem likely to follow, and to be evaluated on, a masculine scale of rationality.

4-Syed.qxp 12/12/2005 15:20 Page 159

Meanwhile, the idea of gender difference by which women are marked as other,

persists. Hosoda and Stone (2000) found 78 overall attributes associated with males, out

of which 12 attributes were considered key masculine attributes (handsome, aggressive,

tough, courageous, strong, forceful, arrogant, egotistical, boastful, hardheaded, masculine

and dominant). Sixty-two overall attributes were associated with females, nine of which

were considered key feminine attributes (affectionate, sensitive, appreciative, sentimental,

sympathetic, nagging, fussy, feminine and emotional).

While Brewis et al. (1997) argue that gender differences can be resisted and socially

re-constructed, for example through gender inappropriate dress – male transvestism and

female power dressing, we find an earlier order surviving in pastiche and kitsch. If there

is a diminishing sense of rigidity and mutual exclusivity of the gender divide in the

modern organisation, these means of showing it speak also of the great distance to be

travelled.

Consequently, there is an emerging trend in some organisations to develop a female

management style in men and women (Baxter, 2001, p.5; Rodenburg, 2000): a style that

successful women feel out of touch with (Hatcher 2003). This development may be

attributed to new knowledge-claims about what it is to be feminine or masculine. Thus the

paradoxical nature of management discourse sees discussion of the “feminisation of

management” (Fondas, 1997), alongside voices (such as Helgeson (1990)) which still rely

on earlier orthodoxy. Helgeson, like Gilligan (1982) does not challenge traditional theory,

but “simply inverts the gender order by valorising female approaches over male ones”

(Hatcher, 2003, p.398–399). Her suggestions that women can be strong, are able to take

final responsibility and are authoritative, but in more subtle ways, reflect the reality of the

masculine order even in contemporary organisations (Helgeson, 1990, p.53). The

perspective provides simple answers as to how female managers might manage better, but

“without undermining the mechanisms through which the more traditional masculine

models operate” (Hatcher, 2003, p.399).

6 Modern management and emotional labour in an Islamic context?

In the above section we have explored seeming contrasts and actual ambiguities,

particularly in terms of the ‘masculine’ and the ‘feminine’ in management. Hints of the

appropriation of the feminine by the masculine can be heard in the peculiar sentiment of

the ‘instrumental/ team’ mission statement. We find employment to be slippery enough for

women to negotiate, quite independent of any Islamic requirements described beforehand.

Reintroducing Islamic context and its double-complexities creates a whole new spectrum

of issues for women and emotional labour.

Even within professions and organisations where women form the majority of the

workforce, there may be a conflict between the expected emotional display and the

‘concept of modesty’. In nursing it would be problematic for women to engage in bodily

contact with male patients, whilst washing, dressing and attending them, as this violates

the requirements of spatial segregation of the sexes. The voice-tone in which caring care

is offered may challenge conservative Islamic doctrine concerning women. More

generally, what might be seen as ‘modern’ work (meaning formal organised, office based

employment rather than secluded home-based work in the informal sector) is not designed

around the emotional requirement and displays required of ‘modest’ women in Islamic

160 J. Syed, F. Ali and D. Winstanley

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In pursuit of modesty 161

societies. The idea that colleagues might be assertive and demonstrative to each other and

to clients (especially in so called ‘flat structures’) is similarly problematic.

We are not arguing that in all workplaces all these problems will arise, as pragmatic

ways may be found to side-step them; but they remain probable where Western companies

have set up branch-plants and country-offices in Islamic states. Indeed there is an Islamic

logic to maximising home-based employment among women. Islamic doctrine would also

tend to reproduce the masculine assumption apparent in ‘orthodox’ (sic) Western

organisation: namely male domination of the professions and of middle and corporate

management levels. Even feminine characteristics may require a level of emotional

display that would be inappropriate for Muslim women – such as demonstrating affection,

appreciation and emotions.

Public displays of competitiveness and assertiveness in the organisational contexts,

could mean that Muslim women face a conflict between feelings rules (such as shyness

and confidence, fear and strength, restraint and anger, cooperation and boldness of action).

A courteous smile may be interpreted as a sign of sexual interest, and she may be

perplexed about what being a good customer service provider might mean (Mann, 1997).

Her organisational experiences will likely comprise masking (restraint and inhibition)

instead of integration (affection, friendliness, pride and pleasure) (Kemper, 1984; Mann,

1997; Wharton and Erickson, 1993).

When the primary task is alteration of the feelings of others – emotional labour – the

contradiction between cultural context and work role may be extreme . . . a conflict

between job context and job content. A Muslim woman thus strives to adopt two primarily

inconsistent roles; being modern enough to meet organisational requirements, while being

modest enough to comply with religious norms. We define the contextual dimension of

emotional labour as the induction or suppression of feeling in order to sustain theappearance that is appropriate for the social and the organisational contexts. The labour

requires a specific ‘coordination of mind and feelings’ which addresses conflicting

demands of the society and the workplace. Contextual emotional labour will accompany

face-to-face or voice-to-voice contact with the clients as well as the colleagues, and the

need to strike an appearance – aesthetic labour, the right performance.

We will close this paper by offering a schema within which data might be represented.

Table 1 offers a comparison of the usual and the culture-contextual approaches to

emotional labour. As shown, the more usual approach is work-role specific, culture-implicit

and focused on job-content, though it might easily acknowledge gender. On the other

hand, the contextual approach is not work-role specific, and is focused on the social and

the organisational contexts. The contextual approach is ‘internally’ orientated involving

‘deep’ emotional struggle within one’s self. It is also long-term as compared to momentary

transactional experience. The contextual approach recognises the outcomes of contact not

only with the public, but also with the colleagues and other related actors in the society

and the organisation. Though true of females and males elsewhere, faced with conflicting

social and organisational demands, working women in Islamic society offer a specific case

of contextually marked emotional labour. In view of the increasing gender awareness in

contemporary Muslim society, there is a requirement for close examination of issues and

possibilities for female participation in the formal sector of employment, and this paper is

a first step in such a project.

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Figure 1 offers a contextual perspective of emotional labour faced by working women in

Islamic society. As discussed, the Islamic concept of modesty requires women to be

humble in their dress, conversation and actions. Muslim women are not ordinarily

expected to leave their house. The best role models for women have been described as

‘mothers’, ‘sisters’ and ‘wives’. The culture of modesty, restraint and seclusion results in

the management or suppression of emotions such as anger, pleasure and pride. Instead,

women are structurally encouraged to remain shy and restrained in their interaction with

the men not related to them. And if they interact with men, their experiences are expected

to be based on shame, guilt and embarrassment. Modern organisation, on the other hand,

requires women to be strong, aggressive and forceful in their interactions with other

members of their organisation and the public. New organisational models encourage them

to assert power, and remain candid in the expression of anger, pride and pleasure. Modern

organisation has little space for crying women, and those who cannot overcome fear and

anxiety. It is clear that both of these roles – the ‘modest woman’ and the ‘modern woman’

– place special contradictions upon working women in Islamic society.

162 J. Syed, F. Ali and D. Winstanley

Table 1 A comparison of the traditional and the contextual approaches of emotional labour

The typical approach The contextual approach

Work role Work-role specific (people-work Not work-role specific

such as nurses or flight attendants)

Focus Job content Job context

Orientation Externally orientated – to produce Internally orientated – internal

an emotional state in another person emotional struggle in the self beyond

surface- or deep-acting

Duration Focus on the duration of contact Long term; as long as societal and

with the clients and the cumulative organisational circumstances do not

effects of encounters change

Contact Face to face or voice to voice Face to face or voice to voice contact

contact with the public with the public as well as colleagues

Affectivity The need to produce an emotional Not specially aimed at producing an

state in another person emotional state in others

Control The employer’s control over the Society’s as well as the organisation’s

emotional activities of employees control over activities of employees

(social and organisational acceptability

issue)

Example Caring business: A nurse is required Islamic society: A Muslim working

display appropriate emotion such as woman needs to adopt conflicting roles

sympathy, and to suppress an (modest woman and modern woman)

inappropriate emotion such as at the same time

boredom

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In pursuit of modesty 163

7 Conclusion

In this paper we have argued that specific features in the emotional experience of Islamic

working women are predictable, and with them, a number of dilemmas, particularly in

addressing the emotional expectations required by modern business cultures, whether they

be ‘feminine’ or ‘masculine’ in tone. The emotional tension set up between the social and

religious context of the organisation and the population from which it recruits, and

common business workplace cultures (bruising, bold, assertive or seductive) suggests

many intersections with undertaking emotion work. Our approach has been to incorporate

the social, managerial and religious context into a model of emotional labour. This moves

the focus away from a concept of emotional labour primarily based around a work-role,

Figure 1 Feeling-rule conflicts for Muslim working women

4-Syed.qxp 12/12/2005 15:21 Page 163

and instead looks at the tension between work role, managerial culture, gender identity and

wider social and religious contexts. We have concentrated on Islamic female modesty to

alert researchers to salient comparative difference. However researchers might find many

other intersections between culture, work and gender.

In choosing Islamic female modesty we have shown how women’s participation in the

formal sector of employment might be most strongly affected. The notion of modesty will

encourage restraint and inhibition and related emotions of fear, shame and guilt where

Muslim women interact with males at work who are not their ‘Mehram’. Where

organisations continue to promote the concept of ‘masculine’ characteristics in the

workforce, such as aggression, strength and dominance, this can produce especially severe

tensions for Muslim women, torn between social and religious perspectives on their role

and what constitutes appropriate emotion and behaviour on the one hand, and

organisational requirements on the other.

We look forward to reporting empirical work on the emotional tensions engendered

(sic) by contradictory cultural contexts and workplace norms. This will feature two

factories in Lahore, and we would argue for more work in this area.

Whether the ‘feminisation of management’ (as a form of practice) is to the specific and

pragmatic advantage of Muslim women or whether the ‘Islamisation of management’ is to

the special advantage of feminine management, then emerge as larger questions. But in

either case what remains clear is that the removal altogether of gendered identities and

practices, seems very far-off.

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Steve Smith for providing some valuable input into the editing of this

paper and Andrew Connolly for his valuable feedback on an earlier draft of this paper.

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Appendix: Glossary

Abu Dawud Sunan Abu Dawud, Collection of Prophet Muhammad’s traditions by

Abu-Dawud (202–275 AH)

Aurah Arabic: Privity, a hidden thing that should not be seen.

Aurat Woman

Azan Traditional Muslim call to prayers

Bukhari Sahih Bukhari, Collection of Prophet Muhammad’s traditions by

Bukhari (194–256 AH)

Burka or a garment which covers the entire body and face. The eyes are covered

Burqa with a ‘net curtain’ allowing the woman to see but preventing other

people from seeing her eyes.

Chador A large piece of cloth worn by Muslim women in some countries,

(or Chadar) wrapped around the body to leave only the face exposed

Chardiwari Literal meanings: four walls. Denotes women’s confinement in four

walls of the house; equivalent to Arab concept of Harem

166 J. Syed, F. Ali and D. Winstanley

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In pursuit of modesty 167

Ghairat or Honour, family honour

GheerahHadith A body of traditions about things the Prophet Muhammad said, did, or

(plural Ahadith) allowed

Hanafite Follower of school of Imam Abu Hanifa

Harem Arabic: A house or a section of a house reserved for women members

of a Muslim household; Women occupying such a place

Haya Modesty

Hijab Modest dress of the Muslim woman; a common usage refers only to the

(or Hejab) headscarf

Ijz Humility

Jilbab or Jelbab Gown or outer garment worn over inner clothes to guarantee that a

woman’s body is covered and doesn’t show her figure

Khomor Cloth to cover upper part of body

Mehram a woman’s immediate family whom she cannot legally marry

Muslim Sahih Muslim, Collection of Prophet Muhammad’s traditions by

Muslim (202–261AH)

Purdah Veil or curtain used to screen women from strangers; a popular system

in Pakistan and India

Qur’an Holy book of Islam; the revealed Scripture transmitted word-for-word

from God to the Prophet Muhammad via the angel Gabriel

Rivaj Tradition; custom

Satr To veil, conceal

Sharm Shyness, inhibition

Trimidhi Collection of Prophet Muhammad’s traditions by Trimidhi (209–279 AH)

Urdu National language in Pakistan

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