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Show HINCKLEY JOURNAL OF POLITICS 2002/2003 gain acceptance by the dominant group. Tokens may be expected to be the source of jokes or to go along with jokes concerning their minority group, participate in prejudicial talk or action about their group, or laugh as others within the group are the target of jokes or prejudicial talk. The accepted token is "exceptional" compared to the engrained stereotypes. The third perceptional phenomenon is that of role entrapment. Role entrapment is "the distortion of characteristics of tokens to fit preexisting generalizations about their category" (1977, 980-981). This is a product of the dominant group's tendency to try to assimilate the tokens into a perceptual framework based on one-dimensional stereotypes. Rather than change the mental category based on the actual person, the token is forced to fit into preexisting generalities. For women in male-dominated workplaces, there are four identified roles in which women are perceptually trapped. These roles are based on over-simplified notions of gender categories that are more easily understood by the dominant group. The first of these roles is that of mother. The mother role is that of emotional support, sympathy, and domestic wisdom. Women in the mother role are perceived to be supportive, not independent or driven for personal success. They are rewarded for service to others, and discouraged from pursuing individual success. Mothers are supposed to stay supportive, non-critical, and upbeat. Mothers are identified almost solely with emotional tasks, so the men will provide the intellectual work while the mothers fulfill emotional needs. The second trapping role is that of the seductress. She is a sexual object, a scarce commodity within the overall group. Even if she is not literally engaged sexually with any of the men in the group, she is still viewed as desirable and an opportunity for the man to play "protector." She is to be sexy, flirtatious, entertaining, and boosting to the men's egos. Her sexuality and the focus on her as a scarce resource makes it nearly impossible for this woman to have multiple male allies, and she is often branded as a sexual object, thereby alienating her from other women. The third trapping role is that of the pet. The pet is the cute, amusing cheerleader for the overall group. Her role is to be a "symbolic mascot," providing cheers for instances of male prowess and achievement. The pet is surprising when she shows competency or skills beyond being cute or charming. She is given extra attention for moments when she shows unexpected knowledge or expertise. This role is trapping because it greatly diminishes the likelihood of a woman exploring or achieving recognition for her competency and skill potential. The last trapping role examined is that of the iron maiden (crudely known as the bitch). This is the strong woman role, where a woman who is assertive and who will not play the other roles is seen as dangerous and threatening. If a woman insists on full participatory rights within the male-dominated group, she is seen as someone who could threaten the makeup and function of the group. She is kept at a dis- tance and treated with exaggerated politeness. Terms like "women's libber" and "femi-nazi" are used on women who are perceived to play this role. Iron maidens demand rights and access that have either never or rarely been asserted in the past. Some results of the role entrapment are that women are forced to play roles that may not fit well, but are easier and less trouble to play than redefining the gendered work roles. Women maintain greater comfort and job security if the roles are played than if challenged, because some access is still guaranteed, even if on unfavorable terms. Lastly, women are often forced to distort themselves in order to maintain their positions, at the expense of a higher stress level, diminished self worth, and frustration with a system ill equipped to fully include them. Ranter's study concludes with her solution to the problems faced by a token group. She proposes that when enough of the token group is added to the larger group, the effects of tokenism will diminish because the newness, rareness, and stereotypes will break down in light of more exposure to the token. The role entrapment will not hold up to scrutiny once enough men, or members of the dominant group more generally, are regularly in professional contact with enough women, or tokens. GENDER CONSCIOUSNESS Another important theoretical component to this study is gender consciousness. A woman's political identity and understanding fundamentally shape her action or inaction within the political sphere. The woman's own perspective compared to the imposed gender stereotypes and expectations will determine much of her action in terms of other women and working toward gender parity. Sapiro delineated the development and importance of women developing a "gender consciousness," which is partially defined as "a politicized form of social identity" (1990, 268). Gender consciousness, having a collective identity as women within the political sphere, is key to women gaining political power and equal access to the democratic process. The foundation for gender consciousness is an awareness of collective identity and an awareness of the inequalities faced by that collective, women. Then, based on strength of that consciousness, women are able to create coalitions, garner support from others, and translate that consciousness into political action that benefits that collective. An example of such action is electing women and female-friendly candidates, making women more prominent within party power structures, and using women's money to support those favorable to the collective's advancement. Women who possess gender consciousness not only view themselves as members of this collective, but they see the problems faced by all women as theirs to address and act upon. Gender consciousness allows one to see the sources of 23 |