“Sailing twixt Scylla and Charybdis”: negotiating multiple organisational masculinities

Abstract

This qualitative study explores the intersection between organizational masculinity and emotionality within a pre‐hospital emergency services organization. The existence of multiple masculinities within a male‐dominated and emotion‐laden organization indicates that men who work within this context are required to negotiate multiple forms of masculinities within heavily emotionalised organizational regions or spaces. This study found that there were competing tensions between at least two forms of masculinity within the organisation in question. While militarized and managerial/technical forms of masculinity dominate as the principal hegemonic form, a heroic and caring masculinity is also essential to how the organization in question produces its key services. It is argued that forms of masculinity that are closer to the hegemonic ideal type are not “compensatory”, but have to co‐exist with other, albeit more marginalized, masculinities.