Enacting traditional roles in a nontraditional setting: Women employed by the Red Cross in Viet Nam

Autor: Juanita M. Firestone, Cherylon Robinson
Rok vydání: 1996
Předmět:
Zdroj: Sex Roles. 34:43-64
ISSN: 1573-2762
0360-0025
DOI: 10.1007/bf01544795
Popis: This paper examines role behavior among women employed in three Red Cross sponsored programs in Viet Nam. In-depth interviews were used to collect data from twenty women who were employed in Viet Nam. Nineteen of the women were White non-Hispanic and one was African American. All had middle or upper middle class backgrounds. Data collected from former Red Cross workers who had served in Viet Nam were analyzed and organized into a typology of roles, including “all-American girl,” “sex object,” and “deviant.” The images portrayed by these women and their conflicting role expectations reflect the difficulties women experience when working in male-dominated environments. Conflict and strain emanated from the variety of role expectations associated with Red Cross work, as well as their own sense of importance compared to others' definitions of their job. The incompatibility between official and unofficial role expectations resulted in role strain. Although role taking was the most prevalent response to role strain, the women also engaged in role making, role distancing, and to a lesser extent, role rejection.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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