Before and after Me Too: Changing Cultural Schemas of Gender Inequality and Violence in Artistic Fields

• In Event: 3222 - Organizations, Occupations, and Work: Refereed Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 min): Table 12: Field Dynamics, Culture, and Organizational Practices

Abstract

This article seeks to contribute to our understanding of the effects of the transnational Me Too movement in how participants in cultural and artistic fields think and feel about gender-based violence and gender inequality. The locus of empirical analysis is the world of fine dining in Peru—a field notably dominated by men chefs in a country with one of the highest rates of sexual violence in the region. Using comparatively interview data gathered before and after the emergence of Me Too, the article describes and explains the ways in which cultural frames fostered by the movement resonate with chefs’—especially women chefs—experiences altering how they narrate and reflect on episodes of violence they suffered and on inequality regimes in their professional craft. The findings have implications for theories about cultural change and gender inequality in artistic labor markets.

Author

• Nino Bariola, The University of Texas at Austin