Moral Geographies of Gender and Work

The moralization of gender is derived from and practiced through relationships that shape wider geographies of inequality. Building on the conceptual foundation of doing gender, this study explores normative conceptions of gender as they are performed and reproduced in the workplace and everyday life. It develops a novel view of the social foundation of inequality based on respect. Socially constructed disadvantages often persist, due to their moralization with gender inequality being rooted in the different valuation of genders and the differentiated sense of entitlement to respect experienced by women and men. The framework is applied to study women’s access to tourism employment in Muslim-majority countries. Galvanized by women’s movements in the Arab spring uprisings, an increasing reflection on the position and role of women in Muslim societies, and society as a whole in the 21st century, has acquired renewed urgency. The tension between universal norms and moral relativism have been at the center of debates on gender equality with this study responding to calls for a moral turn in tourism. In exploring the moral geographies of gender and tourism work, this paper aims to provide an insight to the sometimes-subtle transformations that represent sites of resistance and hope within gender trouble.