Feminine Tensions in Conflict Situations as Revealed by Metaphoric Analyses

Abstract

This investigation combined interpretive and quantitative metaphoric analyses to examine conflict images of women in government. Based on feminist, conflict, and metaphor literature, we anticipated that first-order (metaphoric family) and second-order (structural or linguistic) analyses would reveal overarching categories, underlying tensions, and contextual differences in workplace metaphors. Findings indicated that metaphoric families provided generalizable categories but that linguistic devices suggested subtleties in the ways in which professional women conceptualized their conflictual interactions in the workplace.