'Embodiment, Archetypes and Femininity: The Un-Taming of the Wild Woman Driver', a seminar by Dr Oonagh Harness (Northumbria University)

Embodiment, Archetypes and Femininity: The Un-Taming of the Wild Woman Driver

By Dr Cat Spellman (Durham University), Dr Oonagh Harness (Northumbria University), and Professor David Knights (Lancaster University)

Abstract

Our research explores the work of female drivers in the UK through a dual theoretical lens intersecting archetype and embodiment theory. Specifically, we utilise Estés’ (1992) ‘Wild Woman’ archetype to highlight key themes of intuition, instinct, movement, endurance, and resistance. To bring the symbolic aspects of this archetype to life, we pay close attention to the women's embodied experiences of driving work. Archetypal and symbolic aspects of work are not assumed or imposed upon women, but are dynamically embraced, resisted or reshaped through everyday work. Moreover, as a masculinized field of work, the rhythms, risks, and relational aspects of driving often ostracize women's bodies, delineating them as ‘other’. Through the integrated theoretical lens of embodiment and archetypes, we analyse how female drivers contend with such pronounced and widespread gender inequality. More broadly, we highlight the untapped potential of archetypes as analytical tools that could be usefully applied to contexts of gender atypical work to better understand how symbolic and cultural motifs, imagery and folklore resonate with individuals. Rather than implying that archetypes are subconsciously and unquestionably adopted by individuals, we assert that they formidably steer the embodied practices that are constitutive of meaning.