Woman in the ivory tower: gendering feminised and masculinised identities

Purpose - To challenge dualistic concepts of masculinity and femininity via a case for understanding gender as a verb.Design/methodology/approach - Using Deleuzian and feminist frameworks, the paper appraises six plateaus of desire and intensity through which gendered identities are assembled and re-assembled in binary terms. The case study approach highlights the positioning and repositioning of a woman whose leadership of a leading academic institution involves breaking new ground in a male-defined occupation, at a time when higher education is undergoing radical restructure.Findings - The paper shows how masculinised and feminised identity positions are effected through attempts to affix certainty to indistinct and multiple dimensions of being and becoming.Originality/value - Suggests that if we wish to understand gender in non-dualistic terms we should think through the body to see both corporeality and identity as ambiguous and always unfinished assemblages.