Masculinities without men: The work experiences of local female employees in a Chinese mine in Papua New Guinea

Abstract

This article engages with research on the escalating global presence of Chinese multinational corporations (CMCs) and their influence on Indigenous female employees through mining operations. This article explores the relationship between local women’s work experiences and their perceptions and interpretations of masculinities, in contrast to the dichotomy caused by the previous concentration on women in mining and the current advocacy in deconstructing the masculine mining industry. To accomplish so, this article first demonstrates the corporate women in mining programs and emphasizes the contradictions between the corporate endorsement of gender equality and the actual predominance of males in physical-demanding jobs. The work experiences of three local women employed in a Chinese mine in Papua New Guinea (PNG) are then illustrated. This article argues that female local employees’ performance and comprehension of masculinities (a woman of all trades, a strong woman, and a determined woman) do not necessarily represent a relationship to men’s bodies or consent to the understanding of men’s suitability for doing laborious and dangerous jobs. This article suggests that the work experiences of these local female employees resonate with and contribute to Halberstam’s (1998) theory about female masculinities and provide an alternative framework for deconstructing the hypermasculine mining sector.