The United Nations has been an important forum for promoting women’s rights, but women are still underrepresented at the most senior levels of its leadership. This points to persistent obstacles in reaching gender parity at the UN, despite the organization’s overt commitment to this objective. Situated in feminist institutionalist insights, I argue that the institutionalization of gender inequality through practices in the UN as a gendered institution can account for continued barriers to women leadership. This makes contributions to feminist institutionalist literature in International Relations by taking it to the individual, micro level. Practices sustain, inform, and manifest themselves in four interconnected, gendered processes that reinforce gendered divisions of subordination: positional divides, symbols and imagery, everyday interactions, and individual identity (based on Acker 1990, 146-7; Scott 1986). These processes and their practices become accessible through the narrative analysis of semi-structured interviews conducted with senior women leaders at the UN. By recognizing their narratives as valid forms of insight into the study of the UN, this approach recognizes women leaders’ agency as opposed to portraying them as numbers only.

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女性还是领导者？将联合国叙述为性别机构的做法

联合国一直是促进妇女权利的重要论坛，但妇女在其最高领导层的代表性仍然不足。这表明联合国在实现性别均等方面存在持续障碍，尽管该组织公开致力于实现这一目标。站在女权主义制度主义的见解中，我认为通过联合国作为性别化机构的实践将性别不平等制度化可以解释女性领导力的持续障碍。这对国际关系中的女权主义制度主义文学做出了贡献，将其带到了个人、微观层面。实践在四个相互关联的性别化过程中维持、告知和表现出来，这些过程强化了从属的性别化划分：位置划分、符号和意象、日常互动、和个人身份（基于 Acker 1990, 146-7; Scott 1986）。通过对联合国高级女性领导人进行的半结构化访谈的叙述分析，可以了解这些过程及其实践。通过承认她们的叙述是对联合国研究的有效洞察形式，这种方法承认女性领导人的能动性，而不是仅仅将她们描绘成数字。