ABSTRACT
It is difficult to think of a man in a prominent leadership position who has had to chide women in any similar way for using sexism to undermine his leadership. However, gender stereotypes can also damage men who are leaders. As with formal political leadership, formal organizational or corporate leadership has not been easily accessible for women. In particular, the stereotype that women are more emotional than men has undermined their attempts to fit leadership roles. The attempt to fulfill the contradictory requirements of both roles can put women in a double bind. Social psychologists Alice Eagly and Linda Carli chose a labyrinth metaphor to describe the situation which women face in their quest for leadership positions. For a woman, developing an identity as a leader and integrating that identity as a core part of her self-concept takes place in contexts where leadership is implicitly defined as masculine and feminine authority is met with suspicion.
