Gender and Public Relations'

It is impossible to understand adequately the social construction of public relations without closely examining its gendered nature. The work of feminist-inspired scholars has brought to our attention the centrality of gender in shaping social relations, pointing out that gender is one of the central organising principles around which social life revolves. We believe that inquiry into public relations as a gendered practice will bring deeper understanding of its internal and external relationships, its past and future directions, and its cultural variety. Thus this special issue of PRism enables us to take stock of knowledge in a certain domain and at a particular point in time. It helps us to identify some common concerns and differences among scholars currently researching public relations as viewed from the conceptual lens of gender.

Although there is an extant (small) body of pioneering feminist scholarship that problematises gender in public relations, gender is a relatively undefined area of thinking in the field. To some extent, this is due to the mainstream preoccupation in research and publications with concerns that are underpinned by a functionalist epistemology, that is, one that sidelines critical or evaluative approaches. In seeking to buttress the conservative position, such research rejects the interests of critical and feminist scholars who wish to stimulate emancipation and social change. We believe that the articles in this special issue make an exciting start to the disruption of the status quo by calling attention to the absence of gender in much public relations knowledge and teaching. Hopefully, future researchers will be challenged to interrogate how gender is accomplished and transformed, and thereby

how power is exercised and inequality (re)produced or challenged in public relations.