Abstract
Through the lens of Status Construction Theory, we consider the role of gender status beliefs and the obdurate nature of gender differences as a category of status bias. We consider how the reproduction of gender status construction associates with marketplace resources. We study how individual experiences and marketplace resources operate, contribute, sustain or mitigate inequity in a consumption subculture. Using a multi-method ethnography to study expert women climbers whose competence is often refuted due to gender status bias.
Our study makes three contributions; firstly, a nuanced illumination of the ways gender status is experienced by socially advantaged, competent women. Secondly, extending Status Construction Theory to include meso level analysis, demonstrating the interconnectedness of micro, meso and macro levels of marketplace implications. Lastly, through this theoretical contribution on the reproduction of gender status we present a detailed articulation of marketplace resources and how these can contain or counter subordinating gender positionality.