The analysis of characteristics assigned to certain subjects and how these characteristics are socially constructed has become common in organizational studies. The privileges available in only a part of dual relationships, such as women and men (Fletcher, 1998), appear in the discourses and organizational practices as neutral and natural, although they demarcate and define the nature of work and their relations. In this paper we examine how the attributes of masculinity and femininity influence the meaning of being a man or woman, in an organization of the third sector. The organization under study, as a pattern of meanings, values and behavior, is examined from three perspectives (Martin, 2001), to understand things that are shared, faced or ambiguous, concerning the role of masculinity and femininity. This is a qualitative study, the design of which is the research narrative. Data collection was performed by means of documents and semi-structured interviews with members of Ameas. The results show inconsistencies, ambiguities and contradictions between the narratives found in the founding documents and the narratives of the subjects of the research in organizational practice.
gender; organizational culture; narrative
