‘Oh My God, You Are So Sexy’: Constructing sexuality through spatial aesthetics in women’s co-working spaces

The article develops the concept of “spacing sexuality” to explore the construction of alternative women-oriented workspaces aimed at challenging traditional workplace gender norms and fostering a new ideal type of woman entrepreneur. By highlighting the dialectical process of spacing, the study investigates how sexuality is constructed through aesthetic means and how space users negotiate and experience this. The study explores the interplay among space, sexuality, and gender, and it offers a theoretical framework to understand the role of sexuality in establishing women-oriented workspaces. Its contribution is threefold: First, it illuminates how workspaces for women are shaped through spacing processes and aesthetic assemblages that involve complex negotiations around femininity. Second, it highlights how sexuality is both empowering women at work—challenging gender norms and fostering a supportive community—and rooted in unequal gender power relations. Finally, it explores how the construction of alternative gender regimes in women-oriented spaces intersects with the pressures of the entrepreneurial world, emphasizing the nuanced negotiation of femininity and success.