Theoretically grounded in the literature on gender inclusion and organisational identity, the study examines the process of identity work that led to the admission of women into the Grand Orient de France (GODF), a traditionally all-male Masonic order. The research adopts an inductive qualitative approach, analysing interviews, organisational documents and media coverage from 2006 to 2010. Key findings show that unless all meta-organisational members share the same desire to challenge masculinity, the admission of women is not simply a matter of persuasion, voting or negotiation between members. This research shows how specific identity work is required to find a meta-organisational identity that is compatible with the potentially conflicting identities of its members. Finally, three discursive strategies - (re)framing, overflowing and silencing - used in this necessary identity work are detailed.
