The changing world of women and leisure: Feminism, ‘postfeminism’ and leisure

Since sport is accorded such a significant position within national popular culture, it assumes corresponding importance in producing, reproducing and challenging racial myths. This paper explores how dominant notions of black physicality are embedded in sports practice and how such assumptions may be challenged. To do this we shall offer a critique of existing literature and, importantly, draw on empirical evidence from a recent study of the nature and extent of racism in rugby league. Together these allow us to explore tacit racism, that which is hidden and normalized by language and culture. At the heart of this are stereotypes of 'race' and racial qualities, created by white hegemonic culture with their significance perpetuated by society, including the people who experience the stereotyping. These cultural productions maintain inequalities even after the caricatures they portray may have changed. We examine how these historically specific images are formed and justified (and thereby normalized) and how they have material effects through the actions of coaches, managers, chairmen and players. Finally, we shall review how the sports arena can be used to challenge racist stereotypes to offer necessary, though not sufficient, conditions to begin to change social relations more generally.     

‘I want to do everything!’: leisure innovation among retirement-age women

Innovation theory asserts that the adoption of new leisure activities in later life (leisure innovation) may facilitate healthy ageing through personal growth, interest renewal, identity reconstruction and increased sense of meaning in life. The purpose of this study was to explore innovation theory among retirement-age women. Thirteen women aged 60–70 completed in-depth interviews and focus groups. Data were analysed through open, axial and selective coding. Themes emerged regarding the nature of newly adopted leisure activities, triggers of innovation and outcomes of innovation. Participants attributed meaning to innovation within established interest areas and to innovation related to taking advantage of previously unavailable opportunities. Participants also identified innovation catalysts including additional resources, increased perceived freedom, purposive life changes and health concerns. Outcomes of innovation included feelings of joy, self-confidence, independence and improved social connections. Findings support and extend innovation theory and suggest that acknowledging and exploring the adoption of new leisure activities can extend existing theory and improve future research related to leisure and ageing.     

‘It’s not something I’m proud of but it’s … just how I feel’: local surfer perspectives of localism

This article focuses on a defining concept of modern surfing: localism. Using a qualitative ethnographic approach, the data for this study were collected using participant observation, field notes and interviews between 2008 and 2009 with a significant population of local surfers in a village location in Cornwall, South West of England, UK. Developing Bennett’s definition of localism, data suggested a benign form of localism and in conveying this, we make a number of associated observations. Our analysis considers how a process of Othering led to the construction of Established Insiders based primarily on location, rather than gender. These Established Insiders saw the need to protect their community and its way of life from Outsiders. The focal point for protection was the liminal space/phase that opened up on ‘their’ local waves, as it was through temporal space that communitas was generated and thus community sustained. We illustrate how benign localism was exacerbated by overcrowding and how local surfers’ experiences of localism made them aware of their becoming Outsiders in other surfing localities, modifying their behaviour accordingly. The paper also suggests that debates about localism need to view the concept as a continuum of attitudes and behaviours ranging from the benign to the heavy, and that attention needs paying to how localism varies between contexts and the ways in which localism may share social antecedents. Lastly, we highlight the utility of viewing the beach and wave as liminal spaces that give rise to communitas for those who surf it together regularly.     

‘All in a day's leisure’: gender and the concept of leisure

This paper suggests that leisure conceptualized as time or activity alone poses problems for gender. The underlying idea of leisure as freely-chosen, self-actualizing experience is presented as a basis for broadening the concept. Both the limitations and the freedoms inherent in the leisure experience of women and men may be explained through such a concept of leisure.

This concept leads us to explore new areas of literature, in particular feminist analyses of power. Women's lack of autonomy in comparison with men is highlighted. Finally, further research and future policy can be enhanced by this broader concept of leisure.     

‘I can’t be very sad’: constraint and adaptation in the leisure of a ‘learning in retirement’ group

The purpose of this paper is to consider adaptive processes in relation to the constraints that limit leisure in late life. Interview data gathered from a purposive sample of 20 male and female retirees involved in a ‘Learning in Retirement’ programme were used to identify constraints, responses to constraints and the personal meanings of both. Results indicated a variety of emotional and behavioural responses to constraints suggesting five prominent behavioural themes and three emotional themes. Behavioural responses were grouped into: (1) reducing and eliminating; (2) persistence with commitment; (3) constraint as ‘project’; (4) substitution; and (5) exploration and self‐discovery. Emotional reactions ranged from the initial frustration to acceptance and even gratitude for the possibilities that remain. Findings are discussed in terms of the models of constraint negotiation and selective optimisation reported in the literature; but they also indicate that constraints may lead to responses that are not only personally beneficial but are also novel and transformative to some extent.     

‘Doing mindful colouring’: just a leisure activity or something more?

ABSTRACT

Adult colouring books have become vastly popular in recent years, and have been successfully rebranded as a therapeutic tool for improving health and wellbeing. The aim of this study was to construct an authentic insider representation of the women’s lived experiences of ‘doing colouring’. This study adopted a qualitative interview strategy and reported on the narratives of 15 women’s experiences of mindfulness colouring books. Doing colouring can achieve a distinctive form of mindfulness with therapeutic qualities. This process increased the capacity for concentration, awareness and regulation for the enhancement of spirituality and self-care practice. Spiritual meanings were attached to doing colouring, specifically spirituality as connectedness to oneself with perceived inner peace and calmness derived from the mindful meditative experience. Doing mindful colouring was identified as ‘taking time’ to practice self-reflection, self-awareness and self-care to promote physical, emotional and social wellbeing. The meanings and practices of mindfulness were examined to provide an explanatory framework for understanding doing colouring to achieve health benefits. This research contributes to the emerging literature on mindfulness colouring books, thus advancing our understanding of the diverse benefits contributing to the practitioners’ sense of wellbeing.     

‘The town dictates what I do’: the leisure,health and well-being of women in a small Australian country town

The contribution of leisure to individual health and well-being is well documented. It is also clear that patterns of leisure activity are differentiated by gender and regional differences, as well as those of age, class and ethnicity. This paper explores the leisure and well-being of mid aged rural women in a small Australian country town in the late 1990s, focusing on issues which have been identified in the Canadian literature as being significant for women in isolated areas. These issues, which constrain the choices women make about their lives, include poor job opportunities, a lack of public transport and other facilities, family transience, community designs that isolate women in their homes, and the politics of being ‘different’ in a small community. Commonalities in the lives of rural women in North America, New Zealand and Australia indicate that these issues may more broadly characterise the lives of women in isolated towns in western post-industrial societies. Data are drawn from focus group interviews, augmented with observation, and the study is contextualized in findings from the Women's Health Australia longitudinal study (WHA).     

Older women’s identity reconstruction in leisure spaces: a case of Guangzhou,China

ABSTRACT

This article analyzes the social interactions and social relations generated by older women in the urban public leisure spaces of Guangzhou, China. The intent is to explore the identity of older women in daily leisure spaces. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and non-participatory observation and then were analysed to explore the relation among identification, leisure spaces, and interaction. The study shows the older women’s need for self-fulfilment and social interaction, as well as the need to fill emptiness are generally unfulfilled because of the alienation of urban life – the citizens share a common sense of loneliness and senselessness. Nevertheless, the inclusiveness, openness, and group honour of urban public spaces offers a good complement to the sense of isolation. In the specific socio-cultural background of Guangzhou, older women reshape or strengthen their identities through multiple factors to achieve a strong sense of belonging in daily leisure spaces.     

Location,location, location: women’s leisure in rural Australia

For many women living in rural Australia the location of both leisure and work is the family farm, a location that defines their identity as a ‘women of the land’. This paper investigates the impact of geographical location in shaping the leisure activities of rural women living in the Yass Valley Region of Australia. Using an interpretive research perspective and a process of narrative inquiry, data for the study were obtained from women born between 1946 and 1964 through open-ended, in-depth interviews. A thematic analysis of the data revealed that for these women the specific geographical location had a strong impact on the types of leisure activities available in which they were able to participate. The findings from this study suggest that for older women in rural Australia, the specific geographical location can facilitate or inhibit the degree of involvement in community leisure activities that engender social capital among older women living in these locations.     

‘It made me feel powerful’: women’s gendered embodiment and physical empowerment in the martial arts

This paper presents data collected from 11 females and explores their gendered and embodied experiences of the martial arts. Our research suggests that through their involvement in the martial arts, women develop physical strength, which leads to individual physical empowerment. Furthermore, the women note their involvement in the martial arts increases their confidence to defend themselves and challenge their gendered embodiment. However, despite acquiring physical strength that challenges their previous forms of gendered embodiment, their experiences remain predominantly at the level of individual empowerment. Thus, the women do not problematise normative views of gendered embodiment which position women as weak and men as strong. Nor do the women in this study question the pressure on females’ bodies to be toned and feminine. Drawing predominantly on physical feminism, we question and problematise the concepts of women’s empowerment and gendered embodiment through women’s experiences of the martial arts.     

‘I never promised you a rose garden’: gender,leisure and home-making

This paper explores the importance of contemporary gardens as leisure sites and argues that leisure in general, and the garden in particular, play an important role in the process of homemaking. We also consider how the contemporary garden reflects wider social relations by examining how gender relations imbue gardens and gardening. The gendered meanings of gardens and the garden as a place where gender power relations are played out, are highly significant in the social construction of ‘home’. Using primary research data, the paper looks at what it is about the domestic garden that is important to both men and women, and how it contributes to homemaking. The findings show that there are conflicting uses and meanings of gardens which help to reveal the changing nature of gender relations in late modernity.     

Women,gender, leisure and place: towards a more ‘humanistic’ geography of women's leisure

A growing interest in the role of place in social processes has led to a recognition of the need to incorporate these ideas into the study of leisure and recreation. A critique of the traditional geographical approach to the study of leisure and recreation is followed by a brief review of the geography of gender and humanistic geography literature, indicating the possible contribution that some of the perspectives contained in this material can make to our understanding of women's leisure. In conclusion, it is argued that it is only through developing a deeper understanding of the way individuals and groups perceive different places, with their complex mosaics of gender and class relations, that a more complete, more contextual representation of women's leisure can emerge.     

Poststructural feminist theories of representing Others: a response to the ‘crisis’ in leisure studies' discourse

References made to a contemporary theoretical ‘crisis’ in leisure studies discourse have been made by a number of scholars in the field (Scraton, 1994; Coalter, 1997; Mommaas, 1997). This article examines the origins and nature of such a ‘crisis’ and attempts to map one possible route through the current academic impasse. It is argued that leisure studies’ reluctance to embrace recent theoretical advances in cognate disciplines and subject fields, together with a reticence to engage with poststructural discourse, has rendered culture marginal to leisure studies research. Increasing cultural analyses in sociology, geography and gender studies have been accompanied by widespread engagement with postmodernism and a concomitant disengagement with social and material analyses of power. This article discusses the role of the subaltern discourses of poststructural and postcolonial feminism as theoretical and political projects capable of addressing cultural and material power. The false dichotomy of social and cultural analyses in leisure, tourism and culture is then addressed in a dicussion of Othering. This discussion reveals the significance of the social-cultural nexus of leisure relations and the potential for research that engages with poststructuralism whilst continuing to further leisure studies' welldeveloped social policy discourse. In summary, poststructural feminist analyses are cited as one means of enhancing the theoretical sophistication of the subject field and of addresssing the current ‘crisis’.     

Understanding Ifá: inserting knowledge of an African cosmology in leisure studies and nature-based research

Originating among the Yorùbá of West Africa, Ifá is an ancient spiritual system that spread throughout the globe due to the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. But over the past 50 years because of a desire among various racial and ethnic groups, Ifá has grown and is seen as a ‘world religion’. Within Ifá resides the Orisha, representational forces serving the greater force of the Universe. Urban and rural natural environments are sacred spaces for practitioners as tourists to interact and communicate with these forces to intercede in their daily lives. This article will present the underlying environmental ethics of the system of Ifá and how it informs nature-based tourism and interactions with nature for both leisure and spiritual development. What is presented is a continued broadening of our understanding of differing cultural views, norms and behaviours with nature that has been initiated by Native-American–based scholarship.     

‘Freaky is just how I get down’: investigating the fluidity of minority ethnic feminine subjectivities in dance

This article addresses a lacuna of research into minority ethnic young women’s leisure participation by specifically focusing on the experiences and embodied subjectivities of two ethnic young women participating in dance. In the context of a qualitative research study based in an American inner‐city, post‐structural theory is used to signal the operation of intersecting racial, ethnic, gender, and class discourses and power relations. This analysis focuses on how the two young women engaged with dance cultures that were underpinned by particular dance forms; these dance forms arguably reproduced specific versions of ‘normalised’ femininity. The article then illustrates how the young women actively negotiated their dance cultures in order to construct multiple and shifting minority ethnic subjectivities. Commentary from one young woman, ‘Carrie’, indicates that she used her high school dance spaces as well as festival and club dance spaces to take up fluid white, black and ‘mixed’ subjectivities. I then investigate how a Salsa dance space provided the discursive resources through which another young woman, ‘Jenny’, constructed a proliferating diasporic identity. While Jenny identified as both black and Haitian, her hyperbolic dance performances re‐enacted various other subjectivities. These accounts demonstrate the possibility that young women can take up multiple versions of femininity in their leisure participation. These femininities reflect both alignment and resistance to dominant discourses which have ascendancy within young women’s leisure contexts.     

‘These are the voyages …’: interaction in real and virtual space environments in leisure

This paper examines the impact of new technologies, computer‐mediated communication and information and communication technologies, on traditional, ‘face‐to‐face’ live social interaction within leisure environments. Initially recounting the factors involved in the closure of two science fiction/Star Trek fan clubs, the paper considers impacts in other leisure settings. The nature of the impact of new technologies is examined through drawing upon the cyber‐optimist versus cyber‐pessimist debate, prominent in the somewhat complex cyber zone literature. Much of the cyberspace literature is, however, both theoretical and speculative, with an acknowledgement of uncertainty over the nature of the impacts of new technologies. The paper thus concludes by proposing an agenda for research in this subject field. This is informed by earlier work by Kelly (1983) who advocated that, in addition to examining its form and environment, research on interactions should also investigate the quality of such interactions.     

The better I feel,the better I can do: The role of leaders’ positive affective presence

This study adopts the affect theory of social exchange to examine the influence of leaders’ positive affective presence on employees’ service performance via employees’ energy at work and the moderating role of service climate. Based on 383 dyads of leaders and their employees in the hospitality industry, the results reveal that leaders’ positive affective presence has a positive effect on employees’ service performance. Employees’ energy at work mediates the relationship between leaders’ positive affective presence and employees’ service performance. Service climate enhances the relationship of employees’ energy at work and service performance, which in turn strengthens the indirect effect of leaders’ positive affective presence on employees’ service performance via employees’ energy at work.     

‘Dutch don’t dance’ – leisure experiences and sense of belonging among Polish migrants in the Netherlands

The influx of migrants in Western Europe raises questions about the potential of leisure spaces and activities to support processes of social inclusion and to allow migrants to develop a sense of belonging. Discussions are ongoing about how this potential is realised or not. In this paper, I propose that the perspective of leisure activities as ritual may help to untangle how leisure spaces and practices build solidarity and a sense of belonging. The paper draws on interviews with Polish migrants to the Netherlands about leisure activities they undertake. Specifically, the paper will examine dance clubs as spaces and going out as activity in which migrants enter into contact with locals. It will show how these spaces and activities ultimately fail as potential sites for developing a sense of belonging.     

Consumers’ prestige-seeking behavior in premium food markets: Application of the theory of the leisure class

Premium food markets have emerged as a new form of foodservice establishment. They feature a unique eating and shopping experience that offers a wide variety of high-quality food in a sophisticated environment with distinctive consumer services. Based on the theory of the leisure class, this study explored how consumers’ prestige values influence their behavioral intentions, particularly their customer citizenship behavioral intention and revisit intentions, toward premium food markets. The study sample included customers who have shopped at premium food markets. Using a self-administered survey, 247 valid responses were obtained for analysis. The results showed the positive effects of prestige values on affective commitment and the positive influences of affective commitment on customer citizenship behavioral intention and revisit intention. This study significantly extends prestige-consumption knowledge in the foodservice and hospitality industries.