Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
emotional reactions to eating out alone while travelling (see also Jordan, 2008; Jordan and
Aitchison, 2008). Harris and Wilson (2007) have studied women travelling on business,
as well as on holiday, noting that both forms of solo tourism provide opportunities for
empowerment and self-development.
The contemporary focus on embodiment within cultural geography has infl uenced studies
of tourism behaviour to some extent (for example, see the edited publications by Morgan
et al.
(2005) and Pritchard
et al.
(2007), which arose from a 'Critical Tourism Studies' confer-
ence held in Dubrovnik in 2005; see also Edensor and Falconer,
Chapter 9 i
n this volume).
This emphasis is clearly justifi ed since human bodies may be physically changed by tourist
experiences (see Larsen,
Chapter 8
of this volume), in the extreme becoming pregnant or
contracting HIV (Freidus and Romero-Daza, 2009). Knox and Hannam (2010: 65) point out
that gender roles 'are played out through the embodiment of tourism practices' but note that
such embodiment has been very little researched thus far, except in the case of sex tourism.
They stress the dominance of the masculine body ideal of the 'intrepid traveller or adven-
turer' (p. 66) as a social construction open to present and future research and cite the work of
Noy (2007) in this respect. Noy's study of Israeli backpackers' narratives emphasises the link
between this type of adventure tourism and the notion of the 'manly hero'. The presentation
and marketing of adventure tourism, indeed, relies heavily on a particular style of masculine
embodiment (Cloke and Perkins, 1998), despite contestation of the stereotype by some
women adventurers (Elsrud, 2001). However, although tourism (mass or packaged tourism,
as much as adventure tourism) is often seen as reinforcing traditional ideals of hegemonic
masculinity, sports tourism has been noted as providing opportunities for women to chal-
lenge norms of expectation and behaviour and achieve goals which are often labelled as
'masculine' in wider society (Chen, 2010; Dilley and Scraton, 2010), despite the fact that this
may involve female participants' adopting 'masculine' attitudes towards bodily skills and
competition (as, for example, in golf tourism; see Humphreys, 2010). Traditional notions
of masculinity and femininity have, of course, been addressed critically by the burgeoning
literature on queer tourism (see for example Waitt,
Chapter 10
of this volume).
Few researchers have considered the importance of the ageing body or of family status
(and changes in this) for women and men as tourists, despite the considerable volume of
literature that addresses age and life cycle stages in relation to
leisure
practices. Collins and
Tisdell (2002) observe that both gender and life cycle stage are important determinants of
travel demand, albeit strongly infl uenced by economic and social patterns and changes. Small
(2005, 2007) has studied the holiday experiences of Australian women from across the life
course, emphasising the dominance of embodiment in the discourse (for example, she notes
that 'the destination lost its importance as the women focused on the pleasures of being able
to undertake simple normal daily activities undisturbed' (2005: 149), while also stressing the
'scant scholarly treatment in the tourism studies literature' of gendered family structures
while on holiday (2005: 147; see also Davidson, 1996)).
Imagery in tourism (landscapes, people)
Landscapes of tourism have been studied by Pritchard and Morgan (2000), who have also
researched the construction of tourist landscape imagery through tourism promotion. They
note that 'feminine' landscapes are associated with exotic locations, for example the Caribbean
and the South Pacifi c, while 'masculine' landscapes are culturally constructed in colder,
northern environments. Andrews (2009) asserts that space may become gendered through
'everyday touristic practice' and the reinforcement of gendered identities, but also that tourism
