Ashley Dawes j0367004 Pauline Anderson
Element 1 – Essay
In the article by John Clarke and Chas Critcher, they see the problem of inequality in leisure being linked to two aspects – material and cultural. The material aspect can be linked to a persons own possessions and availability. They refer to it as “key resources, essentially those of time and money”. The Cultural aspect however can be linked with perception and the views of society. “…the perception of what is appropriate leisure behaviour for a member of a particular social group”. They make the point that not only are the perceptions of the people in the group important, but the views of those outside can also be important if they are in a position to do something about it by enforcing power. For example, at a golf club, you may deem it acceptable to turn up with t-shirt and jeans, but the president of the Golf club may view it as unacceptable and may remove you from the club.
Clarke and Critcher list other aspects, such as gender, class and race, as important factors in there being inequality in Leisure. Stereotypes are often used when deeming what is acceptable and what is not. On the issue of gender, men’s leisure involves activities such as sport and going to the pub for a beer with friends, whilst women’s leisure usually involves “bingo, cinema and theatre”. The woman’s role is seen as being the “housewife”, i.e. staying at home to clean the house, cook the meals, look after the children, care to her husbands needs, as he is the one who goes to work and earns the income to support them. Therefore, women are deemed to be always working, as the well known saying goes “A woman’s work is never done”. Because of this, women have less leisure time because of their duties at the home. Linking in with this, in the article by Rosemary Deem, she discusses the limitations to women's leisure in Milton Keynes. She argues that women who are seen partaking in leisure are looked down upon. “Women connected with leisure…more likely to appreciate the social and economic situation and sheer isolation of many Milton Keynes women…” She is saying that they would be viewed almost as rebels, so the view here is that women should be doing things at the home. Deem also believes that constraints due to fear play a big part in women not taking part in leisure activities. “…fear of walking alone on Milton Keynes footpaths/cycleway system, or fears about sexual harassment in public places…”. These were listed as reasons as to why they don’t do leisure activities. This shows that women do not feel safe, but they could be using women's vulnerability as an excuse not to do leisure.
