Masculinities in the Field: Tourism and Transdisciplinary Research

This book is a breath of fresh air in the field of gender and tourism – timely, brave and thought-provoking. Each chapter takes the reader on an intriguing journey that captures the nuanced meanings and intimate reflections of masculinities. Chapter by chapter, the book elegantly enhances our understanding of gendered biases in fieldwork.

Oscar Vorobjovas-Pinta, Edith Cowan University, Australia

This is a most welcome addition to critical tourism scholarship and masculinities studies. 15 male authors reflect personally and candidly on the challenges, privileges, awkward dynamics but also fortunate access that their masculinities afford them in fieldwork and tourism research. A must-read for anybody interested in uncovering what it means to be a man, and also the process of becoming one, through reflexive thinking and lived experiences in the tourism field.

T.C. Chang, National University of Singapore, Singapore

This collection is a worthy and engaging successor to its predecessor, Femininities in the Field. The editors and contributing authors reflect deeply about an eerily silent domain within the literature – masculine positionalities in tourism fieldwork. A refreshing call to action for open-mindedness and reflection about engrained gendered-ness in tourism.

Brian King, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong

Brooke A. Porter is Associate Professor of Food & Sustainability Studies, Umbra Institute, Perugia, Italy. Her research interests include marine and aquatic conservation, tourism as a development, conservation and management strategy and social entrepreneurship tourism.

Heike A. Schänzel is Associate Professor and Programme Leader Postgraduate in International Tourism Management at Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand. Her research interests include tourist behaviour, families in tourism, sociality in tourism and gender issues.

Joseph M. Cheer is Research Professor, Wakayama University, Japan and Adjunct Research Fellow, Monash University, Australia. His research interests include social-ecological resilience, Asia-Pacific, tourism geographies and anthropology of tourism.

Contributors

Foreword
Nigel Morgan and Annette Pritchard

Introduction - Issues in the Field: Masculinities in Masculine Spaces
Brooke A. Porter, Heike A. Schänzel and Joseph M. Cheer

Part 1: Hegemonic and Heteronormative Masculinities 

1 It's Okay to Cry: Encouraging Emotional Writing Among Male Tourism Scholars
Jack Shepherd

2 When Is a Hegemonic Male Not a Hegemonic Male? Personal Reflections of a Tourism(ish) Researcher
Neil Carr

3 Exploring the Expression of the Masculine in Adventure Activities: A Personal Reflection
Mark B. Orams

4 Meditations on Masculinity: Encounters in Salty Research Spaces
Jacques D. Mahler-Coetzee 

Part 2: Performing Heteronormative Masculinities

5 Performing and Negotiating Filipino Masculinities in the Field
Richard S. Aquino

6 How Masculinity Creeps In: Awkward Field Encounters of a Male Researcher
Can-Seng Ooi

Part 3: Situated Masculinities

7 A Tale of Two Researchers: Masculinity in Cross-cultural Contexts
Joseph M. Cheer and Alan A. Lew

8 Gender, Identity and Discomfort: Negotiating Self and Context in the Field
Dominic Lapointe

9 Journeying into Yogaland: A Cautionary Tale of a White Guy's Perspectives on Yoga-related Fieldwork in Japan
Patrick McCartney

10 A Mzungu in Kenya: Dissonant Masculinity and Ethnographic Field Research in Sub-Saharan Africa
Gary Lacey

11 Doing Fieldwork in Palestine: Checkpoints, Access Restrictions, Security and Well-being
Rami K. Isaac

Part 4: Paternal Masculinities

12 Finding Gender at the Intersection of Family and Field: Family Presences in Sweden
Stuart Reid

13 Fatherhood in the Field: Reflections on Kinship, Identity and Ethnographic Research
Michael A. Di Giovine

Masculinities in Tourism Research: Implications and Conclusions
Joseph M. Cheer, Heike A. Schänzel and Brooke A. Porter

Index