The absence of fatherhood: achieving true gender scholarship in family tourism research

Abstract

The lack of research into fathers on holiday is a reminder that understandings of masculinities and gender relations in tourism are absent compared to other disciplinary areas. Research on family holiday experiences is largely informed by feminist gender representations rather then examinations of femininities and masculinities. True gender scholarship requires more holistic and critical appraisals of gender relations that recognise the intersection between gender and other social roles. This lead to the adoption of whole-family research for this study into domestic summer holiday experiences in New Zealand, based on ten families (ten fathers, ten mothers, and 20 children) being interviewed three times over the course of one year. The findings highlighted similarities and differences in the meanings and roles for the fathers and mothers. For example, fathers take on primary responsibilities as entertainer of the children and facilitator of mothers’ own interests, roles which are little acknowledged in the literature.