Gender‐based analysis of leisure constraints

Abstract

Using data derived from two provincewide surveys of the general public of Alberta, Canada, two empirical questions were addressed: (a) What constraints to leisure do women and men experience, and (b) how does the context of personal and situational circumstances (e.g., age, income, and family structure) filter the effects of constraints among women and men ? Several differences emerged between women and men in terms of the intensity and nature of the constraints, leading to the conclusion that women are overall more constrained in their leisure than men. The data also demonstrate that the experience of leisure constraints is characterized by as many within‐gender differences as between‐gender differences. Selected context variables related to age, income, and family structure are mediating factors that alter, reinforce, or alleviate constraints for women, depending on the nature of the context and on the type of constraint. The study points to the need to think in terms of diversities and pluralities rather than dualisms and universals. From theoretical gender perspectives, we conclude that constraints to leisure for women are a function of cultural interpretations of gender and not just biological sex.