Class, gender, and space: The case of affluent golf clubs in contemporary Mexico City

Abstract

This article examines how class and gender hierarchies are reproduced through spatial dynamics among affluent golfers in contemporary Mexico City, using the concepts of collective visibility and invisibility. The analysis focuses on how class and gender principles make some sites and actions visible while reducing the perceptibility of other spaces and acts. To do so, the article addresses three questions: to what extent and in what ways are privileged social spaces, like golf clubs, exclusively organized by class principles? How do Mexican golfers understand the class and gender principles operating in golf clubs? And, how do multiple axes of differences inform space and spatial practices? The study is based on an ethnography of three up-scale golf clubs and 58 in-depth interviews with members of the golfing community, including club members, instructors, caddies, and golf journalists in Mexico City.