Narratives of sexuality, identity and relationships in leisure and tourism places.

Abstract

AbstractThis chapter explores how the dynamics of sexualities, genders and identities (key expressions of cultural politics) are played out in the liminal places of tourism and leisure environments, focusing in particular on the case of Manchester's Gay Village. In order to explore sexuality and spatial narratives, the chapter briefly revisits work on the sociocultural construction of leisure and tourism spaces, describing how they are constantly subject to confrontation and challenge as power, identity, meaning and behaviour are construed and negotiated according to sociocultural dynamics. Despite these continual renegotiations, however, it is suggested that such spaces remain overwhelmingly heterosexual and androcentric. Moreover, the discussion of the emotional geography of gay and lesbian places contends that, while they may offer many gay men emotional and psychological empowerment away from the disciplining heteronormative gaze, the masculinist power dialectics that characterize their socio-cultural construction are not equally empowering for those who define themselves as lesbian, bisexual, transsexual or queer.