Negotiating gender and tourism work: Women’s lived experiences in Uganda

Abstract

The growing research on tourism and gender has emphasised the descriptive patterns of tourism employment by gender and related constraints, with little focus on women’s active agency. Based on feminist understandings, this paper discusses how women in Mukono Parish, Southwestern Uganda, are navigating their local gender relations in order to work in tourism. The research followed a qualitative approach and utilized semi-structured interviews, participant observation and document reviews over an extended period of fieldwork between 2009 and 2011. Findings indicate women’s willingness to exploit tourism work opportunities but still constrained by gender relations, which they keep negotiating. Mukono women are cautiously considering their immediate gains and losses for working in tourism, thereby associating with gender discourses and practices that limit their work opportunities. However, as women begin to work in and earn through tourism, some dominant local gender discourses and practices are slowly being challenged. Conclusions have broad-reaching implications for the field of tourism development and gender.