Masculinity, tourism and transgression: a qualitative study of British stag tourism in an Eastern European City

This thesis explores the recent phenomenon of premarital stag party tours made to Eastern European cities by groups of British men. It is based on ethnographic field research in Krakow, Poland, conducted over the course of one year. The use of qualitative methods, primarily participant-observation, allows for the exploration of the in situ meanings and social interactions which define the stag weekend. The thesis argues that the behaviour of stag tour groups offers considerable insight into masculinity and that the meanings attributed to such behaviour reveal complex construction of contemporary British masculinities. It is argued that the Eastern European stag tour is both sold and consumed on the premise that it represents a distinct physical, social and symbolic space and time within which masculine behaviour can be enacted. This is seen as a liminal space within which an exaggerated hyper-masculinity based on a carnivalesque social transgression becomes possible and desired. It is argued that the stag tour is both performative and embodied. The male body plays a central role through the consumption of alcohol, its effects upon the body and the use of bodies by stag tourists to foster an ethos of playfulness and enact a transgressive release from social restraint. Intimacy, sociability and group cohesion play a significant role in shaping the meaning of the stag weekend for tour participants. The thesis concludes that the stag tour represents a meaningful and symbolic moment for its participants, which is mediated by notions of masculinity and homosociality. While the stag tour represents a manifestation of hegemonic masculinity in a narrow sense, it also highlights the adaptability, rather than „crisis‟, of masculinity for the men involved

The embourgeoisement of beer: changing practices of ‘real ale’ consumption

The embourgeoisement of beer: changing practices of ‘real ale’ consumptio

Beer and belonging: real ale consumption, place and identity

The role played by alcohol and its consumption in the creation of personal, group and national identity has received considerable academic attention. A central feature of this has been the recognition that, in addition to the many potential negative personal and social outcomes of heavy drinking, the consumption of alcoholic drinks invariably involves significant articulations of personal identity, collective belonging and, as Mary Douglas and her co-authors (1987) have established, the construction and perpetuation of culture itself. We must acknowledge, therefore, that alcoholic drinks exhibit remarkable symbolic power. Indeed, some even take on totemic positions in relation to national culture, history and identity; Roland Barthes (1972, 67) famously asserted that the performance of drinking wine ‘is a national technique which serves to qualify the Frenchman, to demonstrate at once the performance, his control and his sociability’ (Barthes 1972, 67). More recently, Marion Demossier (2010, 29) has used her extensive study of wine production and consumption in France to explore how ‘through wine consumption, individuals compete and construct their identity and relate to concepts of what it means to be French, exploring the relationship between regions and the nation’

'Did you ever hear of police being called to a beer festival?' Discourses of merriment, moderation and 'civilized' drinking amongst real ale enthusiasts

While the real and perceived excesses of 'binge drinking' have received considerable attention in policy, media and academic debates, the concept of 'sensible drinking' is poorly defined and has rarely been subject to empirical analysis. Using qualitative research, this article explores the drinking discourses of ale enthusiasts as a means of highlighting how understandings of sensible drinking draw on notions of taste, sociability and self-control. Drawing on Elias's concept of the 'civilizing process', the article analyses how these narratives highlight self-control and social regulation as central features of acceptable drinking practices. Emerging from these accounts is a rejection of elements of the night-time economy and the unruly and hedonistic 'determined drunkenness' often associated with it

‘Just blokes doing blokes’ stuff’: Risk, gender and the collective performance of masculinity during the Eastern European stag tour weekend

‘Just blokes doing blokes’ stuff’: Risk, gender and the collective performance of masculinity during the Eastern European stag tour weeken

Identity, friendship and sociality

Identity, friendship and socialit

‘You won't see anyone promoting a Bronze’: Awards and ambivalence amongst craft gin producers

‘You won't see anyone promoting a Bronze’: Awards and ambivalence amongst craft gin producer

‘What’s on your bucket list?’: Tourism, identity and imperative experiential discourse

The concept of the Bucket List has achieved rapid and widespread recognition. This article makes an original Critical Discourse Analysis of the Bucket List as a cultural phenomenon that provides important insights into the interrelation between identity and tourism. The Bucket List is used to communicate specific suggestions of desirable tourism experiences and uses what can be termed the experiential imperative discourse, where the language, tone and framing of the text positions the experience described as essential and obligatory. Ultimately, the Bucket List discourse serves to prescribe culturally specific ideas of what constitute ‘good’ tourism experiences and is imposed on individuals who are prompted to desire a constantly renewing range of tourism experience

Masculinity, tourism and transgression : a qualitative study of British stag tourism in an Eastern European City

This thesis explores the recent phenomenon of premarital stag party tours made to Eastern European cities by groups of British men. It is based on ethnographic field research in Krakow, Poland, conducted over the course of one year. The use of qualitative methods, primarily participant-observation, allows for the exploration of the in situ meanings and social interactions which define the stag weekend. The thesis argues that the behaviour of stag tour groups offers considerable insight into masculinity and that the meanings attributed to such behaviour reveal complex construction of contemporary British masculinities. It is argued that the Eastern European stag tour is both sold and consumed on the premise that it represents a distinct physical, social and symbolic space and time within which masculine behaviour can be enacted. This is seen as a liminal space within which an exaggerated hyper-masculinity based on a carnivalesque social transgression becomes possible and desired. It is argued that the stag tour is both performative and embodied. The male body plays a central role through the consumption of alcohol, its effects upon the body and the use of bodies by stag tourists to foster an ethos of playfulness and enact a transgressive release from social restraint. Intimacy, sociability and group cohesion play a significant role in shaping the meaning of the stag weekend for tour participants. The thesis concludes that the stag tour represents a meaningful and symbolic moment for its participants, which is mediated by notions of masculinity and homosociality. While the stag tour represents a manifestation of hegemonic masculinity in a narrow sense, it also highlights the adaptability, rather than „crisis‟, of masculinity for the men involved.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceEconomic and Social Research Council (Great Britain) (ESRC)GBUnited Kingdo

Later-life masculinities: (Re)forming the gendered lives of older men

Older men are often treated as homogenous, a-gendered, and unmasculine. Drawing on 52 interviews with older men who play walking football in the UK, we explore how their experiences can be understood through a lens of masculinity. Men claimed that walking football offers an outlet for both competition and displaying physical prowess. Their embodied performances were crucial for cultivating a masculine identity which, whilst threatened by the ageing process, sustained their privilege and status. Yet, men also described how modes of care, friendship, and interdependence became central to their experiences. As men aged, the constraints around expressing feelings of intimacy, on account of hegemonic norms recognised in their youth, were loosened. Via the empirical analysis presented, the article contributes to both the study of the lives of older men and the continued absence of older men in masculinity theory