This book builds on Brooke and Schaenzel's previous work on gender in the tourism research process (Femininities in the Field: Tourism and Transdisciplinary Research) and provides a clear and comprehensive overview of the practice of masculinities while conducting fieldwork. Whilst recently in tourism studies, prior interest in and a general understanding of gender concentrated on the “femininities in the field”, this edited book looks at how multiple masculinities beyond the “Western masculinity” concept shape the tourism research process. This book is an encouraging new contribution to the subject field and a good fit for the Channel View Publications portfolio. This edited book enriches previous research on gender in tourism studies by bringing multiple perspectives from 14 male researchers.
Similarly to the previous volume on the femininities in the field, this book is a collection of reflexive case studies, in this case, written by male tourism scholars. The case studies are written in professional English, which would be easy to understand not only in academia but also in a general audience. Authors use first-person to reflect on their lived experiences that portray and analyse the role of gender, biases and first-hand experiences in sometimes remote locations at different stages of authors' lives and research journeys.
Apart from the engaging foreword by Nigel Morgan and Annette Pritchard, the book is structured into four parts following the preface by the editors. The first part focuses on the hegemonic and heteronormative masculinities. In this section, the authors discuss the “male gaze” and how their “learned masculinity” and their performance impact their research. Several scholars discuss the difficulties associated with gender; for example, the authors discuss difficulties with accessing particular research participants, such as children. In the second part, performing heteronormative masculinities, authors look into performed gender, masculinity and sexuality and how authors negotiate their identities during the fieldwork. Intersectionality of gender and ethnicity in cross-cultural contexts is discussed in part three, situated masculinities. Finally, in part four, authors provide the insights into masculinities and parenthood and how the roles of fathers and researchers interplay in fieldwork spaces. Overall, the authors in this book reflect on gender and how gender roles are constructed across the different geographic, social and historical contexts. They also describe their unique self-exploration journeys, learning experiences and multiple identities, which they continuously negotiate.
I see this edited book as a testament to the power of collaboration, partnership and grant initiatives which provide a fresh perspective on the contemporary understanding of (masculine) gender in tourism research. The authors of this edited book provide historical contexts, postcolonial perspectives and (auto)ethnographic insights into the lived experiences of tourism scholars from multiple angles not limited to ethnicity, their place of origin, age, gender and sexuality, power, (in)ability and social status. This edited book takes a fresh and sometimes critical and reflexive look at past and current understanding of the male gender and masculine identities in the social sciences. This work, therefore, is of high quality and a much-needed contribution necessary to get a bigger picture of contemporary gender discourse, which does not exclude the voice of male researchers.
This book is well-written, and the chapters are visually engaging due to the figures, tables, photographs and maps used. Perhaps, one downside is that the chapters differ in structure, analysis levels and research views, but on the other side, such structure highlights the plurality of the perspectives on the masculinities in tourism and transdisciplinary research. In case readers are curious to get deeper into the topic, the reach reference list at the end of each chapter is definitely an advantage of the book as the bibliography offers an excellent starting point toward the next steps in this field.
This book is fascinating reading for a broadly diversified audience from any perspective. The design of the book makes it equally suitable for students or academics. Students and researchers in fields such as tourism, geography, leisure, sociology and cultural studies may find this book appealing. I enjoyed reading this book, and I certainly welcome the third volume focussing on the diversity of identities, sexuality and gender intersectionalities in tourism and transdisciplinary research.
