Rasul A. Mowatt

Notes from a leisure son: expanding an understanding of whiteness in leisure.

Abstract Whiteness is a fundamental aspect of American society and because of this leisure research is as troubled as our own racialized identities. Whiteness becomes a problematic dimension in our discourse if unchallenged by not critically examining race within the context of power. Taking a stance that Whiteness exists in five politically based racial projects, enables leisure research to uncover the apparent and invisible ways that power exists in professional practices, public policy development, and accepted research paradigms in published works. Inspired by Notes From a Native Son and serving as a rejoinder to previous discussions on Whiteness and race, the aim here is to address Whiteness in leisure with a brief analysis of history, contemporary issues, and policy. With an expanded understanding of Whiteness, leisure research could be a liberating tool for social justice to usher new conceptions, new theories, and new approaches to instruction, programming, and understanding in the field.

Black/Female/Body Hypervisibility and Invisibility: A Black Feminist Augmentation of Feminist Leisure Research

Abstract Through an interdisciplinary lens, this paper proposes two concepts for Black feminist analysis (visibility and hypervisibility) to augment feminist leisure scholarship. We examine questions of invisibility in relation to the systematic oppression that besets Black women in society, and in the academy, through their absence as research participants and researchers. This raises a new sense of invisible marginality that may exist in scholarship, and otherwise. With hypervisibility in body politics, Black women are represented in stereotyped and commodified ways throughout leisure spaces and scholarship. The critique of historical and contemporary representations of hyper-visibility is conducted through representations of Black womens bodies. We conclude with specific implications as Black feminism provides a culturally congruent epistemology to advance the field and augment third wave feminism.

Machismo-marianismo and the involvement of women in a community-based tourism project in Ecuador, South America.

The purpose of this research was to examine the effects of machismo-marianismo gender ideology on a tourism planning dialogue within a community-based tourism planning project. Using community-based research methodology, three focus groups were conducted in a rural Ecuadorian community. Findings indicate that gender ideology influences the planning discourse in various ways, which affect if and how women are involved in the tourism industry. This study provides evidence for why tourism planning frameworks need to be critical of existing power structures such as gender ideology. Recommendations include the application of gender-aware development frameworks and gender impact assessments throughout the planning process.

Multiuse Trails: Benefits and Concerns of Residents and Property Owners

Multiuse trail development has experienced rapid growth in the United States and many other countries. These trails are said to benefit local residents and stimulate economies, and in some cases are they are tourist attractions. Previous research explained many aspects of user dynamics and how trails benefit a community in general, but literature on the residents and property owners adjacent to trails is limited. However, this group is potentially affected more than other residents by trail development due to their proximity to the trail. Therefore, this exploratory case study focused on the benefits and concerns of those living and owning property adjacent to a trail. Many benefits commonly reported by general trail users were experienced by this study’s sample; however, the additional benefits of convenience and access, scenic views, and an enhanced social life were also revealed. While numerous benefits were uncovered, few concerns were voiced and often very individualistic. Differences in benefits and concerns were noted between respondents when characteristics such as trail use, land use, and time of ownership were evaluated. Findings provide constructive information for trail planners, managers, land developers, residential real estate professionals, and urban/rural-focused researchers.

Lynching as leisure: broadening notions of a field.

Within a critical theory focus, the documented history of lynching in photographic images and textual accounts provides a discussion of the sense of place when considering lynchings as leisure activities. The visual analysis of 433 lynching photographs and 327 accounts undergoing critical discourse analysis provided the process of researching the historical phenomenon in the context of leisure. This article seeks to summarize that research and presents case study examples to discuss the leisure implications in lynchings. The racial violence that is demonstrated in these spectacles is a discursive intersection of cultural critique, power relationships, and a reflection of their impact on place meanings and social interaction. To “read” lynchings as violent acts of leisure in various settings creates a vehicle for leisure research to contribute to dialogues on meaning(s) of place and the significance of race.

Heterosexism in Campus Recreational Club Sports: An Exploratory Investigation Into Attitudes Toward Gay Men and Lesbians

This study investigated attitudes toward gay men and lesbians among recreational club sport participants, including an investigation of differences in attitudes across sport clubs, team and individual sports, gender, and contact with gay men and lesbians. This study used a modified version of the Attitudes toward Lesbians and Gay Men scale administered online to acquire overall attitudinal scores of participants, as well as two parallel subscale scores. Utilizing MANOVA and ANOVA statistical testing procedures, significant differences (p < .01) in attitudes toward gay men and lesbians were found based on gender, contact with gay men and lesbians, and among different recreational club sports. Significant statistical differences (p < .01) between attitudinal subscale scores were also found across demographic levels.

The Case of the 12-Year-Old Boy: Or, The Silence of and Relevance to Leisure Research

ABSTRACT A 12-year-old boy is shot in a public park on the grounds of being a threat, yet despite the locational relevance there was a silence within leisure research. With this in mind, the aim of this manuscript is a manifesto on the manner that leisure-related research on race, social justice, quality of life, and leisure studies (more broadly, as an academy) must confront the silence with dealing with racism as structural and systematic. If we are to advocate in varying ways on the right of populations to enjoy the life sustaining opportunities that are afforded to them as citizens through leisure, then we must also hold ourselves accountable when those very leisure settings fail to deliver on that promise, and become life-threatening. Tamir Rice, is a case of the duality of silence on the structural nature of racism while also an opportunity to assert a social relevance for leisure research.

Embarrassingly White: Faculty Racial Disparities in American Recreation, Park, and Tourism Programs

Abstract The recruitment and retention of faculty and students of color is a long-standing challenge in academic programs focusing on leisure studies, parks, recreation, and tourism. However, when confronting the predominantly white composition of educational programs, many evade or, at most, acknowledge the situation as a “deficit.” Few offer specific strategies for reversing this pattern, if that is the desired outcome. The purpose of this essay is to extend the discourse beyond traditional diversity initiatives by undertaking a field-wide initiative focused on the disparities in faculty and student representation. First, the essay examines systems that have created and supported the persistence of “white” as privileged in academia. Next, a summary and critique of institutional faculty demographic data over the 5-year period from 2006–2011 from four diverse institutions are presented. This analysis illustrates patterns that have resulted in presumably less than desirable numbers of faculty and students of color. Concrete suggestions for recruiting, retaining, and promoting people of color in academic leisure studies programs are included. Increasingly, todays students are attracted to academic programs in which they will be exposed to faculty representing the diversity they will encounter as professionals. This essay offers a call to bridge the perceived gap between practitioners and academia by recommending systemic changes informed by the lived experiences of communities of color that are effectively served by various leisure service providers.

Public participation, action, and failure: A case study of the 2016 Olympic bid

Hosting mega-events offers cities within the United States an opportunity to gain benefits that are tangible and intangible. The primary objective of this two-year case study was to examine the impact of Chicago’s 2016 Olympic bid on the surrounding communities of the proposed Olympic sites. The research design of this community-based case study was comprised of interviews, review of reports, document analysis, and field observations of community-based meetings, city council forums, and community-led political actions. The results revealed inconsistencies in the incorporation of participants from the communities most affected by the bid and planning. The primary findings developed a picture of the complexities of issues and abuses of power that prompted gentrification, displacement, and discrimination. The study calls for future research that focuses on issues connected to socio-economic conflict as it relates to the distribution of wealth, power, and access that leisure-related opportunities seemingly create.

Components of partnership agreements in municipal parks and recreation

This research examines the relationships between parks and recreation agencies and outside agencies as they pertain to partnership agreements. A number of municipal parks and recreation departments were contacted and solicited for documentation of the various partnership agreements they have with outside agencies to fulfill their programming, sponsorships, and operating goals. In addition to partnership documentation, parks and recreation professionals were contacted and researched to clarify standards that are in place, specific agreement needs, criteria used, and overall processes. This study sought to identify universal components needed in creating partnership agreements, as well as components that are unique to specific types of partnerships. Partnerships are a very powerful tool in the field of parks and recreation in that they help alleviate costs, provide more recreational opportunities, and allow for new opportunities for all parties involved such as sport facility construction and professional sport team affiliation. The research assisted in the development and formulation of key components for best practice partnership agreements that may be considered between parks and recreation departments/districts, professional associations, and outside agencies.