Work and Leisure

Gender, work and leisure 73the impact of gender on leisure was a ‘study of the influence of prevailingnotions of male and female roles on access to free time, and of ways ofspending it’ (Green et al. 1987: 3). So, although both men’s and women’sleisure opportunities may be bounded by apparently similar constraints, suchas paid employment and parenthood or poverty and loneliness, these factorsimpinge in different ways and to a greater or lesser extent on women and men.For example, some constraints, such as the fear of being out alone after dark,apply to most women but to few men. Others apply to both women and menin particular social groups, such as those in the same age group or socioeconomiccategory, but here gender can be a significant source of difference.For example, elderly white men on low incomes who are lonely, still generallyhave available the choice of going out to a pub or club, even if one drink hasto last them the evening, whereas this is less likely to be seen as a viable leisureactivity for a similarly placed woman.The study showed categorically that women had less time for leisure thanmen and less time which was ‘unambiguously free’, mainly because wives andmothers hold primary responsibility for domestic labour, which is not conditionalon any paid work they may do. Outside the home, women undertakea smaller range of leisure activities less frequently than men. Any studymust be situated in its broad social context: ‘leisure cannot be adequatelyresearched without taking into account the principal social divisions of gender,class, race, and age group, because it is clearly structured by them’ (Greenet al. 1987b: 9). It is clear that, in terms of gender, inequalities in access to theresources needed for leisure, such as free time, money and access to transport,are to some extent legitimised by prevailing definitions of masculine andfeminine roles:This can be seen in common sense assumptions about differencesbetween the sexes, not least the notion that somehow men ‘need’ leisuremore than women, or are more entitled to it, because of their relation topaid work. The same belief explains the continuing male control of manypublic places where leisure activities take place.(Green et al. 1987b: 10)This echoed the findings of Deem’s (1986) research carried out in MiltonKeynes during the same period.The Sheffield study was also the first to signify and to provide evidencethat, while all women are oppressed primarily by gender relations andpatriarchy, they are nonetheless a heterogeneous group. The implications ofthis are that women have different inclinations and social situations and thattheir wants and needs are different: some issues do affect large groups ofwomen, such as the cost of leisure, care facilities for children and older relativesand availability of activity sessions for women only, at times of the daywhen they feel comfortable. But the underlying need is to involve women