Untitled

246 gateway
gateway
A gateway is a port of entry or exit that functions as
an international access point. Border crossing
points, seaports and airports are the most
common examples of gateways. Urban centres
through which tourists enter or exit a country are
referred to as gateway cities.
gaze
DALLEN J. TIMOTHY, USA
There is considerable debate in the sociology of
tourism as to the social and cultural bases of
tourism. One important strand has been to
emphasise the role of the senses in generating
different tourism practices. In particular, it is
argued that the visual sense has been especially
significant in organising the development of
Western tourism since the end of the eighteenth
century. It is from this time that one can date the
origins of scenic tourism and more generally the
development of an industry based upon the
collecting of `sights'. An enormous array of
technologies, discourses and organisations have
developed to expand and profit from people's
desire to go away from their normal place of
residence and to collect sights through the visual
consumption of other places.
The visual gaze of tourists has enormous
consequences upon how tourism should be organised
�the need for `rooms with a view'); on the
places which are the object of such a gaze, which
may feel endlessly under surveillance and hence
may produce a staged authenticity away from
the prying eyes of visitors; and on the industries
which have developed to facilitate and augment
such gazes �guidebooks, postcards, photography,
television programmes, souvenirs and so
on).
The gaze of tourists is socially organised and not
simply individually variable. Analysis has developed
as to how such socially significant ways of
seeing vary historically. One important distinction
has been drawn between the romantic and the
collective tourist gaze. The former involves a
solitudinous and lengthy gaze upon aspects of
nature such as mountains, lakes, valleys, deserts
and sunsets, which are treated as objects of awe
and reverence. Other people are viewed as
intrusive, as a solitary and contemplative gaze is
sought. In response, the industry has had to
discover new places for tourists to be able to gaze
at in solitude and to organise the gaze of existing
sites in new ways in time and space.
By contrast, in the collective gaze, people view a
particular site together. It is other people who give
sense and order to the gaze and the absence of
other people make the site deserted and lacking
appropriate atmosphere. Piers, towers and promenades
have been developed on the basis of the
collective gaze.
Further reading
Adler J. �1989) `Origins of sightseeing', Annals of
Tourism Research 16: 7±29. �Discusses the origins
of sightseeing and the gaze.)
Jay, M. �1993) Downcast Eyes, Berkeley, CA:
University of California Press. �On the significance
of the visual sense in Western thought.)
Urry, J. �1992) `The tourist gaze ``revisited''',
American Behavioural Scientist 36: 172±86. �On the
relationship of the concept of the tourist gaze to
the ideas of Michel Foucault.)
gender
JOHN URRY, UK
Throughout the social sciences, feminists have
argued that gender is a social construction which
draws on certain aspects of biological sex. From the
moment babies are born, they are treated differently
because of their sex. This differential
treatment continues throughout their lives, from
the toys girls and boys are given to play with to the
jobs that are considered appropriate for women
and men. As a result, the male and female sex are
gendered by society. Boys and men are expected to
exhibit masculine attributes, whereas girls and
women should exhibit feminine characteristics.
Individual boys, girls, men or women who do not
conform to their respective masculine or feminine