The gendered dimension of leisure: The case of young women in Athens

Abstract

The use of urban public space by different groups of people is affected by the organisation of urban space and its regulations. The latest form different types of restrictions and controls of access to places into the city, based on various axes of differentiation and socially constructed hierarchies, such as the ones of gender, class or age of users.

Leisure is a field of socio-spatial practices that helps shed light into how city space is lived. This paper contends that seemingly neutral definitions of leisure as “time free from paid work” are often based on ideologies of the appropriate roles of men and women. For women, leisure is related to the chance of having a “time to be yourself”.

In exploring the issue of leisure, the paper aims to contribute to the aforementioned problematic and demonstrate how and why women's presence in public space is limited by various restrictions. The self-control and the fear of violence are present in women’s practices in urban space, including practices related to leisure. But, on the other side, the confidence of some women to be present and use the urban space reconfigures and reproduces space available for other women.

The paper discusses everyday practices adopted by women for the use of urban space in Athens. It presents findings from 11 interviews of young women, aged 21-27 years old who live in Athens, about their leisure activities, the limitations they face on urban space and the strategies that they adopt to address them.