Objective and Subjective Constraints on Women's Enjoyment of Leisure

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Abstract
Recognizing the male bias in previous leisure theory and research, feminist researchers have introduced new conceptualizations to address the gender-based issues of women's entitlement to leisure and the particularized nature of constraints to their leisure. Concepts of the “common world” of women, an “ethic of care” for others and a lack of a “sense of entitlement” to leisure have been useful to explain the ways in which women's experience of leisure is constrained in both external and internal ways. This study measures the separate effects of objective (i.e. external) and subjective (i.e. internal) constraints on the leisure enjoyment of women. Objective and subjective items were constructed for twelve categories of constraints on leisure and were included in a mailed survey of the adult women in Ontario. More than half the sample indicated experiencing an equal or greater number of subjective rather than objective constraints. The most frequently reported objective constraints were time, responsibilities and fatigue, particularly among women with children under 18 living at home and who were also in full-time employment. At the same time, these working mothers were less inhibited by self-image, gender or skills constraints, compared to other women in the sample. We conclude that efforts need to be made by educators, recreation providers and the family to unburden working mothers from the ethic of care and to help gain a sense of entitlement to leisure.

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