Research note: the concept of serious leisure and women's experiences of the Sea Cadet Corps

Abstract

This note describes the conceptual importance of 'serious' leisure while highlighting its theoretical weaknesses when speaking both to and from the experiences of women in the Sea Cadet Corps (a uniformed youth organization). I claim that although women's experiences challenge some of the assumptions made by serious leisure, the concept of serious leisure remains, as yet, a positive framework in which these experiences may be grounded. It is, however, my contention that Stebbins (1982) concept is in need of a politicizing and critical analysis, and that this is provided by a feminist critique of engendered power relations.