Older women’s identity reconstruction in leisure spaces: a case of Guangzhou, China

ABSTRACT

This article analyzes the social interactions and social relations generated by older women in the urban public leisure spaces of Guangzhou, China. The intent is to explore the identity of older women in daily leisure spaces. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and non-participatory observation and then were analysed to explore the relation among identification, leisure spaces, and interaction. The study shows the older women’s need for self-fulfilment and social interaction, as well as the need to fill emptiness are generally unfulfilled because of the alienation of urban life – the citizens share a common sense of loneliness and senselessness. Nevertheless, the inclusiveness, openness, and group honour of urban public spaces offers a good complement to the sense of isolation. In the specific socio-cultural background of Guangzhou, older women reshape or strengthen their identities through multiple factors to achieve a strong sense of belonging in daily leisure spaces.

KEYWORDS:

• Older women
• leisure
• leisure spaces
• identity

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant [No. 41801125] and Youth Fund for humanities and social sciences of the MOE (Ministry of Education in China) Project of Humanities and Social Sciences - Youth Fund  under Grant [No. 18YJCZH045].

Notes on contributors

Shuting Mai

Shuting Mai is a Research Assistant, graduated from School of Tourism Management, Sun Yat-sen University. Her research interests include art and society, and urban leisure.

Xiaofei Hao

Xiaofei Hao is an Associate Professor in School of Tourism Management, Sun Yat-sen University. She got her PhD in Free University Berlin, Germany. Her research interests are gender studies in tourism and leisure,  and qualitative methods in social science.