Change within the change: pregnancy, liminality and adventure tourism in Mexico

Abstract

Despite the growing number of pregnant women engaging in outdoor adventure activities, very few studies have explored pregnancy or the specific needs and challenges of pregnant women in tourism research. To fill this gap in the literature, we examine the participation of pregnant women in adventure tourism through the theoretical lens of liminality. Conceptualising pregnancy as a liminal stage in which women are ‘suspended’ between two statuses, opens diverse possibilities to delve into women’s experiences of embodiment, bodily image and control. In this sense, pregnancy is understood as an ‘internal change’, which adds specific challenges to women’s practice of adventure tourism, including bodily changes and different perceptions of risk-taking. Similarly, the context of adventure tourism provides an ideal space to reflect on liminal transitions and the ‘outside changes’ that pregnant women go through in the predominantly masculinised spaces that characterise this tourism segment. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 35 Mexican women who actively pursue adventure tourism and who had engaged in these activities during at least one pregnancy. The analysis indicates the importance of norms and social expectations experienced by pregnant women when doing adventure tourism. The concept of the ‘rhizomatic body’ proved to be a valuable tool when looking at the social taboos, prohibitions and rules that apply to pregnant women in specific sociocultural contexts (in this case, Mexico). By reframing and reconceptualising pregnant women and their practice of adventure activities, the social construction of pregnancy is elucidated. Finally, the study contributes to the understanding of alternative models and experiences of being a woman in gendered spaces, while shedding light on relevant behavioural patterns among pregnant tourists and the sociocultural impacts of these patterns.

摘要

尽管越来越多的孕妇参与户外探险活动, 但很少有研究探讨怀孕或者孕妇在旅游研究中的具体需求和挑战。为了填补这一文献的空白, 我们通过阈限的理论视角来考察孕妇参与冒险旅游的情况。本文将怀孕概念化为女性在两种状态之间”悬浮”的一个阈限阶段, 为深入研究女性的亲身化、身体形象和身体控制体验提供了多种可能性。这个意义上, 怀孕被理解为一种”内在的变化”, 这给女性的冒险旅游实践增加了具体的挑战, 包括身体的变化和对冒险的不同看法。类似地, 冒险旅游的语境提供了一个理想的空间来反思孕妇在这个主要是男性化的空间中所经历的阈限过渡和”外部变化”。本研究对35名墨西哥妇女进行了半结构式访谈, 这些妇女积极追求冒险旅游, 并在至少一次怀孕期间参与了这些活动。分析表明了孕妇在进行冒险旅游时所经历的规范和社会期望的重要性。”根状体”的概念被证明是一种宝贵的工具, 有助于了解在特定的社会文化背景下(在本例中为墨西哥)应用于孕妇的社会禁忌、禁令和规则。通过对怀孕妇女及其冒险活动实践的重新构建和概念化, 阐明了妊娠的社会建构过程。最后, 这项研究有助于理解在性别空间中作为女性的其他模式和体验, 同时阐明怀孕游客的相关行为模式以及这些模式的社会文化影响。

Keywords:

• Adventure tourism
• gender
• Latin America
• liminality
• Mexico
• pregnancy
• rhizomatic body

关键词:

• 性别
• 怀孕
• 阈限
• 根状体
• 探险旅游
• 墨西哥
• 拉丁美洲

Acknowledgements

We thank the three anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments which helped to enhance the quality of the manuscript. We also thank Dr. Diana Marre (Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain) for the detailed reading and comments that helped to improve the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Isis Arlene Díaz-Carrión

Isis Arlene Díaz-Carrión is Associate Professor on Tourism Geography and Sustainable Development in the Facultad de Turismo y Mercadotecnia at the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California. She is interested in tourism, sustainability and gender.

Paola Vizcaino-Suárez

Paola Vizcaino is a Lecturer in the Faculty of Management, Bournemouth University, U.K. Her research focuses on the gender dimensions of tourism, hospitality and events, with a particular interest in the Latin American context.

Hugo Gaggiotti

Hugo Gaggiotti is Associate Professor in the Faculty of Business and Law, University of the West of England, Bristol, U.K. His research focuses on nomadic work, professional liminality, stigma and the meaning of employability.