What Happens on Tour
Year: 2012
Type: article
Abstract: The article explores the premarital all-male stag tour made by groups of British men to an Eastern European city as a homosocial bonding ritual. Homosocial groups help sustain hegemonic masculinity and play a significant role in establishing accepted forms of masculinity. Male friendships have been characterized as lacking in intimacy and typically channeled through alternative social relations such as competition. The article draws on qualitative data from participant observation with stag tour groups. Although bonding through shared activities and overt expressions of heterosexuality are common to stag tourist behavior, groups were seen as largely noncompetitive. Expressions of intimacy and emotion were frequent and a high value was placed on group cohesion and fostering a sense of togetherness. The performance of a loss of homosocial friendship was apparent and this links to wider social changes in men’s lives. This suggests both the significance of men’s friendships and possible patterns of change.
Source: Men and Masculinities
Author: Thomas Thurnell-Read
Institution: Coventry University
Language: English
Subfield: Gender Studies
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2098539670