Caught in the irons: one of the lived experiences of long-term ocean cruising women

Abstract

One of the reasons why women participate in long-term ocean cruising is because of relationship commitments. During 1992-1999 and 2000-2003, ethnographic studies informed by the traditions of symbolic interactionism, phenomenology, ethnomethodology, and feminist inquiry were conducted. Materials collected were analyzed using grounded theory and the Pamphilon zoom model. A Marxist/socialist feminist critique emerged from the interpretation of empirical materials. This critique demonstrated that some women had a lived experience that involved exploitation, marginalization, powerlessness, and cultural imperialism. The experience relegated them to the domestic sphere of the cruising/sailing enterprise as well as excluded them from decision making as they were psychically and economically dependent on their cruising partners. However, the cruising women argued that such a critique avoided the issue of affect or that women can be both subjects and agents. Subsequently, the cruising women were engaging in empowered connectivity (i.e., choosing with whom and what they wished to stay connected). The study provides an example of a holistic, interdisciplinary, qualitative study of independent travel that makes visible the lived experiences of cruising women traveling because of relationships. Key words: Ethnography; Participant observation; Feminist perspectives; Empowered connectivity; Australia