Getting away from it all?: an exploration into New Zealand women's experience of Christmas holidays

Abstract

Two problems with the concept of leisure are its dichotomous nature and the assumption that all individuals can experience freedom from obligation. This study explores a small group of New Zealand mothers' experience of family holidays. The women in this study are all in a permanent relationship and are mothers of pre-school and school-aged children. The sample represents a variety of experiences of work: full-time paid employment outside the home; part-time paid employment; and full-time unpaid domestic labour within the home. Their experiences of family holidays are related to employment status: indirectly through their partners' paid employment and/or directly through their own paid employment if they are employed. The information in this study was gained from in-depth interviews with the women. The dichotomy of work and leisure is the starting point for the discussion of the women's experiences. Once shown to be a construct that is not particularly useful, it is deconstructed as other more important and relevant aspects of women's experiences and perceptions of leisure, the family and family activities emerge. The family holiday in New Zealand is a particularly busy and stressful time for women because it traditionally occurs directly after the celebration of Christmas. Women in families plan, organise and orchestrate Christmas and holidays. This study documents the amount of work that women do to produce and reproduce family activities for other family members. The primary consideration for the women in this study was not to go on holiday to get a break from work, which they saw as being an impossibility anyway, but to maintain relationships within the family. This reflects much feminist discourse on the ethic of care and the relationality of women's leisure. Caring for others without expecting reciprocity is predominantly women's work. This work is inextricably woven into women's experiences of leisure and the family and assumes an ambivalent position in relation to traditional leisure theory. It is this often unnoticed and unvalued work that enables others to have 'leisure'. The possibility is suggested by this study that women can be 'in relation to' while still experiencing elements of traditional conceptualisations of 'leisure'. The individual-orientation of being 'free to' inherent in conventional leisure theory is tempered by the 'other-centredness' of the ethic of care.