How does social media impact how female university students view solo travelling?
Author: Molly Dolan
3 Commentries
Abstract
This paper aimed to find out how social media can influence the way women feel about travelling alone, specifically focused on university students. An interview took place with a female student who had previously wanted to travel alone but was talked out of this by friends and family and was affected by the stories she had seen online.
Key words
Feminism, solo-travel, social media, gender, solo female travelling
The main aim of the conference paper was to identify how social media can affect the way that women feel about solo travel. There was a gap in the literature regarding the views of younger, university educated women and their views on this topic which the conference paper aimed to fill.
In the 18th and 19th century women who took part in solo travel were considered social outcasts- while the men earnt such titles as ‘adventurers’ (Harris and Wilson, 2007). Women in this time were expected to take on traditional gender roles like cooking or taking care of children, and it was a taboo if they wanted to travel. Despite the fact that in modern times more women are choosing to travel they are still met with a stigma from friends and family and ideas perpetuated through the media that it is not safe for women to travel alone.
Stories of women who have been harmed while alone are commonplace in the media, and women are brought up believing that they should always be on their guard, for example they are taught they shouldn’t walk home in the dark. This kind of guidance can even be seen in official government websites, where women are told how to best conduct themselves abroad in a way that men are not. Valentine (1989) referred to this as the ‘geography of women’s fear’ and suggested that women feel safer in areas and cultures they are more familiar with as they can understand how to navigate the culture. This fear can limit women to the countries they feel they can visit alone and the time of day they can go out in. Women have been scare mongered out of solo travel by the media because they fear they will be attacked while travelling. Before women have even set foot out the door, they are faced with cultural messages that are there to remind them of their own vulnerability. A common problem for young women wanting to solo travel is the opinions of family members and friends because of these constructed narratives. Female safety has been the topic of many articles, blog posts and literature, some focused on how these women can protect themselves and others challenging this stereotype (Ahokas, 2017).
For this study it was decided that primary data in the form of an interview with a female university student who had previously expressed a wish to solo travel to Rome but did not feel able to go through with the trip. The data collected from this interview was analysed into themes and the main topics that occurred were: the impact of social media, the participants experiences, the impact of family and friends, preparation of women travelling alone and stories in the media. The data was then compared to the findings of the literature to prove or disprove the theories found.
The interview with the participant brought up some interesting information regarding the ‘geography of women’s fear’ (Valentine, 1989) as the participant had never travelled alone herself, and her friends had only ever had positive experiences. Despite this, the participant still felt too unsafe to partake in solo travel because of the negative stories she had seen in the media. This fear even meant that despite the fact she stated she would most like to visit Thailand, she wouldn’t feel able to visit by herself as she is too unfamiliar with the culture and couldn’t protect herself. She also felt that women had to prepare more for tourism, and that she had done a lot of research while planning her trip to ensure that she would be safe- but still ultimately decided not to go. The opinions of friends and family were a large impact on her decision not to go, as well as the sensationalised medias stories that highlight the vulnerability of women on their own.
This was an interpretivist piece of work so would not reflect the experiences of all women, but it aimed to take the views of a female university student and compare them to the theories. Every woman is different and would have a different viewpoint on solo travel and their own reasons for partaking in a trip. There were some limitations to this project as it was constrained by the word count and further research could benefit from exploring this topic in more detail.
References
Ahokas, S (2017) Safety of female travellers.
Harris, C. and Wilson, E. (2007) Travelling beyond the boundaries of constraint: Women, Travel and Empowerment. In: Pritchard, A., Morgan, N., Ateljevic, I. and Harris, C., Tourism & Gender: embodiment, sensuality and experience, 235-251.
Valentine, G. (1989) The geography of women’s fear. Area 21, 385–390.
This paper aimed to find out how social media can influence the way women feel about travelling alone, specifically focused on university students. An interview took place with a female student who had previously wanted to travel alone but was talked out of this by friends and family and was affected by the stories she had seen online.
Key words
Feminism, solo-travel, social media, gender, solo female travelling
The main aim of the conference paper was to identify how social media can affect the way that women feel about solo travel. There was a gap in the literature regarding the views of younger, university educated women and their views on this topic which the conference paper aimed to fill.
In the 18th and 19th century women who took part in solo travel were considered social outcasts- while the men earnt such titles as ‘adventurers’ (Harris and Wilson, 2007). Women in this time were expected to take on traditional gender roles like cooking or taking care of children, and it was a taboo if they wanted to travel. Despite the fact that in modern times more women are choosing to travel they are still met with a stigma from friends and family and ideas perpetuated through the media that it is not safe for women to travel alone.
Stories of women who have been harmed while alone are commonplace in the media, and women are brought up believing that they should always be on their guard, for example they are taught they shouldn’t walk home in the dark. This kind of guidance can even be seen in official government websites, where women are told how to best conduct themselves abroad in a way that men are not. Valentine (1989) referred to this as the ‘geography of women’s fear’ and suggested that women feel safer in areas and cultures they are more familiar with as they can understand how to navigate the culture. This fear can limit women to the countries they feel they can visit alone and the time of day they can go out in. Women have been scare mongered out of solo travel by the media because they fear they will be attacked while travelling. Before women have even set foot out the door, they are faced with cultural messages that are there to remind them of their own vulnerability. A common problem for young women wanting to solo travel is the opinions of family members and friends because of these constructed narratives. Female safety has been the topic of many articles, blog posts and literature, some focused on how these women can protect themselves and others challenging this stereotype (Ahokas, 2017).
For this study it was decided that primary data in the form of an interview with a female university student who had previously expressed a wish to solo travel to Rome but did not feel able to go through with the trip. The data collected from this interview was analysed into themes and the main topics that occurred were: the impact of social media, the participants experiences, the impact of family and friends, preparation of women travelling alone and stories in the media. The data was then compared to the findings of the literature to prove or disprove the theories found.
The interview with the participant brought up some interesting information regarding the ‘geography of women’s fear’ (Valentine, 1989) as the participant had never travelled alone herself, and her friends had only ever had positive experiences. Despite this, the participant still felt too unsafe to partake in solo travel because of the negative stories she had seen in the media. This fear even meant that despite the fact she stated she would most like to visit Thailand, she wouldn’t feel able to visit by herself as she is too unfamiliar with the culture and couldn’t protect herself. She also felt that women had to prepare more for tourism, and that she had done a lot of research while planning her trip to ensure that she would be safe- but still ultimately decided not to go. The opinions of friends and family were a large impact on her decision not to go, as well as the sensationalised medias stories that highlight the vulnerability of women on their own.
This was an interpretivist piece of work so would not reflect the experiences of all women, but it aimed to take the views of a female university student and compare them to the theories. Every woman is different and would have a different viewpoint on solo travel and their own reasons for partaking in a trip. There were some limitations to this project as it was constrained by the word count and further research could benefit from exploring this topic in more detail.
References
Ahokas, S (2017) Safety of female travellers.
Harris, C. and Wilson, E. (2007) Travelling beyond the boundaries of constraint: Women, Travel and Empowerment. In: Pritchard, A., Morgan, N., Ateljevic, I. and Harris, C., Tourism & Gender: embodiment, sensuality and experience, 235-251.
Valentine, G. (1989) The geography of women’s fear. Area 21, 385–390.