Preliminary communication
The impact of ethnic tourism on gender equality: A case study of Iran’s Baluchistan women
Ahmad Reza Sheikhi
; University of La Laguna, Canary Islands, Spain
Abstract
Ethnic tourism makes women more visible in the public sphere in traditional ethnic communities. In many ethnic traditional communities such as Iran’s Baluchistan, women see ethnic tourism as a window into other cultures. In these kinds of communities, women are often isolated from contact with outsiders because of their responsibilities, which are typically focused on managing the household, while men are responsible for trade and travel. This paper examines how ethnic tourism affects gender equality and helps women in Iran’s Baluchistan for their voices to be heard in the community. This research illustrates the potential of ethnic tourism as a vehicle for gender equality through increasing social interactions and cultural exchanges, leading women to hold greater awareness of their human rights. Thus, the idea of ethnic tourism for gender equality in ethnic communities can be seen as a new way of understanding the potential of ethnic tourism for women equality. The results of the research were gathered through fieldwork as the major methodological frame and during the fieldwork, different specific methods were used to collect empirical data: interviews and participant observation. The theoretical structure for analyzing interview data was grounded in theory. Moreover, visual data in the form of photography was collected throughout all the stages of the fieldwork.
Keywords
tourism; gender equality; women; ethnic community; Iran’s Baluchistan
Hrčak ID:
139575
URI
Publication date:
3.6.2015.
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