Body hair and booty calls: conceptualising 'empowered-ness' in travel and tourism for solo female vanlifers
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(Published version)
Date
2025
Authors
Khoo, C.
Thakur, P.
Yang, M.J.H.
Pung, J.M.
Ting, A.
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Journal article
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Annals of Tourism Research, 2025; 111(103905):1-14
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Abstract
The present study focuses on advancing the current discourse from women empowerment to ‘empowered-ness’ by conceptualising solo female vanlifers' bodies from travel reflections as a medium to redefine boundaries for socio-cultural norms. This study adopted a multi-faceted approach integrating social-networking-platform and ethnographic data to examine empowered-ness for women in prolonged mobility, and the role of empowered women's bodies in travel. 421 statements from 285 solo female vanlifers were collected through social-networking-platforms, and supplemented with synchronous longitudinal ethnographic data journalling solo female vanlife. The findings demonstrate that female empowered-ness through vanlife mobility manifests through independence from men, unconventional relationships, and risk-taking behaviour. This conceptual shift from empowerment to an ‘empowered’ framework is a contribution to solo female travel literature.
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Data source: supplementary data, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2025.103905
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Copyright 2025 The Authors. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Access Condition Notes: This is an open access article under the CC BY license