The purpose of this
phenomenological exploration was to shed light on the constellation of factors
anteceding young women’s sexual risk taking during their tourist experiences.
A
total of 15 in-depth interviews (1.5 to 2.5 hours each) with 13 women were
conducted and analyzed through the lens of transcendental phenomenology. An
analysis of antecedent factors revealed a confluence of sociopersonal
characteristics (e.g., sexual definitions, attitudes, double standards, and
age) and touristic attributes (e.g., the sense of temporariness/ephemerality,
anonymity, and fun-oriented mentality depending on length, destination, and
type of tourist experience) that underlie women’s proclivity for and
perceptions of sexual risk taking in certain travel scenarios.
These result in
myriad effects on physical, sexual health, sociocultural, mental, and emotional
aspects of women’s health and well-being. While the sociopersonal antecedents
highlight the cross-pollination between sex-related perceptions in everyday
life and touristic environments, the touristic antecedents emphasize the
uniqueness of tourist experiences as the contexts for sexual risk taking.
The
findings address an under researched topic in sex and tourism scholarship and
offer implications for health education and intervention programs, pointing to
the value of constructing the context-specific and gender-sensitive sexual
health messages underpinned by the ideas of women’s empowerment and sexual
agency.
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By:
a Department of
Recreation, Sport and Tourism, College of Applied Health Sciences, University
of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
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