Housework stress in home and travel living spaces: A gender space and housework industrialization perspective

Abstract

This study explores housework-related stress across homes, peer-to-peer accommodations, and hotels, emphasizing the gendered implications of replicating home within tourism settings. Employing feminist approaches, we conducted in-depth interviews with 10 Chinese tourist couples and utilized reflexive thematic analysis. Findings indicate that a homelike space (peer-to-peer accommodation) perpetuates traditional associations between home, unpaid domestic labor, and gender roles. While prioritizing leisure can mitigate stress in peer-to-peer accommodations, women, especially mothers, still undertake more housework. In contrast, living spaces unlike home (hotel) promotes more equitable stress alleviation for couples. Hotels, as non-homelike spaces, along with the industrialization of housework, contribute to a shift away from traditionally feminized tasks, promoting more equitable gendered responsibilities and challenging established power dynamics related to domestic labor.