‘I'm going to do this, and I don't need your permission.’ Identity constructions of female adventurers.

Abstract: With the shift from collective to individual, people started to increasingly reflect on their position in the society and potential for individual growth. Previously inaccessible services and initiatives promoting self-development emerged. However, women were found to have rather limited access to those opportunities, due to boundaries of social and cultural nature. In tourism and risk studies, there seems to be little research on female adventurers. No research seems to have focused on female adventurer identity from the perspective of self-work and potential benefits of taking risks. Therefore, this thesis attempts to understand identity construction for women who face social boundaries when engaging in voluntary risk-taking, focusing on different elements of self-work. Those are investigated through individual interviews, netnography and ethnography, taking rock climbing as an example of risk activity. Pursuit of risk activity was found for women a fruitful opportunity for self-work and identity construction. Still, some barriers of social nature, some gender-related stand in the way of its free pursuit. Findings also point out to skills and attitudes learned through pursuing a risk activity being transferable to other aspects of women’s lives. At the same time, the results point out to the importance of two additional themes: the nature and community aspect.