It is not uncommon for many people in Christchurch on New Zealand's South Island to wake up on cold winter mornings and see their breath indoors. According to meteorologist Bob McDavitt,``dragon breathöa billow of vapour with every exhalationöis usually a sign that the room temperature is below 5 degrees centigrade'' (Welham, 2003, page D1). This quote was taken from a recent article in The Christchurch Press which reported that an estimated 60% of Christchurch's 72 000 homes are significantly underheated and underinsulated, putting residents at risk of heart attacks, strokes, and pneumonia (Welham, 2003). According to Statistics New Zealand, nationwide about eighteen New Zealanders die every day during the winter from the cold, suggesting we might well have higher winter mortality rates than either Sweden or Siberia in spite of our far more temperate climate (Hayman, 2004). In a city where locals refuse to use umbrellas in the rain and wear shorts all year round, central heating, such as you might find in the northern hemisphere, is virtually nonexistent. Neither insulation nor double glazing is common and homes are usually poorly heated by a combination of open fires, log burners, and electric heaters.There is clear evidence not only that inadequate heating causes poor health and leads to children underperforming at school (Welham, 2003), but also that in Christchurch our home-heating customs contribute to high levels of winter air pollution. During the winter months Christchurch has levels of particulate pollution that are high by world standards and regularly exceed guideline maximum values (Spronken-Smith et al, 2002). These high levels of air pollution during winter months are predominantly a result of heavy reliance on the burning of wood and coal for household heating,`P
This paper uses Butler's (1990) concept of performativity to explore the constructions of feminine and masculine identities integral to the gendered bodily performance in 'interactive' service economies. The empirical research for this paper is based on Fat Freddie's student pub in Aotearoa/ New Zealand, and was collected over an eight-week period using an ethnographic methodology. While Butler argues we 'do' gender, I explore how these 'fabrications' are naturalized, and the effect this has on the division of labour within Fat Freddie's. While these performances are regulatory, they are, however, unstable and alternate subject positionings can be adopted. I discuss how these subject positionings within Fat Freddie's can disrupt dichotomized gendered divisions and hegemonic understandings of appropriate gendered roles and identities.
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