Assembling (in)security
Gender, space, and the embodied politics of parkour
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 24214040 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Clara Bobillo (0000-0003-2408-810X, Universidade da Coruña) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Pages | 1-20 |
| Publication date | 2026-08-04 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Leisure Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0261-4367 • E-ISSN: 1466-4496 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/02614367.2026.2713226 |
| OpenAlex | W7172435012 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 35 |
This article examines the persistent gender gap in parkour by analysing women experiences and meanings of security and insecurity within indoor and outdoor, formal and informal environments in the context of Spanish parkour institutionalisation. Drawing on qualitative ethnographic research conducted in Spain between 2024 and 2025, this study reveals the complex assemblages of bodies, materialities, discourses, emotions, spaces and gender norms in which discrimination and resistance emerge. Although the literature suggests that indoor, formal spaces derived from institutionalisation serve as avenues for greater inclusion, the findings stress that this process could reproduce gender discrimination at spatial and discursive levels. Spatially, institutional environments may reduce women’s insecurity but do not necessarily lead to greater participation in outdoor informal settings, reinforcing gendered public/private divisions. Discursively, it sparks debates about the loss of authenticity of the discipline and its inherent inclusive character, highlighting an overlooked intersection to date. Nevertheless, by attending to the embodied, dynamic and contested character of social reality, the findings also show how women create spaces of belonging and contestation inside and outside institutionalisation. Overall, the study contributes to broader social science debates by offering insights into gender inequalities and advocating for dynamic, non-dichotomous approaches to the study of space, sport, leisure and social inclusion.
embodied politics · Gender discrimination · Gender inequality · insecurity · institutionalization · parkour · public-private space · sense of belonging · social inclusion · sport and leisure · Adventure Sports and Sensation Seeking · Physical Education and Sports Studies · Sports, Gender, and Society
The distinction of risk
Lifestyle sport, public policy and youth engagement
An existential phenomenological examination of parkour and freerunning
Spatializing Culture
Crossing the symbolic boundaries
Parkour, counter-conducts and the government of difference in post-industrial Turin
Parkour, Graffiti, and the Politics of (In)Visibility in Aestheticized Cityscapes
The Attempted Grobalization of Parkour by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique
Parkour, Masculinity, and the City
The indoorisation of outdoor sports
Climbing walls, making bridges
Intensities of feeling
Trazando La Ciudad
Playing with fear
Parkour, the City, the Event
Parkour
Research, Performance, and Doing Human Geography
The institutionalization of parkour
Saltando las olas
Doing Sensory Ethnography
Keeping It Real
The Changing Gender Order in Sport
Parkour, Anarcho-Environmentalism, and Poiesis
Women Could Be Every Bit As Good As Guys
| Highly cited | No |
|---|