African American and Latinos Leisure Lifestyles Term Paper

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Leisure Lifestyles Paper

Leisure is an important component of the American life. Many Americans derive immense pleasure, satisfaction, and fulfilment from leisure activities. While there are leisure activities common to Americans as a whole, leisure lifestyles tend to differ across groups, mostly in terms of age, gender, race, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status. This paper compares and contrasts the leisure lifestyles of three selected groups: African Americans, Latinos, and gay men. The paper also pays attention to changes in leisure lifestyles among gay men in the last one and a half decades or so.

African American Leisure Lifestyles

African Americas have greatly shaped the American life. Without African Americans, many leisure activities present today would perhaps not be existent. African Americans’ leisure lifestyles have been largely influenced by their historical experiences, especially slavery and racial discrimination (Andrews, 2004). Due to lack of freedom, African Americans during the era of slavery had little or no time for leisure. Children mainly participated in roaming over the plantations of their masters, wading in the streams, fishing, hunting, as well as games such as pole jumping, rope jumping, marbles, and stilt walking. Humour, storytelling, singing, and art were also common leisure activities for African Americans during the slave era. Emancipation increased African Americans’ freedom, resulting in more time for leisure activities. African Americans also got an opportunity to pursue new leisure activities such as reading, conversing, dating, religious fellowship, picnics, as well as social events such as weddings. In the early 1900s, many African Americans migrated to the north fleeing racial hatred in the south. With improved socioeconomic status, African Americans became more involved in organised sports (such as basketball and baseball), music, and relaxation. Throughout the 20th century, against the backdrop of increased urbanisation, African Americans engaged in new leisure activities such as fashion, entertainment, summer barbeques, and membership in civic organisations, ultimately conforming to the broader society (Andrews, 2004).

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Latino’s Leisure Lifestyles

Latinos comprise the largest ethnic minority group in the U.S. Generally, dissimilar to other ethnic groups, Latinos have been reluctant to adopt mainstream leisure patterns, electing instead to retain the cultural heritage of their country of origin. Latinos as a whole tend to be social (Gomez, 2004). Compared to other Americans, they participate in leisure activities in larger groups, mostly comprising family members, the extended family, and close friends. Latinos’ leisure lifestyles also revolve around religious matters. Common family-oriented and religion-themed events in which Latinos participate enthusiastically include weddings, Christmas celebrations, and grave visits. Latinos also participate in sports, especially soccer, baseball, boxing, and basketball. Though cockfighting and bullfighting are rare in the U.S., Latinos have a strong preference for these sports. As for entertainment, Latinos are fond of music and dance. For instance, the salsa dance is religiously adored by Latinos. While Latinos love dance and music, there are usually no specific leisure zones for Latinos. Latinos also differ from most Americans with respect to involvement in outdoor activities. In addition to preference for group outdoor activities, Latinos prefers to have developed areas in the outdoors as opposed to pristine areas. Latinos also enjoy relaxing, picnicking, gardening, and fishing (Gomez, 2004).

Gay Men’s Leisure Lifestyles

Leisure – coupled with capitalism, urbanisation, and technological advancements in the 20th century – has played an instrumental role in shaping the gay male identity in the last one century. Gay men now gather in bars, parks, bookstores, and bathhouses to engage in sexual and social activities (Romesburg, 2004). In addition to gay bars, gay men spend leisure time in gay private parties, gay-owned retail….....

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