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Kristin Winet

Writer | Traveler

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Toward a Feminist Travel Perspective: Rethinking Tourism, Digital Media, and the Gaze

As a travel journalist and photographer, I care just as much about how people and places are represented as I am with being an ethical traveler while I’m on the road. In the spirit of this devotion to promoting travel that is attentive to the world’s differences and cultures, I decided to devote the past few years to researching, thinking about, and writing about how we can be better travelers by looking at a diversity of voices, perspectives, and travelers whose voices aren’t always recognized and thinking about other ways of composing travel stories. A year and a half into revising this project (which was originally my dissertation), I can tell you that I certainly don’t have all the answers but I am doing my best to change the stereotype that travel writing is only for the privileged.

Though it’s also the capstone of my graduate studies, I also hope that this project will fill a gap in tourism and media studies and be accessible to travelers, teachers, and other writers.

So what’s this project all about?

My research brings together my interests in professional writing, travel writing, and feminist theory to explore the ways in which professional travel writers adopt and/or reject the tourist gaze in their digital writing projects. My monograph-in-progress, Toward a Feminist Travel Perspective: Re-thinking Tourism, Digital Media, and the Gaze, traces these adoptions/rejections across three common blog genres, arguing that digital and multimodal writing offers space for reflection and even a possible feminist reclamation of travel, a historically patriarchal topos. I use these findings to theorize a framework for approaching issues of difference and inequality in professional writing contexts through what I call a “pedagogy of travel”, an approach that focuses on readers’ and writers’ subject position(s) and cultural frameworks. A version of my third chapter, “From Street Food to Digital Kitchens: Toward a Feminist Rhetoric of Culinary Tourism (Or, How Not to Devour Paris and Eat Your Way Through Asia),” recently appeared in Southern Illinois University Press’ Food, Feminisms, and Rhetorics; a second chapter, “She’s Everywhere, All the Time: How the #Dispatch Interviews Created a Sisterhood of Feminist Travelers,” is forthcoming in a collection on feminist rhetorical strategies from The University of Alabama Press. Insights from my research not only inform my own freelance travel journalism, for which I have won numerous awards, but also provides important theoretical grounding for the courses I design and teach.

Here’s a brief overview of each chapter:

Ch.1: Trends in Contemporary Tourism Studies: Discourse, Communication, and Digital Media

This chapter situates my project within existing scholarship on contemporary tourism studies and digital media in an attempt to bridge the disciplinary gap between rhetoric and composition studies and tourism/leisure studies.

Creative Interlude: From the Tattered Edges of My Journal: A Story of Loss and Reuniting

Ch.2: Feminism and Tourism: Setting up a Theory of the Feminist Travel gaze and Charting New Territories for World Knowledge-Making

Building on the theoretical work I have laid in my literature review in Chapter 1, this chapter continues the work of setting up a theory of feminist travel “gaze” and offers a useful framework for reading the rest of the project.

Creative Interlude: A Girl and a Soup: Just One Food Story

Ch.3: Other Ways of Eating: Promoting a Feminist Food gaze (Or, How Not to Devour Paris and Eat Your Way through Asia)

This chapter theorizes a feminist food gaze that disrupts the topoi of the Western subject eating the exotic “Other.” I argue that when utilized uncritically, four common techniques for telling food stories—cosmopolitanism, decontextualization, devourism, and escapism—reify and sustain Urry’s asymmetric “tourist gaze” between the Western subject and the exotic “Other.” I then offer an alternative approach to traveling and food that defetishizes cultural difference, troubles binaries, and complicates food histor(ies).

Creative Interlude: How Do You Tie Your Scarf?: Dating, Clothing Tips, and Sex Menus

Ch.4: On Borders and Bodies: A Feminist Response to the Disembodied Tourist “gaze” in Personal Travel Photography

In keeping with Chapter 3’s emphasis on anti-colonial eating, this chapter extends this conversation by examining the ways in which digital media offers the potential for replacing the disembodied cosmopolitan gaze with a “two-way” embodied cosmopolitanism that critically considers the ways bodies (of both host and tourist, a binary I will reconsider in this chapter) are represented in travel stories about the body.

Creative Interlude: “You Can’t Use That Picture!” And Other Editorial Challenges

Ch.5: Rusty Railings and Imperfect Landscapes: Challenging the Exoticizing Gaze in Travel

This chapter argues that taking a feminist approach to venturing and actively working to dismantle patriarchal understandings of place is critical if we wish to listen, as tourism scholars Pritchard and Morgan hope, to the feminine, the gay, the trans, and the ethnic gaze—gazes that hear and see landscapes “that escape the white, masculine eye” of mainstream tourism (901).

If you’re interested in reading more or would like to talk to me about my work, don’t hesitate to contact me! I’d love to hear from you.

Meet Kristin

I'm a writer, teacher, traveler, and a new mom living in the sunny Sonoran Desert! I write to share stories about our complex, beautiful world, and I teach to help others think more deeply about their words and their stories. Read More…

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kristinwinet

Here’s the scoop: having a baby changes a lot of Here’s the scoop: having a baby changes a lot of things. It changes your daily rhythm, your space to think, your ability to throw stuff in a backpack and just go somewhere, the solitude of a writing life. I’ve been working on figuring out who I am in this new life, so I decided to take a baby step this weekend and hop back - slowly! - into my travel writing self 🙌 So tonight, I’m out exploring Cat Mountain Lodge, a super-cute boutique hotel right at the foot of the Tucson mountains 🏔 This pic is from the entrance ☀️ Ryan and Riley came for dinner and toured the property with me - and they’ll be back in the morning for a sunrise breakfast ☕️ Everything still feels weird and unknown, but it also feels messy and new. I’m glad for baby steps...I’m glad to be here❤️ Gladly taking advice from mamas who are also travelers!
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#whyilovewhereilive #tucson #mountains #catmountainstation #travelwriter #travelmom #visitarizona #catmountainlodge #arizona #southernaz @catmountainstation5520 @visittucson
I know that babywearing has been a custom around t I know that babywearing has been a custom around the world for centuries (probably millenia?). Today, I see why ❤️ I finally figured out how to put on the Moby wrap and snuggle little Riley into it! When we’re feeling a little more brave, I might even take him out of the house and walk with him around the neighborhood 🥰 What a wild ride...so far, we’ve made it six weeks together!
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#babywinet #mobywrap #babywearing #travelmom #newmom #newmomlife
My morning view, a little different than what I’ My morning view, a little different than what I’m used to! ❤️ Our little Riley James, seeing the world for what always feels like the first time 🥰
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#momtraveler #babywinet #newmom
Hi world, I’m Riley! Nice to meet you 🙂 My mom Hi world, I’m Riley! Nice to meet you 🙂 My mom’s been a little busy lately, but she’s back (and promises not to post a million baby photos). **Happy one month birthday to our newest adventure!**
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#babywinet #newbaby #baby #newmom
A man, his fish, and four hungry travelers 😂 An A man, his fish, and four hungry travelers 😂 And, omg, his fresh ceviche!!! *swoon* @abedhabush @viasabra
Our next day started off with a stroll down 2,000 Our next day started off with a stroll down 2,000 year old tile in the ancient ruins of Caesarea....I have to say, it's looking pretty good! 🤣😍 @viasabra
I love texture 😉😀😁 We don't get enough of I love texture 😉😀😁 We don't get enough of it here in the states...we always want to cover up every ding, dent, peel, or crack. I like this. Walking the streets of Tel Aviv 😍
Yummy vegetables! 🥑🍆🥔🥕🍄 Yummy vegetables! 🥑🍆🥔🥕🍄
On our #foodtour through the illustrious #Carmelma On our #foodtour through the illustrious #Carmelmarket with our first guide, Anat from @viasabra! Tel Aviv seriously has some of the best street markets you could ever imagine 😍 I'll try not to inundate you with food pics 😉
One of Israel's biggest controversies: whose hummu One of Israel's biggest controversies: whose hummus is the **best** hummus? If it's from #Abuhasan, then it's chunky and topped with fava beans. Ryan adored it...me...? Well, it did have beans on top, and they kind of looked like Mexican refried beans. I think I'll keep looking for my favorite hummus 🤣@viasabra
One of my FAVORITE things ever came at the end of One of my FAVORITE things ever came at the end of Day 1, and guess what? It starts with a pita!! 😂 This is an Iraqi Jewish food called #sabich. It's fabulous. And I love the chef who makes it - he told us he was an architect because everything is layered precisely inside the pita (namely fried eggplant and hard boiled eggs, among other things) 🥙🥙🥙
Yes, this is a carbonated water with plants in it. Yes, this is a carbonated water with plants in it. And we got to drink it (eat it?) while sitting in an old pickup truck in Levinsky Market (They have no seating in the market, so the owner drives his truck around and keeps parking it in different spots!) @visit_israel #levinskymarket
Starting our first morning off right - with a food Starting our first morning off right - with a food tour of Carmel Market, which is one of the best street food #markets I've ever been to. Here, we got to taste this thing called #burika, which is a Lebanese street food. Basically, it's a fresh #pita stuffed with mashed potatoes and fried egg and smothered in this spicy harissa red sauce. Never have I ever had something like this!! @viasabra @deliciousisrael @visit_israel
I didn't mention this in my first pic, but we are I didn't mention this in my first pic, but we are here with @rollinscollege as part of an #RIG grant to explore a question: Is there such a thing as an Israeli cuisine? 🌿🌱 We are working with @viasabra on our journey!

So, naturally, we start by exploring hummus. And when the famous #Abuhasan hummus spot in Jaffa is packed to the brim for lunch, you get the hummus as takeout and sit in the street 😉😉
Welcome to our Tel Aviv food tour!! I don't always Welcome to our Tel Aviv food tour!! I don't always post #food pics, but this trip kind of necessitates it 😄 Here we are, Tel Aviv, and first up? Falafel, of course 😁
Before we head off on our newest adventure, I need Before we head off on our newest adventure, I need to wrap up my #Mardigras series!! This pic is from the Dragons Ball, which we were invited to after interviewing the King! #alabamaroadtrip #kwalabama #alabama
Never a place without beads during Mardi Gras 👍 Never a place without beads during Mardi Gras 👍 @tweethomeal @inbirmingham @city_of_mobile @visitalbeaches #alabamaroadtrip #mobile #joecainday #mardigras #mardigras2018
Mardi Gras wouldn't be complete without a visit to Mardi Gras wouldn't be complete without a visit to Church St Graveyard. Joe Cain, the man responsible for reviving carnival after the civil war, is buried here.  Plus? It's full of cherry blossoms! 🌱🌿 @tweethomeal @inbirmingham @city_of_mobile @visitalbeaches #alabamaroadtrip #mardigras #mardigras2018 #mobile #kwalabama
If it can be fried, it will be fried. The mantra a If it can be fried, it will be fried. The mantra around here 🤣 @paninipetes @tweethomeal @inbirmingham @city_of_mobile @visitalbeaches #alabamaroadtrip #mardigras #mardigras2018
Peanuts are a very big thing here 😍👌 @tweeth Peanuts are a very big thing here 😍👌 @tweethomeal @inbirmingham @city_of_mobile @visitalbeaches #alabamaroadtrip #mobile #alabama #sweethomealabama #kwalabama #mardigras2018 #mardigras #mobilemardigras #deepsouth #alabamatourism
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More about Kristin

I'm a writer, teacher, traveler, and a new mom living in the sunny Sonoran Desert! I write to share stories about our complex, beautiful world, and I teach to help others think more deeply about their words and their stories. Read More…

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kristinwinet

Here’s the scoop: having a baby changes a lot of Here’s the scoop: having a baby changes a lot of things. It changes your daily rhythm, your space to think, your ability to throw stuff in a backpack and just go somewhere, the solitude of a writing life. I’ve been working on figuring out who I am in this new life, so I decided to take a baby step this weekend and hop back - slowly! - into my travel writing self 🙌 So tonight, I’m out exploring Cat Mountain Lodge, a super-cute boutique hotel right at the foot of the Tucson mountains 🏔 This pic is from the entrance ☀️ Ryan and Riley came for dinner and toured the property with me - and they’ll be back in the morning for a sunrise breakfast ☕️ Everything still feels weird and unknown, but it also feels messy and new. I’m glad for baby steps...I’m glad to be here❤️ Gladly taking advice from mamas who are also travelers!
.
.
.
#whyilovewhereilive #tucson #mountains #catmountainstation #travelwriter #travelmom #visitarizona #catmountainlodge #arizona #southernaz @catmountainstation5520 @visittucson
I know that babywearing has been a custom around t I know that babywearing has been a custom around the world for centuries (probably millenia?). Today, I see why ❤️ I finally figured out how to put on the Moby wrap and snuggle little Riley into it! When we’re feeling a little more brave, I might even take him out of the house and walk with him around the neighborhood 🥰 What a wild ride...so far, we’ve made it six weeks together!
.
.
.
#babywinet #mobywrap #babywearing #travelmom #newmom #newmomlife
My morning view, a little different than what I’ My morning view, a little different than what I’m used to! ❤️ Our little Riley James, seeing the world for what always feels like the first time 🥰
.
.
.
#momtraveler #babywinet #newmom
Hi world, I’m Riley! Nice to meet you 🙂 My mom Hi world, I’m Riley! Nice to meet you 🙂 My mom’s been a little busy lately, but she’s back (and promises not to post a million baby photos). **Happy one month birthday to our newest adventure!**
.
.
.
#babywinet #newbaby #baby #newmom
A man, his fish, and four hungry travelers 😂 An A man, his fish, and four hungry travelers 😂 And, omg, his fresh ceviche!!! *swoon* @abedhabush @viasabra
Our next day started off with a stroll down 2,000 Our next day started off with a stroll down 2,000 year old tile in the ancient ruins of Caesarea....I have to say, it's looking pretty good! 🤣😍 @viasabra
I love texture 😉😀😁 We don't get enough of I love texture 😉😀😁 We don't get enough of it here in the states...we always want to cover up every ding, dent, peel, or crack. I like this. Walking the streets of Tel Aviv 😍
Yummy vegetables! 🥑🍆🥔🥕🍄 Yummy vegetables! 🥑🍆🥔🥕🍄
On our #foodtour through the illustrious #Carmelma On our #foodtour through the illustrious #Carmelmarket with our first guide, Anat from @viasabra! Tel Aviv seriously has some of the best street markets you could ever imagine 😍 I'll try not to inundate you with food pics 😉
One of Israel's biggest controversies: whose hummu One of Israel's biggest controversies: whose hummus is the **best** hummus? If it's from #Abuhasan, then it's chunky and topped with fava beans. Ryan adored it...me...? Well, it did have beans on top, and they kind of looked like Mexican refried beans. I think I'll keep looking for my favorite hummus 🤣@viasabra
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