Redefining Boundaries: Tourism, Gender, and Dating Freedom among Young People in Pacitan

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-503-4_68How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Tourism; Youth Culture; Dating Behavior; Female Body; Social Change

Abstract

The development of tourism in Pacitan Regency, particularly in the coastal area of Watukarung, has brought significant changes to the local community, including in the Pringkuku Sub-District. Beyond economic benefits and improved infrastructure, tourism growth has deeply influenced the region’s social dynamics, especially among teenagers. One of the striking changes is the increasingly open social patterns of young people, including more liberal dating practices. Within this context, the female body has emerged as a central symbol of the changing lifestyle, often at odds with local norms and cultural expectations. This study aims to explore how tourism advancement contributes to changes in youth social behavior, focusing specifically on dating patterns and the representation of young women’s bodies. It seeks to identify forms of social transformation and the driving factors behind them, while also examining how the female body becomes a site of symbolic negotiation amid cultural shifts. Using a qualitative ethnographic approach, data were collected through in-depth interviews and field observation. The findings reveal that increased interaction with tourists and outside workers, access to digital technology, and the influence of globalized lifestyles are key factors in reshaping how young people interact and express themselves socially and physically. The study highlights the importance of managing tourism in ways that are not only economically beneficial but also socially and culturally sensitive, particularly with regard to gender perspectives and the sustainability of local values.

Copyright

© 2025 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Carolina Retmawati Putri
AU  - Suryani Suryani
AU  - Zulfa Safitri Kusumaningrum
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/12/19
TI  - Redefining Boundaries: Tourism, Gender, and Dating Freedom among Young People in Pacitan
BT  - Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Culture and Sustainable Development (ICOCAS 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 594
EP  - 602
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-503-4_68
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-503-4_68
ID  - Putri2025
ER  -