Who invited the women? The double bind of a culturally respectful female (or feminist?) traveler

The search for authentic cultural experiences through travel entails specific challenges when undertaken by women – particularly ‘unaccompanied’ (usually used to mean 'unaccompanied by a man) women. Many of these challenges result from differences in attitudes to gender between the host culture and that of the visitor. This chapter explores the neo-colonial implications of the presence of unaccompanied women perusing leisure in public in countries where women’s life in public is culturally incongruous.