The priority of the beach : beach-going, leisure and Australian life, 1860 to the present

Abstract

In Australia today, beach-going is a major pastime but a poorly understood activity. A large number of stereo-types and images have been used to characterize beach-going and beach-goers. There have been images of national types, such as life savers; images of groups, such as willowy board riders; images of sex, such as bikini-girls; and images of character, such as lazy workers who take sick-days off to go the beach. Such stereo-types suggest th a t beach-going is an important aspect of Australian life yet, because they deal only with isolated aspects of beach-going, they do not significantly advance our overall understanding of beach-goers and beach life. This history will try to provide a general understanding of the changing character and role of beach-going in Australian life.