Leisure as urban resistance and decolonial practice: women’s experiences in the city

Abstract

Leisure, as a field of study and social practice, has historically been shaped by perspectives that render women’s experiences invisible, especially regarding their ways of occupying and disputing the city. Based on this premise, this article aims to understand how leisure can operate as a form of urban resistance and a decolonial practice, grounded in women’s bodily and cultural experiences in the city. The method adopted was feminist autoethnography, conducted between 2021 and 2023, with participant observation in discussion circles, cafés, fairs, and dance and yoga classes, recorded in field diaries, prioritizing women’s voices as situated forms of knowledge. The results indicate strengthened self-esteem, reconnection with the body, expanded circulation in urban space, and the occupation of leisure spaces previously restricted, contributing to the construction of autonomy and female presence in the city. Based on these findings, it is concluded that leisure functions as an aesthetic and political language that destabilizes gender norms and everyday colonialities, enabling women to assert their right to the city.