Grandfatherhood and Leisure.

This paper explores the meanings and values attached to grandfatherhood for a range of older men who have recently retired from paid employment. It focuses on the spaces of grandfatherhood and the meanings they attach to time spent with grandchildren. The empirical study involved 12 semi-structured interviews with grandfathers from diverse ethnic backgrounds. The data are examined from a theoretical position that recognises the significance of unequal gender relations within families in determining choice and autonomy and also the potential of leisure in the construction of identities that have the potential to challenge gender expectations and contribute to personal enrichment. This exploratory piece of work demonstrates the tensions, ambivalences and complexities of grandfatherhood for these men. The research suggests questions for future research that take into account differences across ethnicity whilst exploring shifting gender relations within families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]