Cottage Country: Expectations and Experiences of Canadian Nature
Introduction
The introduction discusses a Walmart commercial representing the ideal Ontario summer cottage experience with family and nature.
It portrays common activities like fishing, swimming, and bonding over s'mores.
Suggests a carefree summer experience, reinstating the notion of cottage as a staple of Canadian culture.
Reinforces the ideal of the summer cottage as a shared Canadian tradition, despite limited access.
Cottage Culture as a Symbol of the Ideal Canadian Summer
Cottage Culture : Represents the quintessential Canadian summer characterized by family engagement and nature appreciation as depicted in advertising.
Emphasis on media’s role in solidifying this perception within Canadian identity.
Assumption of Universal Access
Popular culture implies that all Canadians have access to cottages, but only about 10% own second homes (Re/Max 2024).
Implicates a disparity between perceived and actual accessibility of the cottage experience.
Many Canadians enjoy cottage experiences through friendships or rentals.
Ontario-Centrism in Canadian Identity
Highlights the Ontario-centric view prevalent in Canadian identity, where the Ontario summer cottage experience undermines other regional traditions (such as cabins in other provinces).
Ontario summer experience often stands in as the default representation of the Canadian summer.
Cottage Ownership as a Product of Settler Colonialism
Argues that Ontario cottage ownership stems from the dispossession of Indigenous lands and represents settler colonialist practices.
Acknowledges that many Ontario cottages are situated on unceded Indigenous land, reinforcing colonial histories.
Class and Consumption
Examines how cottage ownership acts as a privilege marker, demonstrating conspicuous consumption and classist ideologies.
Depicts the ideal of “going to the cottage” as associated with social status rather than a universal norm.
Gendered Experiences
Discusses how the cottage experience is historically influenced by gender roles; men and women engage with cottage life differently.
Gendered expectations in labor and leisure during cottage visits are outlined.
Inheritance and Intergenerational Tension
Outlines challenges and tensions surrounding inheritance of family cottages, linked to intergenerational social mobility.
Discusses sociology’s role in understanding these dynamics and their implications on family relationships.
Research Foundations
Research incorporates:
Ethnographic studies
Content analyses
Memoirs
Quantitative studies on second-home ownership
Illustrates the social construction of the cottage experience as classed and gendered.
Social Nature Conceptualization
Jocelyn Thorpe (2011) defines social nature as a cultural product that highlights the disconnection between nature and culture, benefiting certain groups while marginalizing others.
The socio-ecological perspective relates environmental perceptions to cultural representations.
Indigenous Land and Pricing Context
Describes many Ontario cottages on land leased from Indigenous communities, with some (around 3,000) directly on Indigenous land (McDowell 2018).
Land dispossession is a perpetual outcome of settler colonialism, affecting how Indigenous identities are portrayed and perceived.
Colonial Aesthetic in Ontario Cottaging
Canadian nationalism often romanticizes the cottage experience, akin to the artwork of the Group of Seven, leaving Indigenous histories unrecognized.
Cottaging practices often reflect and continue colonial legacy through the idealization of vacant landscapes empowering settler enjoyment.
Racial and Class Dynamics in Cottaging
Modern cottaging trends show racialized and classed dimensions, often limiting access.
Haliburton cottagers often presume their right to own and retain cottages as a birthright, reflecting a historical narrative of entitlement.
The "Imaginary Indian" Concept
Daniel Francis (1992): Defines the idea of the 'imaginary Indian'—a conceptualization of Indigenous peoples created by European settlers, influencing how Indigenous identities are depicted in media and culture.
Explores how these constructs are often fetishized, occurring within a broader societal context.
Addressing Land Claims and Resistance
Recent decades have seen backlash against Indigenous land claims, reflecting ongoing tensions between settler leisure practices and Indigenous assertions of rights.
Examples of local land claims garnering different receptions from vacationers and Indigenous communities, depicting wider societal resistance to acknowledging Indigenous sovereignty.
Classism in Cottage Ownership
Classism: Defined by Bruce Ravelli and Michelle Webber (2010) as an ideology that judges people’s worth based on social and economic status.
Emotional and practical implications of owning a cottage link back to social class and perceived social standing.
Conspicuous Consumption and Cottage Life
Cottaging epitomizes conspicuous consumption; highlighted by Thorstein Veblen’s concepts of conspicuous leisure and conspicuous consumption.
Demonstrates socio-economic divides wherein cottage ownership is associated with old money and privilege.
Ownership is demonstrated through time expenditure and uniqueness as cottagers undertake seasonal maintenance and upkeep.
Socio-Cultural Dynamics in Cottage Regions
Seasonal employment generated by cottagers leads to economic dependence of locals on summer tourism; local infrastructure struggles to meet demands of transient populations.
Dynamic tension arises in communities with differing historical ties to land and economic interests, affecting local cultural landscapes.
Generational Challenges and Social Mobility
Inheritance dynamics reveal disparities in economic accesses, raising questions about how younger generations manage inherited spaces within current economic climates.
Statistical data illustrates patterns in intergenerational mobility declines, particularly impacting younger generations' ability to acquire leisure properties.
The Great Gatsby curve suggests a relationship between inequality and social mobility, indicating harsher conditions for millennials and Gen Z.
Environmental Impacts of Cottage Culture
Discussion of environmental responsibility within cottage ownership often clashes with the actual ecological footprints left behind by cottagers.
Cottaging contributes to ecological degradation through infrastructural demands and unsustainable leisure practices.
Climate Change and Cottaging
Climate change affects natural ecosystems critical to cottage experiences, leading to profound shifts in seasonal engagements with nature.
Recognizes the complex relationship between emotional ties to cottage spaces and the evolving environmental conditions.
Questions for Critical Thought
Key inquiries presented invite reflections on societal models of leisure, public responsibilities, and the implications of privilege within summer leisure expectations, alongside reimaginings of intergenerational relationships to cottaging.