Invisibility and Hypervisibility

Abstract

Chapter 2 analyzes the class composition of golf clubs, demonstrating that class dynamics cannot be solely reduced to economic relations. The first part shows how players commonly framed the broader golf community in terms of similarities. This, however, does not mean that all golfers and golf clubs were regarded as equal. There are tensions and antagonism, particularly among players situated at the extreme ends of the internal socioeconomic hierarchy, i.e., between golfers belonging to the least expensive and most exclusive clubs. The second part examines how clubs erected firm social boundaries with the outside world, creating spaces that are invisible to the larger city but hypervisible to the internal group. This analysis demonstrates how class dynamics modified spatial perceptions. The chapter ends by illustrating how gender intertwines with the class system, creating a class- as much as gender-based privileged space.