ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the extent to which there is evidence of the 'feminisation' of gambling in Great Britain by examining the socio-cultural determinants of female gambling behaviour. Understanding context means understanding historical contexts as well as the current social contexts that shape behaviours. Drawing on historical insight of previous gambling behaviour, the increased interest in gambling among British women could be viewed not as the 'feminisation' of gambling but as 're-feminisation of gambling'. To consider data only from last decade misses a wealth of information about the ways in which female gambling behaviours have varied under differing circumstances. While more work is needed to examine this relationship, this could be viewed as part of cyclic pattern whereby the privacy once offered by street bookmaker is replicated in a different mode. This could offer additional support for the concept of 're-feminisation' by recognising that online gambling offers private access to previously popular activities within an environment of changing attitudes to gambling.
