ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the relation between media pilgrimages and masculinity. The overt presence of sexual ideology in the Bond texts suggests that the theme of gender is part and parcel of media pilgrimages into the world of Bond. James Bond offers an ideal point of departure for analysing these gender dimensions. After all, masculinity takes a central role in the narratives of Bond. The concept of media pilgrimages will be applied to a concrete example of Bond tourism, using a series of interviews with fans who have recently travelled to one or more Bond locations. One of the most authoritative studies of media pilgrimages was based on the studio tour of the set of Coronation Street at Granada Studios in Manchester. Nick Couldry's work makes an important contribution to the study of media tourism by showing how these rituals contribute to the symbolic authority of the media.
