Feminist geography is an approach in human geography which applies the theories, methods and critiques of feminism to the study of the human environment, society and geographical space (Rose; 1993). It has particularly flourished since the late 1980s and early 1990s, when feminism has been applied to this cultural re-evaluation of geography.
The city, as a hugely complex set of spaces, each with their own set of rules about how one gains access to them and how one behaves in them, is therefore filled with subtle gender codings. These codings are related to the barriers about what you can and cannot do in a city. Urban space is historically split along gender lines, and many people would view today’s modern city as not split along gender lines due to feminist movements, particularly within the late 19th and 20th century’s. Gender coding within today’s modern city is divided along much more subtle gender codings but these barriers do, to some extent, still exist alongside many other binary codings such as ethnicity, age, wealth and class.
To take an analytical approach to the gendered city, an understanding of the historical context must be achieved. Mona Domosh criticises the romanticising of nineteenth century public space by scholars of postmodern cities such as Ed Soja, and feels that there is an ignorance to the ‘democratic’ aspects of 19th century space, which were very much dependent on gender.
Domosh (1998) picks apart the gendered nature of public space in the late 19th century and argues that behaviour was just as ‘regulated’ as a theme park in the post modern society. She argues that ultimately it is still men who are creating the codes and barriers. However, it is possible to manipulate these boundaries and codes in a much more subtle fashion. Take for example promenading in 19th century New York; a very important social factor in life. Respectable classes were able to walk down Broadway on week days and Fifth Avenue on Sundays. This promenading time was dependent upon class, as 7am in the morning was associated with men on their way to work. However, Domosh analyses the fact that there was a space for transgression, as in the evening promenade different classes and genders mixed. This mixing and boundary times therefore illustrated that there was space for transgression. Domosh’s argument aside however, we must remember that public space was still very much coded according to male rules. Respectable women could only be seen on certain streets at certain times of day, and to not do so was considered to be ‘not quite right.’ Furthermore, if public space was considered to be masculine, therefore where was the feminine space?
Historically, it is considered that men go out and earn the money, whilst women are the consumers. In the 19th century world which perceived this, it makes sense to code retail space as ‘feminist’. The 19th century department store away from the busy outdoor markets was considered to be the ‘ladies paradise’ (Zola: no date) as shopping was seen as a respectable recreational space for middle-class women. Erica Rappaport has further written about the department store, and how retail space has historically been coded as feminist. However, that was the 19th century, and since then there has been a century involving feminist movement. Both World Wars had a detrimental impact on female employment, explored by Ainley (1998). Nevertheless, even within the 1950s and 1960s, there was an assumption that women could only work up to a point, and marriage was seen as a critical barrier within work. This can be backed up as there was no equal pay act until 1970, and no sex discrimination act until 1975.
The feminist movement did gain momentum within the 1960s, with influential writers such as Germain Greer’s, The Female Eunuch (1970) which crystallised the movement and brought about the notion that gender roles were impacted by society and not by any biological difference. This is an important theoretical shift as it removed the claim that women were naturally ‘inferior’ to men.
Nowadays, we have moved on from the sexist Victorian times, and many would consider the modern day city as a more gender equal society. Nonetheless, there are still subtle gender codings embedded into society, but they may not be as obvious. For instance, today’s retail advertising is constantly geared towards a female audience. Furthermore, retail space is geared towards a feminist audience. Women’s clothing is stereotypically on the ground floor, whereas men’s is on the first floor.
It is not just retail space that is gendered, and it can be argued that there is a separation of gender coding within public and private space binaries. For example, domestic space is still connoted as a female responsibility, and men undertaking this role within society can be viewed upon as metrosexual, as it is only as recent as 2003 that an employment bill introduced paid paternity leave (Guardian; 2003).
On a more practical level, women still receive derogatory behaviour within a modern society, and there remains an element of sexism. An example could be ‘wolf whistling’. With the exception of toilets and changing rooms, there are fewer segregated societies within western culture. However, there are artificial barriers such as ‘gay clubs’ and ‘student nights’. This shows that some spaces are still democratised, and within today’s modern society there is a much more subtle type of gender coding illustrating that sexism has not ‘evaporated’, and urban space is still not ‘code-free’.
In conclusion, we can see that there is gender coding, nonetheless, there is a reduced form within today’s modern society, and quite often the barriers are presented due to us believing that they exist. We would act with more vigilance and caution when entering a certain ‘space’, such as the St. Matthews area in Leicester compared to an idyllic rural retreat such as Oakham, Rutland, where we may feel more ‘safe’ in the surroundings. It is apparent that gender is one of many binaries that causes segregation with modern urban space. To summarise, gender is something that is socially constituted, although it is not entirely independent of biological sex. There is a gender coding, such as public space appearing masculine and domestic space appearing feminine. In a western society, capitalism is more willing to exploit gender coding of space, for example in retail.
We have concluded that gender is just one notion that creates certain ideological patterns in ‘spaces’. As a result we will both try and look at other notions that contribute towards the ‘spaces’ we live in today.
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