This is a fascinating article that I found by Clare Melhuish, I hope it proves to be just as fascinating for you - Enjoy!
"Traditional architectural forms throughout the world frequently demonstrate clearly differentiated spaces for the sexes, reflecting an acknowledgement of, and response to what are perceived as women's and men's differing roles, needs and natures in society. While modernisation and westernisation may result in a questioning of those assumptions, age-old building traditions nevertheless offer insights which may not only be of interest to anthropologists, but also of value to those engaged in contemporary practices of design and construction.
Catherine Keys' research into the spatial arrangements of the Warlpiri aboriginal people in Australia focuses attention on the traditional provision of domestic accommodation, or jilimi, specifically designed for single women (Keys 1999, 2003 ). This would form one of the three different types of domestic ‘camp' which also included the yupukarra (married or family camp) and the jangkayi (single men's camp). During an individual's life-cycle, and reflecting evolving domestic needs, he or she would move from one type of accommodation to another. When government agencies in the 1980s began building different housing types for aboriginal communities, it prompted a backlash from Warlpiri women who wanted a return to the traditional single women's accommodation."
Read More
For more articles pertaining to gendered space, visit www.gendersite.org
February 28, 2009
Protesting Gendered Spaces on Facebook!
It is to my surprise and delight that I came across a Facebook group today called:
Get Your Gendered Spaces Off My Fucking Campus NOW!
How exciting eh? Apparently I'm not the only university student who's distressed by our society's persistent and harmful dichotomies. This group is run by Dan Foerste from the State University of New York (SUNY), and they hold rallies and events to increase knowledge and awareness across the campus and around the community about the problematic nature of gendered spaces. Their focus seems to be primarily on the problems that transgendered individuals face due to issues such as gendered washrooms and dormatories. They are also concerned with the severe lack of knowledge in the health care system, faculty members, and security staff on campus, surrounding the issues faced by transgendered individuals and the problematic nature of gendered spaces in general.
Here's the link to the group's page if you're interested in reading more about their mission and goals (you may need to be signed into facebook to actually see the page):
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=35068760059
Get Your Gendered Spaces Off My Fucking Campus NOW!
How exciting eh? Apparently I'm not the only university student who's distressed by our society's persistent and harmful dichotomies. This group is run by Dan Foerste from the State University of New York (SUNY), and they hold rallies and events to increase knowledge and awareness across the campus and around the community about the problematic nature of gendered spaces. Their focus seems to be primarily on the problems that transgendered individuals face due to issues such as gendered washrooms and dormatories. They are also concerned with the severe lack of knowledge in the health care system, faculty members, and security staff on campus, surrounding the issues faced by transgendered individuals and the problematic nature of gendered spaces in general.
Here's the link to the group's page if you're interested in reading more about their mission and goals (you may need to be signed into facebook to actually see the page):
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=35068760059
G.S. Blog Post - Ingie Hovland
I came across a great blog post this evening, written in August 2008 by Ingie Hovland. Though brief, I think that the post includes a great quote about gendered spaces, and their effects on the lives of women and men. I thought it would be interesting to include the link here for you to read yourselves, as I definitely think it's worth the read! Enjoy.
http://ingiehovland.blogspot.com/2008/08/gendered-spaces.html
http://ingiehovland.blogspot.com/2008/08/gendered-spaces.html
February 27, 2009
Gendered Spaces - by Daphne Spain
Here's a book that I think might interest you if you wish to read further on the subject of gendered spaces. It's called (conveniently) Gendered Spaces, written by Daphne Spain. Here's a brief synopsis that I found on amazon.com, where you can also purchase a copy today:
"In hundreds of businesses, secretaries—usually women—do clerical work in "open floor" settings while managers—usually men—work and make decisions behind closed doors. According to Daphne Spain, this arrangement is but one example of the ways in which physical segregation has reinforced women's inequality. In this important new book, Spain shows how the physical and symbolic barriers that separate women and men in the office, at home, and at school block women's access to the socially valued knowledge that enhances status.
Spain looks at first at how nonindustrial societies have separated or integrated men and women. Focusing then on one major advanced industrial society, the United States, Spain examines changes in spatial arrangements that have taken place since the mid-nineteenth century and considers the ways in which women's status is associated with those changes. As divisions within the middle-class home have diminished, for example, women have gained the right to vote and control property. At colleges and universities, the progressive integration of the sexes has given women students greater access to resources and thus more career options. In the workplace, however, the traditional patterns of segregation still predominate.
Illustrated with floor plans and apt pictures of homes, schools, and work sites, and replete with historical examples, Gendered Spaces exposes the previously invisible spaces in which daily gender segregation has occurred—and still occurs. " (amazon.com, retrieved 27 feb,2009)
Spain looks at first at how nonindustrial societies have separated or integrated men and women. Focusing then on one major advanced industrial society, the United States, Spain examines changes in spatial arrangements that have taken place since the mid-nineteenth century and considers the ways in which women's status is associated with those changes. As divisions within the middle-class home have diminished, for example, women have gained the right to vote and control property. At colleges and universities, the progressive integration of the sexes has given women students greater access to resources and thus more career options. In the workplace, however, the traditional patterns of segregation still predominate.
Illustrated with floor plans and apt pictures of homes, schools, and work sites, and replete with historical examples, Gendered Spaces exposes the previously invisible spaces in which daily gender segregation has occurred—and still occurs. " (amazon.com, retrieved 27 feb,2009)
For more information about this book, visit:
http://www.amazon.com/Gendered-Spaces-Daphne-Spain/dp/0807843571 (amazon.com listing)
Welcome
Hello, and welcome to my blog!
I created this blog as part of an assignment for my Women's Studies: Gender, Sexuality, and Space course. However, I have every intention of continuing this blog well after the completion of this course, because the issues that I wish to discuss here do not just start and stop within the timeline of a university class. I believe that the damaging and controlling effects of gendered spaces are felt by each and every individual on this earth, therefore I hope that this blog will provide a critical examination of such spaces and how we can go about changing their impact.
What do I mean by gendered spaces? Well, to be general, a gendered space is any space or place which has both visible and hidden expectations, rules, and guidelines for men and women (usually different), detailing "appropriate" behaviour and actions. Gendered spaces reinforce gender roles and stereotypes, and help to preserve existing norms and boundaries of society. A more detailed explanation and picture of gendered spaces will appear in the subsequent posts that follow this one, but I hope that this brief explanation will be sufficient for the time being!
Thanks again for visiting my blog - Hope you Enjoy!
Sincerely,
Erica Van Driel
I created this blog as part of an assignment for my Women's Studies: Gender, Sexuality, and Space course. However, I have every intention of continuing this blog well after the completion of this course, because the issues that I wish to discuss here do not just start and stop within the timeline of a university class. I believe that the damaging and controlling effects of gendered spaces are felt by each and every individual on this earth, therefore I hope that this blog will provide a critical examination of such spaces and how we can go about changing their impact.
What do I mean by gendered spaces? Well, to be general, a gendered space is any space or place which has both visible and hidden expectations, rules, and guidelines for men and women (usually different), detailing "appropriate" behaviour and actions. Gendered spaces reinforce gender roles and stereotypes, and help to preserve existing norms and boundaries of society. A more detailed explanation and picture of gendered spaces will appear in the subsequent posts that follow this one, but I hope that this brief explanation will be sufficient for the time being!
Thanks again for visiting my blog - Hope you Enjoy!
Sincerely,
Erica Van Driel
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