Abstract

Caitlin Fisher

Abstract

Despite numerous legislations in America providing equality and opportunities for women, there still remains a dissonance in the present-day in certain regions of the country. More specifically, the urban setting is defined by its landscape: large buildings, unique architecture, and formulaic divisions of housing and businesses. Similarly, femininity is also impacted by the landscape it is assessed in. Certain buildings and subdivisions of the city do not accommodate female presence.  Femininity is not only a social construct, the environment plays a major role in its creation and application. Being a woman in the urban sphere connotes sexuality and deviance. Wilson asserts that being a woman in the city can be compared to that of a Sphinx in the city, which was a woman’s head on a lion’s body who would kill anyone who could not solve her riddle. This dissertation analyzes the landscapes, structures and ultimately, the forces within the city that create these concepts of femininity. Ethnographies as well interviews provide excellent insights into the self-perception of femininity and the current view of female presence in the city. Washington, DC is an eclectic city where its diversity is only outshined by its history. By further analyzing the reason for the dissonance between femininity in the city and elsewhere, we can avoid continuing to build the oppressive landscapes and connotations that shape the meaning of femininity in the future.
(232 Words)

Proposal

Fallacies of Femininity

The presence of women in urban space

“The twentieth century urban skyscraper, a pinnacle of patricharchal symbology, is rooted in the masculine mystique of the big, the erect, the forceful – the full balloon of the inflated masculine ego.”

-Leslie Weisman²                                                

            Urban space has been dominated by masculinity beginning with even the architecture of the buildings. Women’s presence in the urban environment has often seemed awkward, as the mere construction of the city does not accommodate her.² A woman’s domain has been primarily inside the home, removed from the public. Since man has occupied the public ad become the leader of the public, it essentially leaves women ‘homeless.’¹ She is constantly living in a male-created world in which she is submissive and abides by the rules.  She has been a private entity, not to be seen or heard from. Female presence in urban space has obviously increased over time along with the opportunities afforded to us. However, there continues to be a dichotomy between femininity when in the urban setting as opposed to the rural. An urban or suburban woman has a completely different life experience than does one in a rural area. Urban women are known to be working women, whether you are working in office or in the streets. The word ‘urban’ becomes a connotation for sexuality and pleasure, an individual woman in the city becoming a ‘public woman’ or prostitute.³ Even in the office, women are subjected to sexual discrimination and unfair wages. Women in management positions are often stigmatized as being too “harsh” or manly,” often being labeled a “bitch.” Queen bee syndrome has come to describe a woman who, when she gets into a position of authority does not help other women rise through the ranks (Association for Psychological Science). In rural areas, women are not stigmatized as prostitutes nor are they associated with being business women. This distinct separation within femininity in urban space is intriguing. This is precisely why I chose to focus on the urban rather than the rural.

            The dichotomy between these two types of ‘working women’ exhibit exactly how space can impact a so-called social construct. Femininity is not just a social construct. It relies on its atmosphere as much as its atmosphere helps to shape it as a whole. The workplace is an especially intriguing setting when it comes to female presence. Spatializing gender is essential to finding out how we can improve our circumstances in any region we choose to occupy.

Conceptions of Feminity and Space

I am writing on the topic of gender differences between the rural and urban settings on the east coast because I want to find out what role location plays in identifying femininity to help my reader better understand the spatial context in which gender constructs are created.


I thought focusing more on femininity would ground my argument more but I can still see this being too broad/. Any suggestions?

Gender-ating Ideas

For years, the social construction of gender has maintained the order of men as the “breadwinner” and women as being in charge of the domestic. As times change, technology improves, and new places develop, location plays an increasingly important role in gender construction.  We still see our typical domestic mother and working father, but the roles become intertwined and even reversed in certain cases.  Now, we have so many concepts of the “family” and it does not just include patriarchal. Patterns begin to emerge in certain locations that reveal circumstances that may impact our perceptions of gender.  Different regions vary in their access to resources (i.e. family planning centers) and also have certain social stigmas that have been maintained throughout the years.  Maintenance and loyalty to these traditional values can lead to a dominant gender structure that residents of that region feel obliged to follow.  For example, certain locally owned businesses may not hire women because they still believe women should stay in the household.  Despite numerous legislations against sexual discrimination, hiring pregnant women continues to be an issue of discrimination. Just because legally discrimination is not allowed, most people choose to believe it does not exist.

                With the emergence of the LBGT community, which is more prominent in bigger cities, the line between man and woman continues to be blurred and skewed in a way that masculine and feminine have no definitive meaning.  A popular family structure nowadays even includes a homosexual couple with an adopted child. Soon enough, the entire concept of gender may become irrelevant.   

                Women have not been favored in and even omitted from our historical references. Men have represented the hegemony in society and the common family unit was a patriarchal one.  The men had the jobs and the women ran the household. The wife was submissive to the husband and took care of all the children that took two to make.  Since time has passed, women are able to obtain jobs and some fathers are even stay-at-home.  Our society is shifting from one of industry to one of information, and location is a prominent factor in determining what sorts of jobs will be available. This may affect concepts of gender as some jobs may be considered masculine (ex. Construction work) and others feminine (ex. Hair stylist).  How has the location impacted these notions of gender? What exactly constitutes a masculine job?  In some small towns, women still cannot obtain a position of authority while in other towns have women mayors.   Why are there still distinct differences in concepts of gender between rural and urban areas? How can one define these concepts and what role does location play in each? Are there different expectations of men and women in rural and urban areas?

True Life: I am Caitlin

Being from a small town in Virginia and then moving to the suburbs of Washington, DC was quite the culture shock, even for a young girl. If there's one thing that gives you a different perspective on life, it's moving far away from where you came from. Seeing the difference in how people operate, how people treat each other, and experiencing the increased speed of life that being near the city entails have given me excellent insight and prompted me to become an American Studies minor. My interests include a great passion for music, an undying desire to make the best out of every situation, and a need to keep an active body and mind. Cultural interactions and the impact location has had on them are very interesting to me. The most interesting topic, I have found, is the social construct of gender. While sex is a biological distinction between a man and a woman, gender is socially constructed and culturally relative.  Deciding whether a certain action or thought process is masculine or feminine is intriguing and changes over time. How women are "expected" to behave and what is thought of as "lady-like" also change over time and space. Different movements and revolutions have put what it actually means to be a woman into question. The relationship between women and eating I found to be especially fascinating. After reading "Hunger as Ideology" by Susan Bordo, I realized many attitudes that I even have towards eating and how they are socially impacted. Usually when reading different articles for school, I tend to procrastinate or become disinterested. Being the self-interested American that I am, the second I realize I am impacted by some phenomena I must know more about it.