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Why public spaces are important
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Public places are an important part of urban life in a city. They are places which are open to all and function to provide a comfortable setting where one can go out and socialize and indulge in recreational activities. They are places that we all are free to use, as against the privately owned realm of houses and shops.
In India, most of the public spaces are organically developed, most of which are clubbed with / adjoining institutions and happened in relation to market spaces, known as ‘Bazaars’.
Ahmedabad is a city where you can spot life anywhere and at any time of the day. The people of Ahmedabad like to be outdoors and socialize for at least a few hours every day. Irrespective of the amount of work that a housewife has or the number of assignments a student has to complete or however big a day at work it is for a professional, we can see them hanging around with their friends / families / colleagues at different times of the day.
Bhadra Plaza, Walled City.
Law Garden
Any public space in Ahmedabad is never devoid of life. A few of them have the same character throughout the day while in most of them, the character changes as the day
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Despite the apparent visibility of women in public spaces, in urban India, women do not share equal access to public space with men. A public space, in this case, includes squares, streets, maidans, footpaths, theatres, restaurants, bazaars, etc. The motto of the Second Wave Feminism, “the personal is political”, was one of the first attempts to break down the gendered division between; the private sphere that was attributed to women and that of the public sphere to men. Throughout history, women have always been associated with the private sphere, and men with the public; women are judged by the maintenance of the house and family and men, by how much they earn outside the
During the late nineteenth century, the notion of ?separate spheres? dictated that the women?s world was limited to the home, taking care of domestic concerns. Women were considered to be in the private sphere of society. Men on the other hand were assigned the role of the public sphere, consisting in the participation of politics, law and economics. Women in the meantime were to preserve religious and moral ideals within the home, placing children on the proper path while applying valuable influence on men. The idea was that the typical middle class woman would teach children middle class values so that they too will enjoy the luxuries and benefits in the future that the middle class has to offer (Lecture, 10/17).
...of gender], there would be no gender at all” (Ibid. 522). The feminist declaration that the personal is political is even more significant in this era where the individual is seemingly powerless in the face of oligarchical controlled governments and inhumane patriarchal political structures. Even though gender in isolation may be meaningless, the construction of gender and experience of gender is universal and is important for its potential expansion unite people to protect or revolt against political frameworks and social norms that rule the world today.
In her article, Fuller explains how the current society constricts women’s rights in an effort to show the inequalities between the men and women. For instance, she feels that “such woman as these, rich in genius, of most tender sympathies, and capable of high virtue, and a chastened harmony, ought not find themselves in a place so narrow” (Fuller 741). Margaret Fuller explains that all women, even those with “rich genius,” find themselves at a disadvantage because of the society’s inequality. She also feels that the woman are just as “capable of high virtue” as the men, and do not deserve to be in “a place so narrow.” In addition, Fuller is aware that the women can “find their way to purer air, but the world will not take off the brand it has set upon them” (741). Margaret Fuller uses this passage to explain that it possible for women to have their ideas become public, but it would b...
The “Feminine Mystique” is a highly influential book in the early second wave feminism movement. It is said that it helped shaped the demands of the second wave by insisting for the right to work outside the home, and to be paid equally; the right for reproductive freedom; the demand that women should not be expected to have children and be mothers if they do not want to. Betty Friedan addresses “the problem that has no name” which is the women who are highly educated, suburban housewives that are bored and want something “more” in their life. This is the point where women knew we needed a second wave. Women’s role had gone backwards and they were beginning to realize that they were all experiencing the same “problem that has no name”. “The
Those activities are not possibly in the city. I wonder what my interests would be if I were raised in the city. Cost of living is much lower outside of the city. There is more room for the people so that they are not limited to living in a ten-story building apartment. My family owned their own home and my sister and I were able to play outside and have animals that were allowed to run and play with us in our yard. I take for granted that yard sometimes especially during the summer when I had to mow but if I were caged in the city with very little freedom, I would be a different person. There is a city about thirty minutes away that has a few restaurants and activities such as a movie theater and bowling center. It does not bother me to drive the distance for a few hours of fun and because I have to drive to those centers, I don’t spend as much money as I would if they were right out my back door. But once I am done, I am ready to return home because of all the traffic. In my town, there are zero traffic lights and minimal vehicles on the roads, I never have to wait in traffic unless there is an unexpected event. Where I live, most everyone I pass waves at me or holds the door while I enter the one gas station that we have. Those acts of kindness, are not seen very often in the
The most related terms when women’s right is brought up are feminism and feminist. A feminist, by definition, is someone the fights for feminism. The definition of feminism, one the other hand, is very complex. Throughout history, the word has continuously had bad images and connotations thrown its wa...
The Feminist Scholarship and Social Construction of Women, written by Gayle Greene and Coppélia Kahn, was an enlightening story. One of the main issues I saw in the social construction of women was the separation of public versus private spheres in the history of women. More specifically, the division between women’s work and their personal lives (Greene, Kahn, 16). I find it interesting how this division of spheres has changed the perspective people view women with their families and women in society. With these two separate spheres separating genders women were given a double standard and viewed their work as the manual labor within a house.
Public Spaces provide unique experiences and contribute to the identity of a city. Found as places like plazas, parks, marketplaces, within buildings, lobbies and many more. Public spaces are important to our society and therefore face more arguments in design and construction compared to private spaces.
Again, this section will give a working definition of the “urban question’. To fully compare the political economy and ecological perspectives a description of the “urban question” allows the reader to better understand the divergent schools of thought. For Social Science scholars, from a variety of disciplines, the “urban question” asks how space and the urban or city are related (The City Reader, 2009). The perspective that guides the ecological and the social spatial-dialect schools of thought asks the “urban question” in separate distinct terminology. Respected scholars from the ecological mode of thinking, like Burgess, Wirth and others view society and space from the rationale that geographical scope determines society (The City Reader, 2009). The “urban question” that results from the ecological paradigm sees the relationship between the city (space) as influencing the behaviors of individuals or society in the city. On the other hand...
‘The personal is political’ is also known as ‘The private is political’. It emerged in student movement and the movement of second-wave feminism since the late 1960s. It highlights the relationship between personal experience and broader social as well as political structures. During the 1960s’ feminist movement, ‘the personal is political’ has been a challenge to the nuclear family and the value of family. Aa a slogan, ‘The personal is political’ has been repeatedly used to define the general feature of second-wave feminism, feminism activist and female studies and feminism.
Thus, the reality of places is constructed through social actions including both individual and collective efforts, through informal associations and institutions of government and the economy, rather than through the inherent qualities (Logan and Lolotch, 1987, p.45). Hence, the conclusion is well constructed. The authors effectively use 'compare and contrast' structure and 'cause and effect' structure in the chapter to build and enhance their argument. They also back up their arguments citing various researchers throughout the chapter, in almost all the sections, making their argument more persuasive. Logan and Molotch enhances the
...ent form ranging from pubs, cafes, restaurants, coffee shops, swimming pools and so on; these spaces tend to be culture-specific. However, these space continue to use flânerie in order to engage consumers with the selling of goods. In the words of Benjaree, “it’s the appropriate mix of flânerie and third places that dictates the script for a successful public life.” For example, shopping centres are designed to encourage the state of idleness in terms of “hanging out.” Boutiques are present in both metropolitan and suburban areas, as well as a multitude of eateries to encourage people to “eat out.” More often than not, social contact, relaxation, leisure and entertainment all involve consumption of goods, whether it’s going to the cinemas, catching up with friends or simply taking a stroll, the individual is always a consumer when they are within the public sphere.
What is within the boundaries of the feminine is always considered to have less status and power and is always subordinate and marginal—women always remain ‘other’. I perceive feminism as a part of the process of challenging the boundaries of the socially constructed role for women in our society—a process which through struggle will create for women a different notion of the normal and natural and a different tradition of being female. (Goodman, Harrop 4)
Today, for the most part, women are seen as equal to men. Women are given the same opportunities as men and an equal chance at getting a job as men. In today’s society, women do not just have one role and that role and that being to have kids, but they can pursue any career they wish. However, it was not always this way. According to feminist theorists, western civilizations were patriarchal which means that the society is dominated by males. The society is set up so that the male is above the female in all cultural aspects including family, religion, politics, economics, art, and the social and legal realms. The patriarchal biases of gender between male and female say that a male must be active, dominating, adventurous, rational, and creative. In the novel, A Passage to India, Forster expresses this male dominance by writing, “He took no notice of them, and with this, which would have passed without comment in feminist England, did harm in a community where the male is expected to be lively and helpful” (Forster 52). They say that to be female is to be passive, agreeable, timid, emotional, and conventional. The feminist theorists’ argument of a male centered society is definitely present in the novel A Passage to India. E.M. Forster reveals cultural, economic, and educational factors within the patriarchal society of India that limit women. In E.M. Forster’s novel A Passage to India, Forster exposes derogatory stereotypes of women and portrays women as inferior to men to uphold the view of women during the time period.
Women have often been called upon to make sacrifices and suppress their personal desires.They have often been left on the margins of the social set-up as far as their personal desires and fufilment of those desires is concerned. Women are not a minority in our society but their “lives, experiences and values have been treated as marginal” and men’s experiences have been assumed to be central to society. One also needs to contest the often stated view that in India women have always enjoyed a place of respect and dignity, that they have been respected as ‘devis.’ It needs to be seen that “the respect and privileges which accompany the position of a ‘devi’ are not only anti-individualistic,” they are also anti-humanistic and “deny women a personhood”.