Dolores Hayden: What would a Non-sexist city be like? (1980)

Embrass the Architectress

 Women protesting sexual violence in India
Photo credit: www.usilive.org

"It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World”

Is this 1960s song relevant even today?

"...Walking down the city streets, young women get harassed in ways that tell them that this is not their world, their city, their street; that their freedom of movement and association is liable to be undermined at any time; and that a lot of strangers expect obedience and attention from them. “Smile,” a man orders you, and that’s a concise way to say that he owns you; he’s the boss; you do as you’re told; your face is there to serve his life, not express your own. He’s someone; you’re no one..." Even though we like to believe that situations like these have changed over the years and that women have more voice through #MeToo movements, it is quite difficult to understand how design has adapted to this change.

In the article, Hayden argued that architects and urban planners worked off the implicit understanding that a woman belonged at home. She believed the isolated, suburban family house had been designed as a retreat for the male breadwinner alone, trapping the woman in the role of a homemaker and carer. With more women entering paid work and family sizes shrinking, Hayden saw the design of the city and home as having potential for creating more equal relationships in terms of the spaces. Despite this, 40 years later, the design of the modern city suggests that urban planners may still be perpetuating stereotypes of the patriarchal family.  

Fig1b:  Fighting for gender equality in American architecture
Photo credit: Ms. Magazine, NOW public service announcement,
 July 197

Fig1a: Mid-20th-century advertisements were targeted
 at women as the primary consumers.
Photo credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jbcurio/5803063854

Hayden also argued that the built environment helped shape ideas of how a “normal family” should use space. She said advertisements of the time – such as those showing the importance of women’s attractiveness to a man with direct links to being good homemakers – reinforced women’s roles as consumers rather than producers of valued work (Fig1a&b). It is no secret that there are restrictions in places for women. As we have been studying in the class, the design of architecture makes people behave in a certain way; the design of dwellings, neighborhoods, and cities restrict women from things socially, physically, and economically. She wrote that home designs that separated one family from another privatized family life. Separating areas for cooking and laundry from the main part of the house, as well as placing housing some distance away from schools and children’s activities, locked women into laborious days of invisible house and care work (Fig2a&b).

Photo credit: Screenshots from https://highered.nbclearn.com/portal/site/HigherEd/browse/?cuecard=45101

Fig2b: Hayden's vision of housing plan
She suggests how the dwellings could be interconnected

Fig2a: Typical housing plan of 20th century
Shows how each dwelling was separated from one another

Religion will always play a role in our society’s decisions; whether we like it or not. Mostly everyone is part of a religion and their beliefs play a big role in their decisions. For instance, while designing a mosque, the women's praying space is 20% of that of men. Since that is a practical issue and not much women pray in mosques, that seems fair. Nevertheless, it is also noticed that the women's praying spaces are much further away from the main praying hall and sometimes even on the top floor, denying the main atmosphere and that seems quite unfair. In fact places of worship must be designed with more equality as God isn't gender-specific.

Fig3: Sabarimala TemplePhoto credit: https://www.india.com/news

On the same lines, The Supreme Court of India has recently struck down a rule that disallowed girls and women in the 10-50 age group from entering the Sabarimala temple in Kerala. This rule from 1965 was being practiced since the beginning of the sacred temple. Now due to practicality, the government has decided changes in planning in terms of security, organization and welfare of women at the temple. These modern changes show how the presence women were not even considered during the design process in the past. These ideologies must change thereby making cities and spaces more "gender neutral".

Further reading: https://www.india.com/news/india/digital-bookings-separate-toilets-cctv-cameras-kerala-govt-gears-up-for-womens-entry-at-sabarimala-3358088/

Does a thing such as feminist-friendly exist?  The short answer is no.  However, there are places where women, children, the elderly, the disabled, sexual or ethnic minorities can thrive and are part of the decision making process.  These places are far and few in between.  Truthfully, no city has ever been planned and built along female or minority-friendly lines.  Most arguments in this article sounds utopian and deaf to the real world urban concerns but this may change in the future. The solution lies at the early stages, training architects and planners. Planners and architects need to design with more sensitivity to all the building's user, not just a select few.  Women can build and plan; we do so with greater awareness. 

Reference: https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/city-of-women
https://placesjournal.org/article/the-incredible-true-adventures-of-the-architectress-in-america/