Masculinity often received privilege by the social institution, cultural objects or entertainment products. This being said, men learn how to socialize their attitude and behavior that bring domination and control. In other words, men digest their superiority through a concept that men appear stronger, more efficiency and able to be in charge of important tasks than women.
This notion also influences the public space which commonly known to enhance social interaction, engagement through the voice of everyone to be heard. Basically, the current designing of public spaces for women and girls do not effectively provide a sense of security. The road, the lighting, the pedestrian walk, for instance, are not designed to support women to feel safe to travel when they need to. I remember my own experience walking from campus to University Common a few months ago. It was around 11pm on Sunday. I was taking the shortcut, so it could save me some time, but the street was so dark and quiet. I was not feeling good and safe at all. Fortunately, I felt quite relieve when I saw one girl was heading to the same direction like me. She was listening to her headphone and singing anyway. I though she’s quite brave. I was a few miles behind her and she seemed to know that I was behind her too. My insecure feeling told me that I need to run, so I ran. As I was running and was about to pass her, she was screaming out loud. That was funny. I scared the hell out of her. We both were quite scare, actually. We were in a good conversation later. My experience, in fact, also reflects the fact that gender inequality significantly affects women’s mobility. Also, women are often perceived vulnerable in the public through their absence in the society. A report by Plan International (2010), says that “girls are usually forbidden from going to the fields unless they are accompanied by an elder after 11pm.” This brings a sense that how the city designed created a stereotype where women are hardly become independent by their own.
This also reminds me of a few articles I just read about how women are restricted to the public space. In many parts of Afghanistan, public spaces are mainly occupied by men. Although women have spaces for the gathering with their peers, their public environment is absolutely limited. The male domination became strong through a legacy of the long years of war in the country. In a news piece about street harassment in Mumbai, I was surprise by the percentage of women becoming victim of this issue in the public space in India. Approximately 80 percent of them experience the harassment mainly in the crowd and public transportation. Majority of women only consider sexual violence as rape and overlook intimidating objectification form including “touching, groping and stalking, leering, catcalling and whistling.” With this article, it connects me to the selfie project from a Dutch girl who spent months to document Catchcallers on the street. I find her her project quite interesting since it helps increase awareness of the people about the objectification of women that happens in daily life.
This notion also influences the public space which commonly known to enhance social interaction, engagement through the voice of everyone to be heard. Basically, the current designing of public spaces for women and girls do not effectively provide a sense of security. The road, the lighting, the pedestrian walk, for instance, are not designed to support women to feel safe to travel when they need to. I remember my own experience walking from campus to University Common a few months ago. It was around 11pm on Sunday. I was taking the shortcut, so it could save me some time, but the street was so dark and quiet. I was not feeling good and safe at all. Fortunately, I felt quite relieve when I saw one girl was heading to the same direction like me. She was listening to her headphone and singing anyway. I though she’s quite brave. I was a few miles behind her and she seemed to know that I was behind her too. My insecure feeling told me that I need to run, so I ran. As I was running and was about to pass her, she was screaming out loud. That was funny. I scared the hell out of her. We both were quite scare, actually. We were in a good conversation later. My experience, in fact, also reflects the fact that gender inequality significantly affects women’s mobility. Also, women are often perceived vulnerable in the public through their absence in the society. A report by Plan International (2010), says that “girls are usually forbidden from going to the fields unless they are accompanied by an elder after 11pm.” This brings a sense that how the city designed created a stereotype where women are hardly become independent by their own.
This also reminds me of a few articles I just read about how women are restricted to the public space. In many parts of Afghanistan, public spaces are mainly occupied by men. Although women have spaces for the gathering with their peers, their public environment is absolutely limited. The male domination became strong through a legacy of the long years of war in the country. In a news piece about street harassment in Mumbai, I was surprise by the percentage of women becoming victim of this issue in the public space in India. Approximately 80 percent of them experience the harassment mainly in the crowd and public transportation. Majority of women only consider sexual violence as rape and overlook intimidating objectification form including “touching, groping and stalking, leering, catcalling and whistling.” With this article, it connects me to the selfie project from a Dutch girl who spent months to document Catchcallers on the street. I find her her project quite interesting since it helps increase awareness of the people about the objectification of women that happens in daily life.
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