It is now well established in geographic research that women commute shorter distances to work than men. This paper attempts to explore the common features that have emerged from the last two decades of research in various places within a metropolitan context. Three main sets of factors that may cause women to commute shorter distances are recognized: residence, employment, and transportation-each containing both social and spatial aspects. The analysis is centered around the spatial aspect. Most research on employed women seems to be characterized by distinguishing between the central city and the suburbs and thus the conclusions focus mostly upon this. An international comparison of different places shows that gender differences in commuting almost always are greater in the suburbs, from the point of view of both residential and employment dispersions. Directions for future research are suggested. Comparable methodologies will enable the inclusion of additional cities and will broaden the comparison. The examination of gender differences from the perspective of the dispersion of workplaces in metropolitan space should be further developed and analyzed according to a finer spatial scale than that used in looking at the central city vs. the suburbs. It also is suggested that factors of employment and residence should be analyzed differently so that qualitative methods may generate a greater significance for the factors associated with the domestic context. Finally, the investigation of gender differences in commuting and in the location of both residence and employment could lead to consideration of new conceptual frameworks for possible interaction between land used for both purposes within urban space.Gender differences in commuting patterns have been a focal point of study in feminist geography for almost 15 years, although there is even earlier documentation on this subject in geographic research. There currently is a vast accumulation of findings, and a review and comparison of those findings is needed. US. studies make up the preponderance of this literature, whereas studies from other Western societies provide only a modest amount of material. This paper examines the English-language literature on gender differences in the journey-to-work at the intraurban scale, and offers new directions and goals for future research within this subfield.A major spatial principle of feminist thought is coping with the separation between private and public spheres as feminine and masculine (Bondi, 1992). It has been argued that urban planning and urban landscapes reflect an "old" gender division of labor in which women function as housewives only, while men are mainly responsible for the economic needs of the family. The spatial expression of this division of labor is 223 224 ORNA BLUMEN seen in the growing separation between home and work, i.e., between land used for residence and land used for employment. This spatial organization ignores the needs of working women, who usually continue to take full responsibility for ho...

No abstract

This paper highlights three major aspects of gender differences in employment in Haifa, Israel (1972 and 1983): commuting distance, place of residence, and employment location. In 1972 working womenaposs residences were more central‐city‐oriented, whereas in 1983 they were more suburbanized. Commuting distances increased between 1972 and 1983 for both sexes, but more for men than for women. This shorter “female'’distance is related to the location of employment and its occupational segregation. The lower commuting values in Haifa compared to other places relate to the size, housing patterns, and structure of the study area, and to its levels of suburbanization and automobile ownership.

The concepts of segregation and social distance have long been used to explain the social environment of stratified residential space. However, the social significance of occupation, though acknowledged, has rarely been applied spatially. In this study, we employed these three concepts to examine the social environment of the entire metropolitan employment space as defined by job location. Smallest space analysis was used to identify and compare the sociospatial segregation produced by workers' occupational distribution in employment and residential spheres. This empirical study focused on metropolitan Tel Aviv, Israel's largest urban area, using the latest available national census. Our findings show that the social milieu of employment differed from that of residence: blue-collar workers were segregated from white-collar workers; managers, clerks, and salespersons formed the core group; and gender and ethnic divisions characterised the sociospatial realm of employment. Overall, most employees changed their social environment when they went to work. The study indicates that spatial segregation, within each sphere and between the two spheres, is intrinsic to the capitalist – patriarchal order.

No abstract

Following recent insights into performativity and space, I explore the widespread routine of going-to-work as a capitalist ritual. Going-to-work produces a powerful yet ordinary, unspectacular landscape, whose performativity is fourfold: the compatibility of the material form and human use of it; the movements of people and the clothes they wear; the variety of individual practices of going-to-work; and the timing and spacing of this collective ritual. Generally, going-to-work is performative, because it transforms people into employees, defining productivity in terms of paid work. Hence, the prime quality of this landscape is to enhance economically productive bodies. In the second part of this paper, I examine this productive—nonproductive distinction in a unique setting on the edge of an Israeli neighborhood of ultraorthodox Jews, whose definition of men's work—unpaid religious studies—contrasts with that of the majority of the modern population. The distinctive ultraorthodox appearance, originally designed to mark a particular Jewish identity, signifies their nonproductivity as a spatial performance of Otherness. This provides an opportunity to probe going-to-work in this specific place as an arena where the ultraorthodox identity as Other intersects with their capitalist identity as Other. Short street interviews with modern and ultra-orthodox Jews show that they recognize work as the main theme of this landscape. They are also aware that work is socially defined and can be criticized on both capitalist and ultraorthodox—religious grounds, and they illustrate how the controversy over the definition of work lies within the struggle over Jewish identity. I conclude by illuminating the performative role of space in displaying identity and social ideas.

Women's work is mainly divided between unpaid domestic labour and paid jobs, both reflecting their subordinate position. Most women experience a spatial discontinuity between these roles, which are performed in different places, namely home and workplace. Research points to the negative impact of home-work separation on the daily routine of employed women, especially in peripheral suburbs. This study explores the personal experience of commuting among Israeli exurban married mothers who are employed full time in the central city of the nearest metropolis. These characteristics are expected to reflect an especially heavy load on the lives of women, and thus to shape their personal experience. Findings show that women have developed positive attitudes to their commuting; mostly, they use the long trip for a mental shift, contemplation and relaxation. The women interviewed were well aware of the burden of their commuting, but they also acknowledged that their long journey affords them a 'pause' otherwise denied them in their daily routine. Although findings were drawn from a small number of interviewees, they indicate two dissonances: one among the women, who tended to minimise their hardship and focus on the more agreeable aspects of their trips; and one among researchers, who have failed to see that at least some women have the mental ability to shape their commuting into a positive experience. The positive attitudes of the women interviewed are rooted experientially, in sounds and rural landscape, and reflect the influence of territorial socialisation as part of local culture.

No abstract