Gendered Space

Abstract

Gendered space refers to the myriad ways in which space in all its forms – material, discursive, metaphorical, emotional, and the like – is produced by and productive of gender norms and relations. Like other social relations, gender is a sociospatial phenomenon that becomes material through enactments which reinforce and/or challenge dominant norms and relations. Because the meaning of gender changes over time and space, understanding the spatial manifestations of gender provides a powerful window into how categories of gender are defined, embodied, and imbued with specific characteristics and significance. The gendering of space has specific, material consequences for people's daily lives, their mobility, and their sense of identity.

Production of Fit City: Physical (In)Activity, Body and Everyday Space in Delhi

“…Similarly, in the case of gender relations, the woman’s body in public space and in the nationalistic imagination is rendered with meanings that also control and define the function of that female body in public space. Thus, space in its diverse forms, material, metaphorical, discursive and emotional, is both a product and productive of gender norms and relations (Myrdahl, 2019) and consequently, the publics and public spaces of the city are also gendered in nature (Massey, 1994; Ranade, 2007).…”