Adventures of Urban Life

Katherine Pimentel
Women have often been marginalized in American society; they have had to fight for equal rights and work harder just to be on an even playing field with men. Today, much has changed for women and they have been able to move up the social ladder but the effects of the past are still visible. The idea that women belong to the private life like Hayden states leads to the formation of housing and neighborhoods adhering to this notion. Some things have changed however, to facilitate the working woman’s life. While walking through my neighborhood in the Fordham section of the Bronx I noticed that the local church plays a big role in community social services. Inside the church there is an elementary school, a daycare center, activities for the elderly, food drives and other miscellaneous activities for the community. The church seems to hold the neighborhood together because it is the only center of its kind. There was an afterschool center, which was free and allowed the youth to go in and get homework help or just play games but that closed down a few months ago. Working parents in my neighborhood do not have many options therefore it is no surprise that many of the women are stay at home moms. One statement that Hayden made that I thought to be particularly visible in my neighbor hood is the stereotyping of jobs. “In creating and filling these jobs it will be important to avoid traditional sex stereotyping that would result in from hiring only men as drivers, for example , or only women as food service workers”(Hayden, 151). I found that most of the jobs in the area were occupied by men. They were mainly the business owners in the first place. The women were found in restaurants and clothing stores for women but the men were in the cell phone stores, electronic stores and tire shops. These jobs are not only gendered but the ones geared towards men tend to pay more which also contributed to the inequality.
“Male” and “female” spaces are pretty distinguishable in the neighborhood as well because they also confine to gender norms in society. The hair salon and the Laundromat are spaces where many of the neighborhood women gather. It is not only a space where they get their hair done or do their laundry but the fact that it is male free allows them to vent on issues they go through such as with their children or their husbands. Men are rarely seen in the Laundromat because the woman in the house usually tends to it. those that are there usually drop it off so that the worker does it for them and they come back and pick I u later. A “male” space can be the grocery store or “bodega” and the tire shops and auto mechanic shops. I always see men in these spaces and they tend to sit and drink beers and girl watch. This environment they create is uncomfortable for most women which is why they tend to stay away from it and allow the gender segregation to go on.
Queer/Gay individual have claimed lower Manhattan as their space. Most New Yorkers recognize that there is queer/gay dominance in this area because it is not hidden. There are plenty of shops that pride fully hang the gay flag and one could see gay couples holing hands all the time. “Gay men interacted on streets throughout the city, but just as various immigrant groups predominated in certain neighborhoods and on certain streets, so too gay men had their own streets and corners, often where gay oriented saloons and restaurants could be found and along which men strolled, looking for other men to pick up”(Chauncey, 11). This streets and corners became so known and their population increased to the point where it is now known as a gay space. Gay’s pick and choose to stay in these areas because they feel safe, accepted and comfortable with other who share the same interests as them. When I searched for a “gay map of New York” I found the entire lower Manhattan area covered in gay bars, lounges and restaurants. Most of these places if not all are for gay nightlife which I find interesting that this is all they have to offer the gay community in an area where the gay population is so large.
The Chauncey article mentioned private activity taking place in public places in relation to the gay community. The public places were usually parks where men met up because it was the only place they felt they had to meet up with others and not be so obvious. In my neighborhood the parks are used primarily by the youth to smoke and drink. They can not do it in their apartments with their parents home so this is the best option for them. I also noticed that many time young preteen and teen couples stay in the train stations with their partners after they get out of school to spend time because they are probably not allowed to bring them home, so they display their affection all over the public MTA.