Purpose Statement
I was first introduced to the problem of a lack of gender sensitive public spaces when I was in high school [1]. One of my good friends was beginning to identify as transgender and started taking steps towards his transformation. Through a transituated-perspective I began to become more aware of the general social discomfort of simple everyday interactions with him when he was put in a position to formally identify his gender, from people who were not expecting, or completely unsure how to react to his identity. The biggest problem he had at first was going to bathrooms, which typically holds true to the gender binary. However, I want to broaden the scope of the bathroom dilemma and extend it to public spaces in general. The idea of gender-neutral public spaces is a relevant, yet neglected, topic within my major (landscape architecture) because we design public spaces with universal accessibility in mind; therefore, sexuality should not be an aspect of accessibility that is forgotten.
From Interest to Study
This past quarter I was enrolled in a Women and Gender Studies course in Sexuality Studies taught by Dr. Elizabeth Meyer. Though we have discussed a wide variety of issues, our second module was on what she coined "Beyond Binaries", which perfectly encapsulates the larger problem our society faces in our treatment of sexuality. As a part of the LGBTQAI community, the trans* experience, in all of its deep complexities, is often misunderstood and oversimplified, and lumped in with the queer experience, even though it is completely unique. This module scratched the surface of the trans* experience and the interrelationship between sex, gender, and sexuality, in addition to including experiences from their partners. Using this as a launch pad, I wanted to delve into the dynamics of gender-sensitive public spaces and approach it as a design problem. This issue is very important to me because of my friend, and is arguably one of the reasons why I want to design beautiful, safe, and accessible spaces. With the recent strides towards accepting variations in sexuality, I want to voice my support through the best way I can do that--by offering another platform to examine sexuality.
Follow me on my exploration of the relationship between gender and public spaces as I shed light on current issues, present case studies of existing public spaces, develop a conceptual re-design of a portion of Cal Poly's campus, include testimonials of the trans* experience in high school and college, and hopefully provide a resource and platform for further interest in this topic.
Enjoy!
Jolie Leung
I was first introduced to the problem of a lack of gender sensitive public spaces when I was in high school [1]. One of my good friends was beginning to identify as transgender and started taking steps towards his transformation. Through a transituated-perspective I began to become more aware of the general social discomfort of simple everyday interactions with him when he was put in a position to formally identify his gender, from people who were not expecting, or completely unsure how to react to his identity. The biggest problem he had at first was going to bathrooms, which typically holds true to the gender binary. However, I want to broaden the scope of the bathroom dilemma and extend it to public spaces in general. The idea of gender-neutral public spaces is a relevant, yet neglected, topic within my major (landscape architecture) because we design public spaces with universal accessibility in mind; therefore, sexuality should not be an aspect of accessibility that is forgotten.
From Interest to Study
This past quarter I was enrolled in a Women and Gender Studies course in Sexuality Studies taught by Dr. Elizabeth Meyer. Though we have discussed a wide variety of issues, our second module was on what she coined "Beyond Binaries", which perfectly encapsulates the larger problem our society faces in our treatment of sexuality. As a part of the LGBTQAI community, the trans* experience, in all of its deep complexities, is often misunderstood and oversimplified, and lumped in with the queer experience, even though it is completely unique. This module scratched the surface of the trans* experience and the interrelationship between sex, gender, and sexuality, in addition to including experiences from their partners. Using this as a launch pad, I wanted to delve into the dynamics of gender-sensitive public spaces and approach it as a design problem. This issue is very important to me because of my friend, and is arguably one of the reasons why I want to design beautiful, safe, and accessible spaces. With the recent strides towards accepting variations in sexuality, I want to voice my support through the best way I can do that--by offering another platform to examine sexuality.
Follow me on my exploration of the relationship between gender and public spaces as I shed light on current issues, present case studies of existing public spaces, develop a conceptual re-design of a portion of Cal Poly's campus, include testimonials of the trans* experience in high school and college, and hopefully provide a resource and platform for further interest in this topic.
Enjoy!
Jolie Leung
[1] Seidman,
S. (2011). Transgendering: Partners of Transgender People" In Introducing
the new sexuality studies (2nd ed.). Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.