"A City of Our Own: Urban Feminism for the 99%" is a series of articles I am curating on Failed Architecture.
Amid a new wave of inclusive feminism now is a good time to explore the various ways that cities perpetuate inequality between different sections of society. Despite some modest gains in the past half century, the built environment is largely controlled by a privileged few and often inhospitable to many others. In both living and working spaces, as well as in the public domain, the progress towards equality and freedom has been wholly inadequate. Meanwhile, as inner cities have succumbed to neoliberal urban management practices and real estate speculation, they have, if anything, become more homogeneous and heteronormative.
Up until now, feminist spatial criticism has largely been confined to the domestic sphere. With this series we seek to shift the focus to the urban scale, exploring the ways that cities perpetuate traditional gender roles, and conversely, the opportunities they offer for the subversion of these gender roles. Drawing on the radical movement of Feminism of the 99%, we don’t want to limit the scope to traditional “women’s issues”. Instead, we are inviting pitches that explore the numerous forms of oppression and exploitation enabled by urban space.
The first article of the series, Joanna Parker's Architecture is yet to come to terms with trans bodies, was published in May 2020.
I realized two illustrations/collages for the cover of the series and the article.
