Maryam Mohammadi
Abstract
Urban public spaces, as an inclusive realm, are the spacefor the presence of all users. Despite this, several groups like women due to physical and social factors, are marginalized ...
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Urban public spaces, as an inclusive realm, are the spacefor the presence of all users. Despite this, several groups like women due to physical and social factors, are marginalized in this space. Therefore, this article intends to explore the issue of gendered space and define the different aspects of these spaces in the neighborhood scale.The hypothesis of this research has its root in the existence of a meaningful relation between structural and non-structural aspects of urban space and gendered space, which differs within various cultures. Analyzing the theories of gendered space shows that these kinds of spaces are made as the results of gendered activity and representation of space function. And these two criteria lead to the gendered space occupation, gendered time occupation, and gendered function-behavior occupation. In this article structural semiotics and post-structural semiotics were used to examine the different aspects of gendered space. A traditional neighborhood in Tehran –Imamzadeh Ali Akbar in Chizar neighborhood- was chosen as the case study of this research in order to investigate the representation of space and gender relation. Through semiotic method, the signifiers, the signified, and different codes were extracted through analyzing the analyze unit – which was the narrations of 30 women of the neighborhood space. The results of the analysis shows that the space within the house and its private territory is a secure feminine space, and the outside space is a masculine space. In other words, physical codes, besides functional codes (gendered activity) are in direct relation to the socio-cultural codes (representation of space function) and create nonappropriated spaces for women. Therefore, the markedness of space indicates various territories for presence and activity of women and men in urban spaces. This means that women’s attitude towards their identity (from an individual, family, and social aspect) is due to the gendered space, and the dominated ideology and myth-making of a Traditional Woman.
