Assignment Example on Urban Space: Genders, Sexuality & Heteronormativity

The urban space manages to have the dominant group that plays a significant role in dictating the norms and culture of the society. In evaluating the norms that have been integrated into the community, it is quite evident that sexuality and genders are crucial in creating the contradictions that are occurring within the urban space. In terms of sexuality, as the majority in the population happen to advocate for heterosexuality as a various religious and urban setting prescribes it. Heterosexuality is a form of sexuality that involves romantic attractions of individuals that belong to opposite genders (Thomas, 2004, 773). However, the contradiction that is present in urban space is the rise of homosexuality that has happened to overwhelm several individuals in the community. The community in urban area have been quick to demonize the act of homosexuality without having valid reasons to impose such an action. However, in most hidden places that are in urban space, it is quite evident that homosexuality has been glorified thus putting the stand of the majority at a relatively contradicting point. The urban space has integrated various joints in which members of the LGBT in the community hangout and continue with their business without being criticized by the dominant in the community. The other contradiction relates to gender dominance in urban space. The male gender has been dominant within the urban space for most years (Hubbard, 2012, 10). However, the most contradicting part of gender dominance is the rise of feminism in the community. The female gender has for years integrated various techniques that have played a significant role in ensuring that they occupy different leadership positions that were once sidelined for the male gender.

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Those who are not part of the dominant norm are often excluded from or oppressed in many spaces/places. What are some examples or resistance to these exclusions and oppression?

In evaluating the statement, it is quite evident that the community usually has various norms and standards that the society has and expect individuals that have been embedded in this community to follow these norms, In most occasions, the norms that have been set also plays a significant role in dictating the sexuality and behaviors of individuals in the community. In evaluating the statements, gender and sexuality is usually a sensitive issue in most communities. However, it is common in the community to find an insignificant population in the community to fail to follow the dominant norm. For the minority or the oppressed to survive in the community, they are usually tasked with the responsibility of standing up for their rights in the community or staging for a protest with the primary aim for their rights to be upheld by the majority in the city. For example, the black community happens to hold a negative perception of the black LGBT community that is integrated into the urban centers (Bailey, 2014, 491). Most black people that are present in the community usually believe that members of the LGBT are immoral and in the most occasion are usually exclude from the various projects of the community (Taylor, 2008, 524). However, for the members of the LGBT group to deal with the issue, they usually apply the necessary performance and social labor that plays a significant role in ensuring that its members can reconfigure and revise oppressive and exclusionary spatial forms that are integrated into the community.

Explain how gender, sexuality and the city provide a deeper understanding/contextualization or everyday urban realities/experiences and illuminate the urban special inequalities and exclusions? How do women and gender studies offer food for thought, provide specific examples?

Gender, city, and sexuality have offered a deeper understanding of the urban realities and experiences which indicates the urban exclusions and inequalities. In evaluating sexuality, it is quite evident that sexuality has been crucial in creating exclusions and inequalities that have been witnessed in the urban space. In urban space, there is heterogenous sexuality and homosexuality in the community. Individuals belonging to heterogenous sexuality have been included in various sectors of the economy in the city. The efforts that are put into multiple projects in the city have been recognized and awarded by the various officials that are governing the city. However, the issue of exclusion and inequalities have been applied to people who are considered to be homosexual in the city. Individuals who are deemed to be homosexual have played a vital role in conducting commercialized actions that have been contributed to the transformations that have been made towards the political, economic, and social developments in the urban space (Taylor, 2008, 523). Homosexuals such as gays and lesbians who have made the same people have sidelined equal considerable contributions such as people indulging in heterogeneous sexuality within the urban space (Taylor, 2008, 524). Sexuality positioning in the city has showed embodied, materials, tenuous inclusions, and felt exclusions as the urban space is contested, rejected, and negotiated. Gender is also a significant element that triggers exclusion and special inequalities that occur within the urban area as the male gender has been noted to be on the forefront on excluding individuals belonging to the female gender on conducting various duties that are in the urban space.

How do women and gender studies provide food for thought, provide specific examples?

Women and genders studies provide food for thought in assisting in understanding the reality of life that is occurring within the urban space. For years, the community has failed in its mandate to identify and evaluate the issues that relate to gender, sexuality, and urban area. It is quite evident that there is a high rate of exclusivity that is occurring in the city. The majority have played a significant role in undermining the rights of people who go against the norms that have been set by the community (Doan, 2010, 642). In this case, gender women studies assist in offering an overview of the actual events that are affecting gender and sexuality and how the city have been ignorant on including an individual who goes against the norms that have been set by the city (Low, 2006, 124). Gender and women studies indicate that the dominant population usually oppresses most people who go against the established norms of the city as they are perceived to be outcasts. However, in evaluating the fact of the matter, it is vivid that individuals who are excluded based on gender and sexuality, are productive in the urban space just as their oppressors. For example, homosexuals in the city have been excluded, and their oppressors ridiculed most of the time in the urban area. However, in evaluating their productivity in the city, they happen to contribute significantly to all sectors of the economy. Gender and women studies integrate thoughts on scholar on the various strategies that can be incorporated that will ensure equality in the urban space and assist in eliminating the high level of oppression that is being witnessed in the city.

Explain the concept of the flaneur (in your own words) and how this concept informs mainstream understandings of who is in/out of place in the city.

The concept of flaneur usually refers to an individual who decides to take a stroll and carry out an in-depth observation of the urban space and its environments, and experiences that are in the city. The concept of flaneur usually plays a significant role in influencing the way of feeling and seeing things from a philosophical perspective. The idea is vital as it evaluates the various norms that are considered to be acceptable in urban space. The concept will enable the stroller to be a neutral party and ascertain the reason that guides the standards that have been set that relate to gender and sexuality (Kim, 2011, 482). Individuals who are going against the norms that have been set will be evaluated to ensure the primary reason that enabled them to be considered as outcasts in the city (McDowell, 2013, 37). However, in integrating the concept, it is quite evident that individuals in the city who carry out their activities in hidden places are considered to be outside the mainstreams of the city. On the other hand, individuals who are seen to be practicing gender and sexuality in open spaces will be considered individuals who are in line with the required norms that have been set in the urban space.

Explain how this concept is relevant to Shilpa Phadke's video

In evaluating the content that has been integrated into Shilpa Phadke's video, it is vivid that the idea of flaneur is highly relevant. In assessing the content of the video, when instances of rape occur in the community, individuals who will first come to the crime scene will have to hear the different perceptions of the story to ascertain if the allegations are true or false. The concept of flaneur subjects the observer not to take sides as prescribed by the content of the video. There are set regulations that are placed in the city that are usually aimed at governing the members of the community. In this case, the concept of flaneur will be useful in evaluating if the actions that are committed by an individual within the particular jurisdiction will be useful in judging the actions of the individual (Muller, 2011, 162). The stroller, in this case, will decide the action to be wrong, or right of he or she is aware of the set norms of the city. In most occasions, there are usually consequences that integrated into the community that is crucial in ensuring that individually adheres to the established norms of the urban space. Individuals who against the societal norms are aware of the consequences of breaking the regulations and thus are always designing methods that will enable to go against the set norms of the society and at the same time be able to get away with their actions (Hubbard, & Wilkinson, 2015, 602). The concept of flaneur is relevant as it tries to understand and justify actions that are committed by an individual just as described in the video.

What do you think about the act of loitering (re Phadke's video) and the right to take risks?

The act of loitering is crucial in determining whether an individual has the right to take risks. The urban space usually integrates various norms and regulations that guide the actions of people in the community. The rules set might seem by the mighty community favor on the side of the city and on the other side seem unfavorable to other individuals. In this case, the norms will be favoring the majority or the dominant population in the city. The minority in the community might feel oppressed, or on other occasions, the majority might oppress the opposition based on the believes that they hold regarding the set norms and regulations. For the opposition to survive in the community or for their needs to be met by the city, they will be tasked with the responsibility of taking risks (Wright, 2004, 372). Taking risks from the perspective of the concept of flaneur will be vital in ensuring that people can achieve their needs despite the consequences that they are to face when they go against the norms of the city (Pande, 2018, 1). However, taking risks might be essential in enabling the city to understand the needs of the individual if the town decides to the reasons that might have led the individual to take risks.

What is the relationship between loitering and neoliberal urbanism?

Neoliberal urbanism and loitering happen to have a direct relationship due to the ideologies that have been integrated into the two concepts. One of the significant relationships that exist between lo...