As pointed out by Zaeske’s essay, the gendering
of public space benefited men directly – it allowed them to attack the women
who supported moral reform by making speaking to mixed audiences immoral. Women
were successfully jumping through the hoops set up for them in order to prevent
them leaving the home, so men just kept putting up more hoops.
I absolutely think the gendering of public space
is still occurring today, in a form that has evolved directly from the “promiscuous
audience.” While women are (for the most part) allowed to speak in public, they
have to fit certain criteria to do so. In politics particularly, women have to
walk a very thin line between “pushy” and “doormat”, “fashionista” and “frumpy.”
Women wearing hijabs, burkas, or turbans often face huge backlash when they
wear them in the public or political spheres (see: all the sh*t Ilhan Omar has
gotten since her election, the burka ban in France and parts of Canada).
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