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Abstract
Functioning public spaces, as ‘public’ political, social, and cultural arenas of citizen discourse, affect not only the citizen's quality of life, but are also indispensable infrastructure in democratic societies. This article offers a nuanced understanding of Iranian women's usage, feelings, and preferences in public spaces in present-day Tehran by not simply importing Western theories that sustain distinctions between traditional and modern women, but instead by hearing women's stories. This article raises concerns related to the gender identities, the politics of space, and design of these places. Meidan-e-Tajrish, Sabz-e-Meidan, and Marvi Meidancheh in Tehran accommodate an ethnographic visualization of gendering space. The process by which Iranian women attach symbolic meanings to those public spaces offers insight into the mutual construction of gender identities and space politics. The contrasting urban locations, different design styles, and distinct social activities provide an excellent comparison between the selected public spaces. Findings suggest caution in using gender as an essential category in feminist geography research to better represent the diversity of experiences in public spaces. Binary categorization of modern versus traditional, secular versus religious, public versus private, and male versus female in urban studies should be carefully validated as Iranian women's lived experiences challenge the homogenizing Western theories, particularly the predominant critics of modern public spaces in North America. The research process also highlights the benefits of geo-visualization in understanding the complex interaction between gender identities and the built environment.
El mapeo de los espacios públicos de las mujeres en Teherán: una perspectiva de geovisualización
Los espacios públicos en funcionamiento, como esferas políticas, sociales y culturales “públicas” de discurso ciudadano, afectan no solamente a la calidad de vida del ciudadano, sino también son infraestructura indispensable en las sociedades democráticas. Este artículo ofrece una comprensión matizada del uso, sentimientos, y preferencias de las mujeres iraníes en los espacios públicos en la Teherán actual, no simplemente importando teorías occidentales que sostienen distinciones entre mujeres tradicionales y modernas, sino escuchando las historias de las mujeres. Este artículo muestra plantea inquietudes en relación con las identidades de género, la política del espacio y el diseño de estos espacios. Meidan-e-Tajrish, Sabz-e-Meidan y Marvi Meidancheh en Teherán permiten una visualización etnográfica del espacio generizador. El proceso por el cual las mujeres iraníes ponen significados simbólicos a estos espacios públicos ofrece una mirada de la construcción mutua de las identidades de género y la política del espacio. Las contrastantes ubicaciones urbanas, los distintos estilos de diseño, y las diferentes actividades sociales brindan una comparación excelente entre los espacios públicos seleccionados. Los resultados sugieren precaución al utilizar al género como una categoría esencial en la investigación geográfica feminista para representar mejor la diversidad de las experiencias en los espacios públicos. La categorización binaria de moderno vs. tradicional, secular vs. religioso, público vs. privado y varón vs. mujer en los estudios urbanos debe ser cuidadosamente validada, ya que las experiencias vividas de las mujeres iraníes desafían las teorías homogeneizantes occidentales, particularmente las críticas predominantes de los espacios públicos modernos en América del Norte. El proceso de investigación también resalta los beneficios de la geovisualización para comprender la compleja interacción entre las identidades de género y el entorno construido.
绘製德黑兰公共空间中的女性：地理可视化的观点
使用中的公共空间，做为公民论述中“公共的”政治、社会与文化场域，不仅影响了公民的生活品质，更是民主社会中不可或缺的基础建设。本文不仅只是引进维持传统与现代女性区别的西方理论，而是透过倾听女性的故事，对伊朗女性对德黑兰当前的公共空间使用、感觉与偏好提供细緻的理解。本文提出有关性别认同、空间政治，以及场所设计的考量。位在德黑兰的公共空间Meidan-e-Tajrish、Sabz-e-Meidan与 Marvi Meidancheh 提供了性别化空间的民族志可视化。伊朗女性依附于上述公共空间象徵意义的过程，提供了理解性别认同与空间政治相互建构的洞见。截然不同的城市地点、相异的设计风格，以及特殊的社会活动，提供了所选择的公共空间之间的绝佳比较。研究发现对使用性别做为女性主义地理学研究中的本质化范畴提出警告，以更佳地呈现公共空间经验的多样性。城市研究中的现代—传统、世俗—宗教、公共—私人，以及男性—女性的二元范畴，应该被谨慎地验证，因伊朗女性的生活经验挑战了均质化的西方理论，特别是在北美对于现代公共空间的主流批判。本研究过程同时凸显了地理可视化之于理解性别认同与建成环境之间复杂互动的优异之处。
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Acknowledgements
This research was supported by grants from the Association of American Geographers (AAG), the American Association of University Women (AAUW), and the University of Missouri-Kansas City Women's Council and Women and Gender Studies. The author thanks Professors Steven Driever and Shannon Jackson for their endless support and Charles Yaw for editing the manuscript, Mehrnaz Hendi and Sayeh Farid Tehrani for sharing their knowledge about Tehran's public spaces and their hospitality, and Professor Peter Hopkins, the journal's editor, for his invaluable feedback and the reviewers for their time, detailed comments, and encouragements.
Notes
1. Meidan is a Farsi translation of square. Meidancheh is a smaller Meidan.
2. In the 1992 presidential address to the Association of American Geographers [also cited in Staeheli and Martin (Citation2000)].
3. A post-structural approach to discourse analysis was used to analyze women's narratives.
4. Kernel density estimation calculates a magnitude per unit area from point features using a kernel function to fit a smoothly tapered surface to each point.
5. While hijab is mandatory in Iran (since 1979), Iranian women largely vary in their hijab styles. Some show hair and put on make-up while others are more conservatively covered.
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Nazgol Bagheri
Nazgol Bagheri is a Ph.D. candidate in an interdisciplinary program in Geography and Sociology at the University of Missouri, Kansas City. She has degrees in Architecture (BA), Computer Sciences (BS), and Urban Planning and Design (MA) from the National University of Iran (Shahid Beheshti) in Tehran. Prior to her doctoral study, she worked as an architect and project manager for an international design firm in Tehran for several years. Her research interests include urban design and behavior, gender and urban space, Muslim Feminist theories, and critical GIS.