Speakers
Description
For Lefebvre (2001), the history of societies is etched in the urban landscape. This article explores how social and gender relations manifest within cities, focusing on the symbolic representation of women in public spaces. The presence (or absence) of female names on streets is closely tied to the ongoing struggle for gender equality and the recognition of women as active societal agents. The representation of gender and social diversity in public spaces is vital to understanding the relevance of historically marginalized groups in shaping just and egalitarian cities.
To address the question, "What story do cities tell about gender roles?" this study uses street names as a lens through which to examine gender representation in urban spaces. A quantitative approach was employed, categorizing streets and public spaces into three groups: male, female, and other (such as elements in nature, dates, or geographic features). Data was sourced from OpenStreetMap and analyzed using Geographic Information System (GIS) software. The study focused on two cities in southern Brazil—Londrina and Maringá—chosen for their large number of streets developed after the 1970s, coinciding with the rise of the Brazilian feminist movement.
The findings reveal a pronounced male dominance in street naming, with 54.4% of streets in Londrina and 52.1% in Maringá named after men. In both cities, the "other" category outnumbered the "female" category, which represented just 16.6% of Londrina’s streets and 14.7% in Maringá.
By creating maps of the classified streets, it was possible to interpret and establish a relationship between urban development and the process of women’s increasing presence in the job market, as well as the contemporary discussions around the valorization of women in society. The naming of city streets becomes a tool for honoring and consecrating their achievements. The maps generated allowed a visualization of the central areas of the cities, which show a lower prevalence of female street names. In contrast, the peripheries, which were more recently developed, feature a greater diversity of names, although the disparity between male and female names remains significant.
These statistics reflect broader patterns of gender inequality. A comparative study by the Geochicas collective in “Las Calles de las Mujeres” (Women’s Streets) found similar trends in other Brazilian cities like Curitiba (82.3%) and Pato Branco (83.6%), as well as international cities such as Lima, Montevideo, Buenos Aires, and Madrid, where streets named after men dominate (over 70%). Alexandru (2021) identifies this same pattern across Eastern Europe. Historically, public spaces have been shaped by patriarchal structures, limiting women’s access and visibility.
Leslie Kern, in Feminist City: Claiming Space in a Man-Made World (2022), argues that a truly feminist city addresses gender inequalities in urban planning. This involves not only equitable access to urban resources but also the right to participate in the collective memory of the city, as reflected in the naming of its streets.
References
Alexandru, A. (2021). The symbolic representation of gender in the city of Ploiești. Romanian Journal of Society & Politics, 15(1).
GeoChicas. (2024). Las calles de las mujeres. Link:
https://geochicasosm.github.io/lascallesdelasmujeres/. Acessado em 14 de abril de
2024.
Kern, L. (2021). Feminist city: Claiming space in a man-made world. Verso Books.
Lefebvre, H. (2001). O direito à cidade. Tradução Rubens Eduardo Frias. São Paulo: Centauro, 2001.
| Keywords | street names; public spaces; symbolic representation; Geographic Information Systems |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | No |
