Using examples, examine the connections between gender, fear and urban Essay

Using examples, examine the connections between gender, fear and urban space - Essay Example While there are men who have small physical builds in comparison to other men, it is more likely to find a man with a build larger than a woman’s than to find the opposite scenario. Given this difference it is clear that, generally, women face a set of obstacles that most men will not have to ever experience. On the other hand, because of seeming biologically driven needs to defend one’s space, men are often faced with challenges that, similarly, women will unlikely ever have to face. Thus, as distinct as each gender’s biological makeup creates them to be, so too are the vast differences between the obstacles they must face. These differing gender fear invoking issues will be examined within the context of urban space. The urban environment can pose many stress inducing variables for any individual despite gender. Crime, natural disasters, and other such factors create a spectrum of varying fear and anxiety inducing possibilities for both men and women on a daily basis. Needing to be extra careful with personal possessions in public arenas and making sure to be respectful of an individual’s space are added factors that become automatic parts of one’s thought process while living in an urban environment. While both genders must face many similar urban space stressors, the differences begin to come to play when situations become more dependent on a person’s gender versus, for instance, specific environmental weather factors. For women, urban life poses specific problems due to biological factors. Because women are generally smaller and physically weaker than men, women must take this into account when they travel alone or even with other women to specific urban destinations. â€Å"Fear leads women to take precautions which are often spatial, such as avoiding certain parts of the city or not going out after dark† (Koskela, 1999, pp. 111). In other words, the reality