Week 6, Akshat Meharia

The writer, Tanushree Paul, in the article Space, Gender and Crime: Some explorations from Kolkata, obvserves the powere dynamics that remains embedded in space while observing the relationship between Gender and Space. She says that it is this power dynamics which brings unequality in our society. The way in which men are seen to work outside, whereas women are expected to be confined to the private space and concentrate on the reproductive work portyas the inequality in power within the society. Men and women in our society are given different understandings of the world throughout their lives. This difference in upbringing gives them different understanding of the world, and hence the occupational segregation comes from this very upbringing process, because of their relegious and custom practices they have seen throughout their lives. Thr restricted entry of women in the public spaces and the conventions from the beey beginning that women should be restricted to the private space, only the private space should be seen as the "legitimate terretory" for women. This article understands till what extent does crime affect the women' negotiation of public space in Kolkata. There is a common perception that people in this city support the women if they are harrassed on the roads. But Kolkata has been known to be the city with the second most number of rape incidents in an year. No one protests for the women in such incidents, let alone physical involvement. This adds to the fear of unsafety this women experience on roads and oublic spaces. But as the wroter suggests, it would be wrong to generalise things, there are a lot of women, who are not afraid at all, and continue to use the public spaces even after such incidents. The coping strategies adopted by women shows that slowly and steadily, but they will reclaim spaces for themselves and also expose them to life choices of various sorts with a better understanding of the society.