comparisons+db

There are historical comparisons to be made between 19th and 21st century ideas of what the street is good for and what sorts of activities are appropriate. This is useful for two reasons: 1) It prevents romantic depictions of a past filled with democratic, egalitarian, and constantly evocative moments of public life. The street was completely open to pedestrians but it was also a highly contested, surveiled and structured place. Aristocratic women could not be out during 6PM rush hour nor could working stiffs (and their children) be on the streets at 2PM when aristocrats went window shopping and parading (Domosh 1998). We should also be careful of fetishizing offline activity as somehow inherently more real or always more evocative (Jurgenson 2012). 2) It demonstrates the contingent (or socially constructed) nature of streets and public spaces more generally. Streets had to be reconstituted as the domain of cars and not pedestrians. Campaigns for “sharing” the road with bikes and other modes of transportation demonstrate a mild reversal but nothing nearly as sustained and directed as the efforts by car companies to promote jaywalking laws (Mars 2013) and dismantle competing rail and trolley lines (Hall 2002).

Compare condom-purchasing experiences of middle class Americans to poor Americans and/or Ghanaians. Many Americans can buy condoms relatively anonymously with their groceries or at a convenience store. But for many others condoms are behind glass, in counter displays, on high shelves, or placed in some other way that requires the purchaser request them explicitly. This can be intimidating and lead to reduced condom purchasing.

Domosh, Mona. 1998. “Those ‘Gorgeous Incongruities’: Polite Politics and Public Space on the Streets of Nineteenth-Century New York City.” //Annals of the Association of American Geographers// 88 (2) (June 1): 209–226. doi:10.2307/2564208. Hall, Peter. 2002. //Cities of Tomorrow : an Intellectual History of Urban Planning and Design in the Twentieth Century//. Oxford, UK; Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers. http://www.worldcat.org/title/cities-of-tomorrow-an-intellectual-history-of-urban-planning-and-design-in-the-twentieth-century/oclc/17321441&referer=brief_results. Jurgenson, Nathan. 2012. “The IRL-Fetish.” //The New Inquiry//, June 28. http://thenewinquiry.com/essays/the-irl-fetish/. Mars, Roman. 2013. //The Modern Moloch//. Accessed April 2. @http://99percentinvisible.org/post/47063460311/episode-76-the-modern-moloch.