Women and the Environment

332 Pages·1994·35.802 MB·English

by  Arza Churchman, Irwin Altman (auth.), Irwin Altman, Arza Churchman (eds.)

Women and the
Environment
Human Behavior
and Environment
ADV ANCES IN THEORY AND RESEARCH
Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 3: Children and the Environment
Volume 4: Environment and Culture
Volume 5: Transportation and Behavior
Volume 6: Behavior and the
Natural Environment
Volume 7: Elderly People and the
Environment
Volume 8: Home Environments
Volume 9: Neighborhood and
Community Environments
Volume 10: Public Places and Spaces
Volume 11: Environment and Behavior Studies:
Emergence of Intellectual Traditions
Volume 12: Place Attachment
Volume 13: Women and the Environment
Women and the
Environment
Edited by
IRWIN ALTMAN
University of Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah
and
ARZA CHURCHMAN
Technion-Israel Institute of Technology
Haifa, Israel
Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
Library of Congress Catalog1ng-1n-Pub1IcatIon Data
Women and the environment / edited by Irwin Altraan and Arza Churchman,
p. cm. — (Human behavior and environnent ; v. 13)
Includes bibliographical references and Index.
ISBN 978-1-4899-1506-1
1. Environmental psychology. 2. Women—Psychology. I. Altman,
Irwin. II. Ts'erts'man, Arzah. III. Series.
BF353.H85 vol. 13
155.6'33—dc20 94-16018
CIP
10 98765432
ISBN 978-1-4899-1506-1 ISBN 978-1-4899-1504-7 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-4899-1504-7
©1994 Springer Science+Business Media New York
Originally published by Plenum Press, New York in 1994
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1994
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any
form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording, or
otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher
Contributors
IRWIN ALTMAN • Department of Psychology, University of Utah, Salt
Lake City, Utah 84112
KATHLEEN CHRISTENSEN • Environmental Psychology Program, Gradu
ate School and University Center, City University of New York,
New York, New York 10036
ARzA CHURCHMAN· Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning,
Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000, Israel
ROBERTA M. FELDMAN • School of Architecture, University of Illinois at
Chicago, Chicago, lllinois 60607-7024
MELISSA GILBERT • Department of Geography, Georgia State Univer
sity, Atlanta, Georgia 30303
SUSAN HANSON • Graduate School of Geography, Clark University,
Worcester, Massachusetts 01610
LHSA HORELLI • Department of Psychology, University of Helsinki,
00570 Helsinki, Finland
SANDRA C. HOWELL • Department of Architecture, Massachusetts Insti
tute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139
DOREEN MATTINGLY • Graduate School of Geography, Clark University,
Worcester, Massachusetts 01610
v
vi Contributors
WILLIAM MICHELSON • Centre for Urban and Community Studies and
Department of Sociology, University of Toronto, Toronto M5S 1A1,
Ontario, Canada
ELLEN-J. PADER • Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional
Planning, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Amherst, Massa
chusetts 01003
GERALDINE PRATT • Department of Geography, University of British
Columbia, Vancouver V6T 1Z2, British Columbia, Canada
MARSHA RITZDORF • Department of Urban Affairs and Planning, Vir
ginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virgin
ia 24061-0113
LYNDA H. SCHNEEKLOTH • School of Architecture and Planning, State
University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York 14222; and
The Caucus Partnership, Buffalo, New York 14222
RACHEL SEBBA • Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning, Technion
Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000, Israel
SUSAN STALL • Department of Sociology, Northeastern Illinois Univer
sity, Chicago, lllinois 60625
KIRSTI VEPSA • Planning and Building Department, Ministry of Envi
ronment, Korkeavuorenkatu 21, 00230 Helsinki, Finland
Preface
This thirteenth volume in the series addresses an increasingly salient
worldwide research, design, and policy issue-women and physical
environments.
We live in an era of worldwide social change. Some nation-states are
fracturing or disintegrating, migrations are resulting from political up
heavals and economic opportunities, some ethnic and national animosi
ties are resurfacing, and global and national economic systems are under
stress. Furthermore, the variability of interpersonal and familial forms is
increasing, and cultural subgroups-minorities, women, the physically
challenged, gays, and lesbians-are vigorously demanding their rights
in societies and are becoming significant economic and political forces.
Although these social-system changes affect many people, their im
pact on women is especially salient. Women are at the center of most
forms of family life. Whether in traditional or contemporary cultures,
women's roles in child rearing, home management, and community
relations have and will continue to be central, regardless of emerging
and changing family structures. And, because of necessity and oppor
tunity, women are increasingly engaged in paid work in and outside the
home (women in most cultures have historically always worked, but
often not for pay). Their influence in cultures and societies is also
mounting in the social, political, and economic spheres. In technological
societies, women are playing higher-level roles, though still in small
numbers, in economic and policy domains. This trend is likely to acceler
ate in the twenty-first century.
The present volume addresses selected aspects of these broad
ranging issues, especially in respect to women and the physical environ
ments in which they live and work. In planning this volume, we were
vii
viii Preface
guided by the philosophical perspective adopted by the Psychology of
Women Quarterly, 1990, as follows:
[This perspective] ... (c) looks at women within the meaningful contexts of
their lives ... (e) solicits samples other than college sophomores, including
diversity in age, ethnic and economic status, relational preferences, and so
on; (f) considers sex and gender comparisons in context rather than simply
looking for "sex" differences; (g) interprets women's response reper
toires ... in ways that do not blame the victims of violence and injustice; (h)
explores alternatives that empower women and minorities; (i) examines the
structural and interpersonal hierarchies that render women and other minor
ity groups less powerful; (j) contains implications for social change ....
The chapters in this volume attempt to reflect the preceding princi
ples. The women whose lives and environments are described or whose
voices are heard are young, middle-aged, and elderly; white, African
American, and Latino/Hispanic; North and Central American and West
ern European; lower, middle, and upper class; within the labor force and
outside of it; urban and suburban; educated and noneducated; and liv
ing in a variety of family forms and embedded in a variety of personal,
familial, community, and work relationships.
The changing and often enhanced roles of women in public and
private life are not without significant barriers in respect to constraints
and public policies regarding the environment. It is to these environ
mental issues regarding women's lives that the present volume is di
rected. For example, chapters examine environments through the life
cycle-children's environments, family home environments, elderly wom
en's living settings. Authors also analyze aspects of women's work and
related environments such as homes, communities, public places, and
transportation systems. And several chapters address community
and public-policy issues associated with homes, large-scale housing,
and women's roles in community action and policy formulation. Fur
thermore, several authors examine legal, legislative, and public-policy
barriers to environmental change, as well as provide case examples of
successful efforts by women to create positive social change in their
home and community environments. Finally, some chapters address
philosophy of design and research issues in respect to women and envi
ronments.
Taken as a set, the chapters in the volume emphasize simul
taneously problems and opportunities, needs for continuity and change,
and issues associated with large-and small-scale aspects of women and
physical environments. The focus on women and environments makes
evident the opportunities and challenges for creating better environ
ments for all persons, families, communities, and societies.
Preface ix
Consistent with other volumes in the series, authors reflect the
perspectives of several social-science and environmental-design disci
plines, including architecture, anthropology, geography, sociology, psy
chology, and urban and regional planning. The diversity of disciplines
and perspectives attests to the breadth, complexity, and importance of a
multidisciplinary approach to understanding women and environ
ments.
The chapters are more or less organized according to an overlap
ping tripartite schema of physical scale, social-system units, and
research/design/policy. Following our introductory chapter, which pro
vides a perspective on the field, William Michelson (Chapter 2) exam
ines a variety of physical evironments involving women and families,
including homes, transportation, and work settings.
Chapters 3-6 address directly homes and proximate environments
of families and family members. In Chapter 3, Rachel Sebba describes
environments and associated social roles of children over time. Then,
Ellen Pader (Chapter 4) examines challenges faced by women who
moved to a new culture and new configurations of home and commu
nity environments. In Chapter 5, Sandra Howell considers varying
home environments and environmental challenges of elderly women. In
her analysis, Kathleen Christensen (Chapter 6) describes women's use
of the home as a workplace, and the challenges of bridging and inter
mingling family life with the world of public work.
The next cluster of chapters focuses on larger-scale environments
and social systems, including communities, neighborhoods, metro
politan areas, and social groups. In Chapter 7, Roberta Feldman and
Susan Stall analyze how women in low-cost housing projects can be self
organizing and self-empowering in changing aspects of their commu
nity life and environment. Similarly, Liisa Horelli and Kirsti Vepsa
(Chapter 8) describe how women are playing an increasing role in hous
ing policy and planning in Scandinavia, especially Finland. Then, Susan
Hanson, Geraldine Pratt, Doreen Mattingly, and Melissa Gilbert (Chap
ter 9) describe variations in work patterns and transportation for men
and women in two metropolitan areas. In Chapter 10, Marsha Ritzdorf
analyzes a variety of public-policy practices, problems, and challenges in
respect to housing and community zoning regulations. Finally, Lynda
Schneekloth (Chapter 11) undertakes a wide-ranging and provocative
analysis of feminist perspectives on research and environmental design
that has implications for all environmental scales and all social-system
units.
Research, design, and policy regarding women and the environ
ment is an emerging and challenging topic. We trust that the array of