Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies Commons^™

What Are The Implications Of Flânerie In The Feminine At The Beginning Of The Twenty-First Century? Reflections Of An Ethnographer At Work On The Plaça De Catalunya In Barcelona, Nadja Monnet

Wagadu: A Journal of Transnational Women's & Gender Studies

While undertaking an ethnography of a public square in Barcelona, I have been led to wonder about the figure of the flâneur and the difficulties of conceiving this figure in the feminine. Two theories about urban space are in conflict: one views public space as continuing the patriarchy of private space; the other sees public space as a site of freedom and self-development for women as well as men. This same tension is present in analyses of the figure of the flâneur, a figure often evoked when anthropologists work in urban contexts