Public toilets for women : how female municipal councillors expanded the right to the city in Sweden, c. 1910–1925
Arvidsson, Malin LU and Brink Pinto, Andrés LU
(2022)
In Women's History Review
31(3).
p.476-495
- Abstract
- This article shows that women’s formal political citizenship is intertwined with the right to the city. Using Carol Bacchi’s ‘What’s the Problem Represented to be’ approach, we study how female municipal councillors argued for more public toilets in Sweden's three largest cities. In their motions, the lack of public conveniences was mainly related to a binary discourse of gender, and arguments referring to biological needs of the female body and women as mothers proved more successful than the argument that uneven access to public toilets was an example of gender inequality. Class-based arguments against fees were largely ignored when the motions were transformed from potentially contentious political issues into technical issues of urban... (More)
- This article shows that women’s formal political citizenship is intertwined with the right to the city. Using Carol Bacchi’s ‘What’s the Problem Represented to be’ approach, we study how female municipal councillors argued for more public toilets in Sweden's three largest cities. In their motions, the lack of public conveniences was mainly related to a binary discourse of gender, and arguments referring to biological needs of the female body and women as mothers proved more successful than the argument that uneven access to public toilets was an example of gender inequality. Class-based arguments against fees were largely ignored when the motions were transformed from potentially contentious political issues into technical issues of urban planning and municipal utilities. However, the material effects of the policies—public toilets placed mainly in working-class areas—led to an extension of possible radiuses of movement within the city for women, and perhaps especially working-class women. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/e3c6b0a6-5127-4ad7-bcb6-3a89429f6243
- author
- Arvidsson, Malin
LU
and Brink Pinto, Andrés
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2022-04
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Right to the city, Female political citizenship, Urban history, Labour history, Public toilet provision
- in
- Women's History Review
- volume
- 31
- issue
- 3
- pages
- 20 pages
- publisher
- Routledge
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85110842778
- ISSN
- 0961-2025
- DOI
- 10.1080/09612025.2021.1950335
- project
- De Stenbergska villorna – kvinnors rätt till det offentliga rummet i Malmö kring sekelskiftet 1900
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- e3c6b0a6-5127-4ad7-bcb6-3a89429f6243
- date added to LUP
- 2021-07-26 13:51:16
- date last changed
- 2023-02-10 21:15:38
@article{e3c6b0a6-5127-4ad7-bcb6-3a89429f6243,
abstract = {{This article shows that women’s formal political citizenship is intertwined with the right to the city. Using Carol Bacchi’s ‘What’s the Problem Represented to be’ approach, we study how female municipal councillors argued for more public toilets in Sweden's three largest cities. In their motions, the lack of public conveniences was mainly related to a binary discourse of gender, and arguments referring to biological needs of the female body and women as mothers proved more successful than the argument that uneven access to public toilets was an example of gender inequality. Class-based arguments against fees were largely ignored when the motions were transformed from potentially contentious political issues into technical issues of urban planning and municipal utilities. However, the material effects of the policies—public toilets placed mainly in working-class areas—led to an extension of possible radiuses of movement within the city for women, and perhaps especially working-class women.}},
author = {{Arvidsson, Malin and Brink Pinto, Andrés}},
issn = {{0961-2025}},
keywords = {{Right to the city; Female political citizenship; Urban history; Labour history; Public toilet provision}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{3}},
pages = {{476--495}},
publisher = {{Routledge}},
series = {{Women's History Review}},
title = {{Public toilets for women : how female municipal councillors expanded the right to the city in Sweden, c. 1910–1925}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09612025.2021.1950335}},
doi = {{10.1080/09612025.2021.1950335}},
volume = {{31}},
year = {{2022}},
}