Recreational sites are important public spaces or vicinity accessible by the users that generate attributes like interaction, positivity, connectivity, refreshment, diversion, and many more. These are the spaces that become the foci of the vicinity and hence are very important the way it fits in its area. Many times, recreational sites tend to pull the user towards themselves because of their contextual approach.
Gender differences and the recreational spaces have a certain connection between themselves in terms of a factor of accessibility and usage. Specific places may be ‘sexed’ according to the biological sex of the people who occupy them or gendered according to the ‘gender’ associated with the different kinds of activities that occur in them. (I. Borden et al., 2002)
Nature of Recreational Spaces
Avoided, contemplated, has taboo involved, or is out of bounds of use. These spaces tend to have a specific principle that guides their usage. The way both genders adopt the spaces, an observation of the patriarchal nature of society is visible.
In the phase of development, there have been certain elements that are coming into form and are becoming major discussion sectors. There has been a constitutive argument that led to the development of gender-neutral spaces. There has been an upliftment in the sector of the stereotypes and patriarch in the city, still, the nature of gender involvement in the spaces has not vanished. The users of the society usually linger upon the gendered nature of spaces as the action connected to the site. The nature dependency is on the attribute but not on the nature of usage by a human who is sexed. The paper makes an analysis of the recreational sites occupied by a certain set of people at a certain time interval and does the usage of the space make it gender dominated in that sense or not?
Recreation can also be framed as spaces that are re-created, wherein the purpose for which the activity was designed was not the only activity performed in the area but more than that. A recreational site preferred by the men population was different from that of women. The difference lies not only in terms of the spaces they occupy for recreational purposes but also the number of people they like to be with.
Impact of Recreational Spaces
Recreational activities are generally promoted much which has a greater impact on the well-being and health of humans. Though there has been a certain restriction in terms of usage of the spaces by humankind. The female population of the city tends to have certain restricted behavior when they are not in their own space. There has been an unbreakable bond between sociality and society. A relationship exposed to everyone in society and a connection that can never change. There is a visible patriarchal nature in front of the eyes of humankind.
Along with that, there has been an important role in terms of the dialectical point of view of people and accessibility in the space which is determined by age, gender, physical abilities, and sexuality. Along with accessibility as a factor, there exists an important criterion of looking at these spaces based on the public and private domain.
The level of comfort is the first and foremost criterion for choosing a space for recreational purposes. There came an observation that the sites which they chose were also dependent on the user and how he/she as a person likes to spend her free time, that is whether with her group of people or alone. The men did not have to apply any filters to choose a space for recreational purposes but they tend to visit in groups many a time.
The men usually choose the spaces which are open and less crowded as there is no discomfort created by the people around towards the males of the society. There are no boundaries or restrictions that a male member of society has to go through. Even if a male does not have a stereotypical mindset still it makes him uncomfortable due to the presence of a woman at certain places.
Mindset and Opportunities of Recreational Spaces
The people of the city are humble but indirectly portray the stereotypical mindset in some other ways. The elderly people of the society have a certain level of dominance of the notions which are deep-rooted in them by their elders. So, sometimes people dominate the rules of the home which leads the child to be categorized as an influence of the western culture. The boundaries for this particular case applies to both genders but one thing noticed is that the men do not usually care about the restriction but they tend to be on their own and explore things whichever they want at their convenient time.
Males and females of the society have different criteria to choose a space for recreational purposes. The female population cannot choose a space depending on their mood entirely; they have to choose a space that fulfills certain aspects to make it accessible to them. Time and taboo are the major reasons for limiting the option to some particular spaces even if it is chosen for recreational purposes. The factor of taboo and time is the reason which makes the people behave differently with both the sexes.
But in the growing period there is an expectation that the taboos may vanish but it is for sure that the taboos will remain under the noses and will not be expressed. Recreational sites created by the users were always at dominance over the ones created with the tangible aspects of cement or concrete. The openness of the space is always appreciated.
Reference
Borden, I., Penner, B., & Rendell, J. (2002). Gender Space Architecture. Taylor & Francis.
