Leslie Kern

“Rape myths also have a geography. This gets embedded into the mental map of safety and danger that every woman carries in her mind. 'What were you doing in that neighbourhood? At that bar? Waiting alone for a bus?' 'Why were you walking alone at night?' 'Why did you take a shortcut?' We anticipate these questions and they shape our mental maps as much as any actual threat. These sexist myths serve to remind us that we're expected to limit our freedom to walk, work, have fun, and take up space in the city. They say: The city isn't really for you.”
― Leslie Kern, Feminist City: Claiming Space in a Man-Made World

“I'm not trying to say that women like being fearful, but that some of the pleasure of city life relies on its inherent unknowability and on one's courage in braving that unknowability. In fact, unpredictability and disorder can come to represent the 'authentically urban' to women who reject safe suburban conformity and repetitive rural rhythms.”
― Leslie Kern, Feminist City: Claiming Space in a Man-Made World