Discrimination by Design: A Feminist Critique of the Man-Made Environment

by Leslie Weisman

"A fast-moving, insightful, politically astute and upfront feminist examination of the power struggles involved in building and controlling space."
-- Women's Review of Books
"A readable account of the force of male dominance in the built environment. . . . Those looking to this book for a clearer vision of the changes that need to be made in the organization and design of housing, work, and public space to foster gender equality will not be disappointed."
-- Journal of Planning Education and Research
"A pioneering work that will pave new territory not only for feminists but all those who are prepared to rethink environmental and societal issues."
-- Choice

Genres: Feminism, Architecture, Nonfiction, Design, Feminist Theory

200 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1992

Reviews

[Keith · Rating 3 out of 5]

At her best Weisman offers firm criticism of public and semi-public/semi-private spaces and the ways shopping malls, alternative birth (and too briefly discussed, abortion) centers, housing, neighborhoods, and office towers are ultimately politically charged environments yet historically designed without any regard to social consciousness.

I was pleased to find she offered sensible historical elements to her critique of contemporary spaces (i.e. the origins of the mall) and that she didn't simply posit her analyses on the female versus the male but rather the broader subject of feminism with age, race, and economics all part of her critique.

Despite my appreciation for her re-imagining of family spaces it seemed that the heterosexuality was often assumed or implied. She mentions zoning discrimination and sites the example of a harassed lesbian couple who couldn't quite feel at home in their conservative suburban neighborhood and also the ways zoning "has been used to ensure that the boundaries of the affluent white suburbs and the impoverished black and Hispanic ghettos that form America's urban pattern would be drawn with indelible colored lines on the patriarchal map of social injustice." But I was left wanting more critique on these subjects especially queer space, possible alternatives, and the need for a re-designing of the physical and social qualities of neighborhoods and homes that resists the paradigms associated with "normal" straight family living.

Still, one can't expect a single author to cover all the topics and write all the possible solutions. This book was also quite an easy read and is very accessible to anyone just beginning to think about the politics of design and architecture with some nifty acknowledgement on social action (protests, rallies, etc) as a way for us to challenge patriarchal authority and reject the limitations of being social deviants (read minority) through the use and occupation of public spaces (streets, parks, etc).

[Thais · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good introduction book for understand the feminist view on archtecture and space. However, it is a bit redundant.

[Karina D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

toata cartea eram :(

[PinkxEdge · Rating 2 out of 5]

Definitely a lot of interesting and illuminating history here. However it is nonetheless extremely limited in its analysis, which is integrationist despite the repeated claims to the contrary. The occasional remark on the need to 'go further' and 'dismantle patriarchy entirely' don't really make up for the rest of the book's lamenting that there aren't enough women architects or designers. At one point the author asserts the idea that the shopping mall isn't inherently oppressive, but could be altered for the better. Hopefully readers can see how absurd that is; a shopping mall can never not be a center of capital. Capitalism and patriarchy are inextricably bound together from the root.

Overall it's not that bad of a read for those interested in how the entirety of our environment is shaped to facilitate control. It's just a frustrating read given the limited horizons of the author's analysis.

[Amee · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book blew my mind! It made me see malls, single family homes, zoning laws in new ways! best chapters are "public architecture & social status," "home as metaphor for society," and "redesigning the domestic landscape"! ("private use of public space" could use a critique of the prison-ind. complex & police)

[Kaitlin Page · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, insightful for its time. I wish it got more into the code elements and how design discrimination is institutional.