the relatively small-fry feminist issue that upsets me the most is that girls hardly use parks, and in every survey and study, they cite boys as the reason. skate parks, basketball courts, soccer fields, they’re overwhelmingly male dominated starting at a very young age. girls get less physical activity, get out of the house less, and participate in less play, because as soon as those spaces have boys in them, girls are either pushed out, or stop using them before they can be.
and it’s a minority of landscape architects who factor this in when designing new parks. are they well lit? are the bathrooms clean and in a busy space? do they have walking trails, roller skating loops, bike paths, rather than only organized courts? are those paths wide enough to accommodate groups? are there multiple courts/play areas, sectioned off from each other? are there lit, covered seating areas, especially picnic tables or other group seating?
in an ideal world, girls would feel just as welcome jumping into a pick-up game as boys, would be able to claim a soccer field with their friends and not worry it would be overtaken or they would be jeered at, would feel free to take up hobbies like skateboarding and go to the park on their own. but they don’t. we’re not in that world. claiming a mixed sex space is an equal one is a lie, for now. we have to meet girls where they are.
