Urban movement competence lets women alone occupy specific public locations safely and without stigma

Evidence

Note that in this excerpt from an interview, the informant is telling us that she knows what to expect not only in train stations but also in museums and public libraries. She knows from prior experiences (as well as from what she has been taught) that she can go to a library or museum for free, that she can hang around in them for a period of time without being thought odd and that she, a woman alone, is unlikely there to be either bothered or molested. In this excerpt, also, we see the interrelatedness of acquired meanings and acquired skills. Having learned the former, the individual utilizes them to grasp his city and to guide his movements; to grasp the city’s populace and to direct his interaction. — Lyn H. Lofland, World of Strangers_ Order and Action in…, 602

Categorization

• XREF: Directly relevant to reader’s purpose: the gendered dimension of traversing public space without interpersonal trust connects to how Julius navigates cities ‘without emotional attachments’ and to Simmel’s more privileged/neutral flaneur position. — connects to: Suburban gender norms structured how the mobilizing movement operated. — Matthew D. Lassiter, The Suburban Origins of “Color-Blind”…, 68