William Guilmain

The urban space is unequally shared between genders. Patriarchal cultural codes make the street as a place dominated by men. If it is well accepted that men can stay in the street, women only cross it. They moved from one place to another but do not stroll. Sexist insults, scary “compliments”, whistles, remind them that they are sexual potential targets. This feeling is reinforced by the fear to rape which is more or less consciously transmitted to daughters by their worried parents. The geographer Yves Ribaud doesn’t hesitate to affirm it: «The city belongs to men! ». Unfortunately town-planners reinforce this inequality. The new places of entertainment built are mostly dedicated to men (foot stadium, skate-park etc.) whereas the ones dedicated to women bring them back to their condition of housewife (day nurseries, push chairs corridors). Paradoxically, despite the fact that women use less often their cars to move, the urban planning is again thought in their disadvantage (absence of public toilet, shut-down of public lights). My photographic purpose is to question the role and the place of women in this apparently hostile environment. I describe and fantasize the urban experience of different women. The presented photos have been made during night and try to establish a communication between these women and this urban environment in which they are only bystander, witness or victim. Let’s wish that they push back this invisible frontier and take their legitimate place.