With a perspective spanning 50 years. I would argue that we have gone from most women in architecture trying to survive as transgressing members of the profession, to thousands of women interested in many aspects of the discipline, some more conscious of feminist issues than others, but too few calling themselves feminists architects.
Where within the following definitions would you put yourself?
DEFINITIONS: There is overlap to some degree, however each definition attempts to define a major emphasis.
- Women (and non-women) students of architecture usually well represented in numbers, and not sure of the future because of their uneven treatment in school.
- Women in Architecture, segregation by gender. Usually means to include women who may be studying architecture, have an architectural degree and women who have obtained an architectural license as opposed to non-women in the field. (This gave visibility but didn’t address women’s issues, experiences, or systemic and structural influences of critical social issues.)
- Women who are architects who don’t want to be referred to as women architects or women, only as architects, and who outwardly often avoid women’s issues.
- Women who say that they have not thought about women’s issues impacting architecture.
- Women who want to be traditional architects. Which may or may not include the same experiences as non-women in the status quo of today’s practice, which may include the desire for the same labor elements such as pay, respect, exposure, and promotions.
- Women and Architecture, women who happen to want to impact social or environmental issues greatly impacting women like public housing, green architecture, or environmental justice, as architects, but not focusing on a feminist perspective or dimension opposing patriarchy, misogyny or sexism directly.
- Women licensed as architects, without defining their specific interests.
- Feminists in Architecture, women and non-women who consider themselves feminists but may not have applied a feminist perspective to the practice of architecture, but may acknowledge the problems of patriarchy, sexism and misogyny outside of architecture.
- Feminist Architects, women and non-women fully committed to education, writing, working with some level of activism focusing on feminist issues in architecture as change agents to the profession and the way architectural design and decision making fits into society and influences the build environment.