Women and physical activity in an urban park: Enrichment and support through an ethic of care

Abstract

Women's presence in public space is frequently understood within a “separate spheres” framework, but this framework does not fully account for women's presence in public spaces and their experiences there. An ethic of care (In a different voice (1982) Harvard university press; J. Env. Psych. 20 (2000) 103) has been proposed as an alternative framework for understanding both constraints and possibilities for women in public space. An ethic of care also helps to understand women's experiences of leisure, particularly physical activity. I explore themes of relationships and caring in interviews with women who did physical activities in Prospect Park in Brooklyn. Women found enrichment and support for both relationships and activities among family, friends, acquaintances, and strangers in the park, which provided feelings of safety and enjoyment. The presence of others and chance meetings in the park also provided emotional social support and more long-term affiliations to support athletic interests such as team sports. This study informs research regarding the influence of the environment on physical activity and supports the assertion that an ethic of care provides a more comprehensive framework for theories of public space. However, other aspects of the environment should also be considered in further discussion of a theoretical framework for women and public space.