Home is where the female is: Analysing the geography of gender inequalities and the home

Abstract

Discourses on the home as a physicality often recount on romantic or nostalgic notions such as safety, comfort, and identity. Home as a defined boundary from the public realm and as a private space can be conceptualised as a gendered landscape, in which women are confined to roles involving reproductive and domestic labor. Thus, in a paradoxical sense, although home is socially constructed to fit ideals and create a space of material safety, it can also create a geography of difference in terms of women and the systemic barriers that can lead to violence against women, such as domestic or familial violence. This paper discusses the geography of the home and its physical and social attributes as it intersects with gender inequalities. Moreover, an intersectional and focused analysis on how domestic violence can occur because of gendered perceptions in the home is provided. This introductory research paper examines existing literature and can add to the limited research in domestic violence against women. Thus, the paper may be used to inform future housing policy such that a more comprehensive approach which includes domestic violence perspectives are considered.