Reading Week 5

According to Solnit in “Walking after midnight,” how has gender affected the ability to walk in the city? How has gender affected the experience of walking in the city?

In the very beginning, Solnit recites a story about a woman named Caroline Wyburgh who because she was seen walking with a man late at night, was accused of being a prostitute and arrested. Even though she told them she wasn’t a prostitute and there was no proof she was a prostitute, she was still forced to go to a medical prison and was essentially tortured during their “examination” process. Going out on a walk has become a sexual activity, and sexual activity by women has become criminalized. According to Solnit, being a woman and doing something as simple as going for a walk is deemed possible because society has the tendency to over-sexualize everything women do. The risk of battery and assault is much greater for a woman making it more dangerous, especially if the woman is alone. For this reason, you often see women travelling in groups, even to insignificant places like a public restroom.