http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/22/magazine/making-bathrooms-more-accommodating.html?_r=0

This article sums up the transgender struggle and how they struggle to fit in common places, even a public bathroom. It brings up lots of safety concerns from people who are against it and many refuting arguments from supporters of this sensitive movement. In locker rooms and bathrooms where people are most vulnerable because their bodies are exposed to strangers and mainly people they aren’t that close with or comfortable letting view their body are one of the most conflicted places for transgender people. In an Illinois high school, a boy who was undergoing hormone treatment to become a girl and had already changed identities legally to a women was barred from changing in the girl locker room for fear of privacy for the other girls. The transgender girl was asked to change in a separate room. The Department of Education got involved and said that she should be able to change in the same area as the other girls however, if the school wanted to put up some kind of curtain for privacy then they would have to allow the other girls that option too. At the end of last year, Houston rejected a broad equal rights ordinance, which should be scary for a lot of us. This ordinance would protect against discrimination based on age, race, sexual orientation, or gender identity in the workplace, housing and public spaces. This reminds me of what African Americans fought for during segregation periods and post-Civil Rights Act times. These people only want to be treated like everyone else and not feel outcasted. The people not in support of this ordinance showed TV commercials of a boy trying to hurt a girl going into the girl bathroom, playing on parents and students fears of integrating bathrooms.

Once again, regarding the issue of a certain group of people being turned away in our country’s history we need to accommodate. Mara Keisling says “It implies a two-way street”. We nor the transgender community can do all the work, it has to be an equal effort as with any other relationship in which two people cohabitate and exist. Back in the nineteenth century separate bathrooms were created for women to relax because they were seen as the weaker gender who needed breaks and extra accommodations because they were prone to falling out. In the forties, white women refused to use the same bathrooms as black co-workers for fear of contracting syphilis from the black men. This is a more radical display of what’s going on now. People back in those times had a different thought process about who went where just like we do today. People are always going to think certain things are normal, until they change. What I’m saying is, we could think something is right, right now but at the end of the day people are still not being treated fairly but it doesn’t bother us because it’s not us who is being treated unequally. Just like in times of slavery, how many people in the south thought it was just a way of life when now we know that it was the most terrible time in our country’s history. It is the same thing today, we think separating bathrooms is good for all mankind because it’s been that way for so long but there are people being mistreated and discriminated against just to go to the bathroom, and we may think it’s okay now, but later on down the line it won’t be and things will have to change.

http://www.metropolismag.com/March-2015/His-or-Hers-Designing-for-a-Post-Gender-Society/

This article talks about the shift happening in our culture regarding identity and a gender neutral workplace. Since seventies women have become more visible in the workplace. First as secretaries, and now moving up the ranks to CEO’s and more important roles in a company. However, in the technology industry men still dominate in which eighty five percent of men work for tech companies. In recent years, identity has become hazy and people are no longer only defining themselves as women or men, some people describe themselves as both or neither, society’s acceptance of this change has been gradual but now many people are pushing for the same change in the places where they work. The He for She movement along with many others are pushing towards gender equality especially since most work places are still male dominant in more ways than one. With women taking up more spaces in the places where they work, the work place is starting to evolve. The influence of hospitality is made with soft textures, carpet in offices, windows to bring in light, and more sustainable and energy efficient designs. Major fashion names in the industry are pushing towards gender equality as well. Alexander Wang, a primary women’s high fashion designer, made high end fashion coats for women with a tailored military look for that hint of masculinity in it. This displays that the women aren’t just good for sitting at home and taking care of the children, cooking and cleaning anymore. We as women can have a prominent role in any industry, even the military.

There is quite a stir of confusion with gender roles, in which many students and many people of the world are flat out refusing to be put into one certain category. On college applications students are opting out of choosing a gender and standing up to a dimorphic system of gender roles.  People today want to be who they want to be, even if no one has ever been that before.

The focus is shifting to one segment of the entire puzzle, bathrooms. Bathrooms are traditionally for women or men especially in the public sector. However, someone undergoing a sex change that might now be the opposite gender, but is technically two genders might not fit as well in either of the bathrooms. Big companies like Google have started to embrace this change and want everyone to feel equal and have a place to fit in, so they have started on the transition to gender neutral bathrooms in which anyone of any sex or even a transgender person may enter. Making everyone feel welcomed seems to be the focus in this day and age and especially in our generation.

The author mentions the American Disabilities Act as a contrast to what should be implemented in today’s society regarding gender roles. This act helped people with disabilities at the very least, many still can’t find accessible bathrooms even though this law was passed over a decade ago. With gender equality, we have to find a way to meet individual needs without leaving people out or forcing them to compromise who they are.

The Peachtree Center is tourist attraction. It is connected to many hotels and is a way for guest of the city to be able to sample a bit of the culture we have here in Atlanta. Many popular restaurants are located in the Peachtree Center, many hidden behind each twist and turn. There are plenty of gift shop kiosk and an information booth. There is even a two story CVS pharmacy connected to the Peachtree Center. There are various flags from numerous different countries hanging up inside and out of the mall. The mall goes out to Peachtree Street, one of busiest streets in the downtown area. There weren’t many people in the Peachtree Center Mall and aren’t usually when I stop by, however if there is a conference or a big event in the city that many people from out of town will come for, the mall might be more busier than usual. Many things are very expensive just because people don’t know where to go to pay less or it may not be convenient. However, Peachtree from my view tries to incorporate most of all diverse backgrounds inside and out by representing the flags of so many countries. It makes those visitors from that country feel welcomed. That is the southern hospitality way.

Most times we define homeless as those living on the streets begging for change looking dirty and sad. Homeless is actually defined as one without a stable home. This definition is very vague and may cover some we wouldn’t normally think of as homeless. What we make as our home is a representation of identity. Most homeless people have unstable homes and are therefore unstable in their identity. Situationist International describe the capitalist society we live in as spectacle, meaning we are influenced by images and they dictate our emotions. This tactic creates a struggle for the working class that wouldn’t normally be there if it weren’t for the spectacular society the capitalist government implements. You can gain a better depiction of our environment through derive, also referred to as drifting. This is knowing our environment affects behavior and taking a closer look without any previous notions. It comes from the word flanerie meaning carefully observing the environment and studying the social space. It’s the previous knowledge that places around us can affect our behavior. It took Morton’s ability to overcome fears to be able to travel into the tunnels and underground abandoned rail tracks and interview the inhabitants. Derive also pertains to how people see their own living space and the affect it has on their internal life. Morton’s photos depict the transitional phase of the homeless in the 90s in New York’s underground world. These photos were taken purposefully in a way that conveys political significance and evidence for historic events. She shows what people don’t know about the tunnel life or have forgotten all while bringing on a certain level of guilt and sympathy for prejudging these areas as the low of the low.

The guilt and sympathy comes from preexisting thoughts of tunnel inhabitants being inferior or not being able to help their situation when in fact there are examples of people choosing to live in the tunnel for personal reasons. Morton chose to portray the life underground in a different light than the media shows homelessness regularly. She interviewed two men. One man Bernard described the tunnel as an escape from all the distractions of society. He wanted to focus on himself, therefore had to isolate himself from all the distractions society throws at us such as commercials for products, lifestyle influences, and things the media makes us feel like we need. She also interviewed a man named Bob who also dwelled in the tunnel and explained how he had let the tunnel consume him but still felt like Bernard, which is that it was a good place to find yourself. Bob, unlike Bernard built his identity around the tunnel and therefore lost himself in it from dwelling there too long. This portrays the tunnel as a psychological space aside from being solely physical. Many preconceived notions might say these individuals are crazy for living in an abandoned tunnel or that somehow they have to live there based on their economic status. However, based on Morton’s images and interviews, we see that it sometimes is a choice to live in unconventional areas like this. Moreover, being homeless doesn’t always mean someone doesn’t have the money to have a home. In this article it was more about a mental state of refuge than strictly an economic issue.