“I am spacious singing flesh... ” (Cixous) Gender in the Landscape: Landscape Architecture in the Feminine

This paper points out that the needs and contribution of women are largely invisible in landscape architectural discourse and practice. It suggests that landscape is generally approached from a masculinist perspective, deriving from dualisms hidden deep in the structures of society and patterns of thought. These privilege processes and products aligned with the masculine. To stimulate discussion about gender in the landscape this paper draws on research in other disciplines, from the work of McDowell (geography), Franck (architecture) and Irigaray (philosophy), about the relationships between gender divisions and spatial divisions, and about women’s ways of knowing and being. The work on embodiment and perception by phenomenologist Merleau-Ponty is seen as central to resolving dualisms and to positive conceptualising of gender in landscape. Some constraints on women in public places are described, from a variety of research contexts. The paper concludes with interpretations of these insights in practical design of landscape architecture in the feminine