abstract: 'This research is about the effects of women''s being a part of paid

  employment on the usage of public places by using women''s daily life

  experiences. Joining paid labour is a crucial strategy for women''s

  empowerment policies. Working outside means leaving home, private space,

  and being a part of the public places for women. But creating job

  opportunities for women is not a magical tool that solves all the gender

  inequalities, on the contrary, Marxist feminists argue that the gendered

  structure of labour even expands the gap between genders. And feminist

  geographers underline that women experience public places with a range

  of barriers created by the patriarchal form of built environments. Even

  the women have decent works, it is not easy for women to be in public

  just because the built environment avoids their needs. But despite this

  hopeless and adverse framework, microanalyses that focus on female

  workers from developing countries show that women embrace working

  outside of the home. And when they have proper conditions, they create

  their empowerment strategies which are slow but deep and strong. This

  study aims to reveal these empowerments strategies and the needed

  necessary conditions from the usage of public place perspective. The

  study case, Geyve in Sakarya, has rural and urban characteristics at the

  same time. Patriarchal and religious values are deeply embedded in the

  place. And these values affect the gender roles, labour, and the usage

  of public places too. Traditionally, women used to work in the

  agricultural sector as unpaid workers. And their public place usage is

  limited. But in the 1990s, two food factories opened in Geyve and

  offered uneducated women a job opportunity aside from the agricultural

  sector. Women''s participation in paid labour in 30 years changed many

  dynamics, usage of public places too. The study was conducted with the

  feminist method, focusing on women''s standpoint, to understand these

  changes from the women''s perspective. The main data source of this study

  is the daily life experiences of blue-collar women. These daily life

  experiences were obtained through in-depth interviews with twenty two

  female workers. The factory representatives declared that the majority

  of the female workers are married with children. For this reason, the

  interviewees were mainly selected from married women with children. The

  working conditions are critically important in women''s changing

  behaviours, for this reason, the study focused on a work environment

  where women work in the same environment with men, under the same

  conditions, and have the same rights. In this context, the study didn''t

  include Geyve''s automotive sector. Because this sector is mostly

  dominated by men. And the textile sector is also out of the scope of the

  study for a similar reason. Textile sector workers are mostly female

  and, there is a strong gender hierarchy in this sector. The food

  factories, which are built in the 1990s and have 1500 workers together,

  provide the appropriate conditions for the study. In-deep interviews

  focused on revealing gendered forms of public places, women''s

  questioning interiorised gender roles, and the reflections of these

  questionings on public place usage. The study showed that women''s

  strategies diversify based on their marital status, owning children, and

  age. For example, mothers with school-aged children justify their

  existence in public places with their motherhood identity. And young and

  single women prefer the same cafes as college students.

  Older women with adult children do not care to be in public or

  themselves, but they admire the youngsters and support their younger

  female members. There are two important common statements from

  interviews. All interviewees emphasised that they have the same rights

  to be in public because they work under the same conditions as men, and

  earn the same money. And they feel safe when they are surrounded by

  other females when they are in public places. These two statements show

  that although the women are aware of the unfair patriarchal form of

  public places, they don''t try to demolish it to get their rights.

  Instead of resisting, they bargain, negotiate, and create small freedom

  areas for themselves. Joining paid labour and public life are crucial

  elements of women''s empowerment. But women face many barriers in this

  way because of the patriarchy. Having local information about the

  women''s struggle and survival strategies can be helpful to create ideal

  working places, empowerment policies, and place-making choices.

  Hopefully, this study will be useful to understand women''s standpoint

  and include their needs and struggles during the policy-making

  processes.'
affiliation: 'Cetin, R (Corresponding Author), Yildiz Tech Univ, Dept Reg Planning,
  Fac Architecture Urban \& Reg Planning, Istanbul, Turkey.

  Cetin, Reycan, Yildiz Tech Univ, Dept Reg Planning, Fac Architecture Urban \& Reg
  Planning, Istanbul, Turkey.

  Turkun, Asuman, Yildiz Tech Univ, Dept Urban Planning, Fac Architecture Urban \&
  Reg Planning, Istanbul, Turkey.'
author: Cetin, Reycan and Turkun, Asuman
author-email: reycancetn@gmail.com
author_list:
- family: Cetin
  given: Reycan
- family: Turkun
  given: Asuman
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.14744/MEGARON.2022.08566
files: []
issn: 1309-6915
journal: MEGARON
keywords: Join in paid labour; women's empowerment; public place; gender
language: Turkish
number: '1'
number-of-cited-references: '26'
pages: 107-116
papis_id: f11ca392a0b0d2e2bc0bdba609576d20
ref: Cetin2022effectswomens
times-cited: '0'
title: 'The effects of women''s joining in paid employment on public place usage:
  Sakarya Geyve case'
type: Article
unique-id: WOS:000782363700007
usage-count-last-180-days: '3'
usage-count-since-2013: '4'
volume: '17'
web-of-science-categories: Architecture
year: '2022'