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| IDENTITIES OF WOMEN WITH YOUNG KIDS IN SHOPPING MALLS: FEMINISM, FAMILY, AND SPATIAL TRANSCENDENCE BETWEEN THE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SPACE |
| ZHANG Yang1, ZHANG Min1,2 |
1. School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China;
2. Research Center of Human Geography, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China |
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Abstract From the perspective of feminism, with concepts of place and identity, this paper focuses on women with young kids, who usually have great burden on raising kids and face with more difficulty on balance their multiple roles, to investigate the relationship between identities of women and their behaviors in shopping malls. Commodities and the processes of consumption can reflect and define the identities of consumers. Therefore, based on surveys and semi-structure interviews drawn at a shopping mall in Nanjing, we find that women with young kids have constructed multi-identities along with their shopping and other activities in the shopping mall. "Mother" is the most clear and dominant identity, and is represented as family and kidsoriented activities in shopping mall. "Woman as an individual" is also recognized in the shopping mall, which provides chances for women to find their own values through consumption, meeting friends and other private or social activities. Women with young kids try to adjust themselves to obtain much individual space and time and transcend their highly restricted daily lives. The identity as other family roles, such as the wife and daughter, has been weakened. Activities and feelings in the shopping mall reflect multiple identities, and the balance between different identities of women with young kids. Supported by the family-oriented and comprehensive consuming pattern, shopping malls reinforce the identities of "mother" and "woman as an individual", and help women with young kids get balance between family interests and their personal values. By establishing the private space based on family members, female shows confirmation to the public space and has redefined the traditional dual structure of the gender space within the shopping mall.
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Received: 23 January 2015
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2016, Vol. 31 
