Irina Vinnitskaya describes Dolores Hayden’s (1980) essay “What would a Non-Sexist City Be Like? Speculations on Housing, Urban Design, and Human Work” as it relates to creating egalitarian and supportive urban environments for women. Here, Vinnitskaya elaborates on Hayden’s main argument, that the construction of cities and places are centered around the phrase “a woman’s place is in the home.” This saying translates into the perception that men belong in public life while women are domestic. Vinnitskaya highlights Hayden’s appeal for change to this system, as Hayden suggests that viable solutions will be found through community building, not through market answers (i.e. fast food chains to replace home cooked meals). Hayden proposes a solution for more egalitarian cities through the creation of participatory groups called HOMES: Homemakers Organizations for a More Egalitarian Society. These groups would be founded upon grassroots organizing and collective bargaining to obtain zoning permits and other accommodations to create proposed communal structures and spaces. Hayden suggests modeling HOMES after limited equity housing cooperatives as a way for collective arrangements to be organized, with any number of households being able to take part in the communal services of a HOMES group. Photo Credit: Routledge, 1999
