Tystnader och synliggöranden kring staden

Tonårsflickors minnen om urbana platser och könade möten

Abstract

This article examines teen girls’ memories of places and encounters in Turku (Finland), in relation to local discourses on teenagers and public or semi-public places. The empirical material consists of written memories by ninety-seven girls, in addition to newspaper articles, online discussions, blog entries and everyday talk about the city. I argue that silences can be as significant as the voiced. The theoretical work of Michel de Certeau, with the concepts tactics and strategies, are used in the article to examine spatial power dynamics. Henri Lefebvre’s theorization of the spatial triad, with its perceived, conceived and lived space, is also used to understand teen girls’ encounters and practices in different places in the city. In the article, I discuss silences in the memories, silences in the local discourse, and gendered encounters. The shopping mall and the library function as focus points for discussing the two different silences. When I discuss gendered encounters, mainly teen girls’ encounters with boys and adult men, a large variety of places is discussed. I argue that emancipation interconnects most, but not all, of the memories. The shopping mall can symbolize an emancipation from the adult, as the memories concern the first time visiting the shopping mall without parents. In return, the library is a place that the girl can visit alone, without friends, as the memories show. Emancipation can also be connected to agency and tactics. As the memories illustrate, girls use different tactics to emancipate themselves from patriarchal structures, when they meet, confront and ward off adult unfamiliar men. Apart from emancipation, I argue that the place-based memories can be understood as identity markers.