Comparisons

Though my amount of time in each city was not equal, 3 weeks in Saskatoon and New York and then ten days in Banff and thirteen days in Thunder Bay, I managed to get a good idea of the construction of gender and sexuality in (and outside of) each city. On average there seemed to be an equal amount of daily gender performance such as dresses vs slacks, bikinis vs shorts which is uniform of western gendered display, but each city had slight difference of gendered performance because of the environments influence.

Saskatoon seemed to be the city with the most obvious construction of both gender and sexuality. Not only was there various instances of gender performance forming the social sphere, many people of both genders found it necessary to create a display of sexuality, from wearing bikinis in the waterfront park (far from the water, with no opportunity to swim) to following traditional gender roles. The city of Saskatoon is also very constructed with manicured parks, imported trees and human influenced nature. The isolated small town carries a more traditional view of gender while the lack of summer activities like swimming draw a more advanced display of sexuality within the city limits as outlets to the heat.

New York had the most opportunities to experience gender in a different way than the expected norm. The condensed space allowed for the exposure to a lot of ‘other’ identities and a lot of public events that included or encouraged a multitude of sexual and gender identities. I found a lot of gender oriented events were held in popular public spaces rather than hid away like DIVAS in Saskatoon but it helped that our itinerary was focussed towards these issues, allowing me to be exposed to a unique gender and sexuality exploration in the city.

Banff was unassuming in its gender and sexuality. The lack of culture within the wooded mountains resisted masculine and feminine signifiers, and invited sexuality only with the human intervention. Even the people in nature, often dressed in preparation for hiking in boots, bug resistant gear and sun protection lost their strong gendered difference in attire. The nature itself seemed to deny a social construction that defines identities and instead becomes about human and nature rather than male and female. The town of Banff seemed to invite a strong contrast to the woods surrounding it, the transient tourist population creating an environment for sexual conquest. The identity of the city as an international hub creates a highly sexualized and gender normalized center in a gender neutral surrounding.

Thunder Bay’s landscape allowed for a lot of swimming, many isolated outdoor areas surrounding the city allowed for a certain amount of freedom, which changed the presence of public sexuality within the city limits. Accessibility of the water attracts a display of gendered swimwear but in more solitary excursions outside of town, leaving the town itself free of unnecessary bathing attire as I saw in Saskatoon. Thunder Bay had a small town gendered presence like Saskatoon did with a more traditional view of gender and the surrounding nature has a neutralizing effect of sexual and gendered expression within the city.