Tania Damiano - Activity 6 - Sexualized/Gendered/Queer Spaces

Maspeth completely lacks resources for working parents. There are many clinics, dental offices and such that the latest they close is 7pm. What’s more, they open late too! At around 9am or so. A working parent is usually at work anytime between 8am and 10am and out by 6 or 7pm. Clearly, the offices around Maspeth do not work for them. I was very surprised to actually notice how many clinics there are in each block and in a 10-block radius from my house, only. Yet, they all close at basically the same time. What’s the use? Also, I notice that there are very few day-care centers and nursery schools in Maspeth. There is one down 69st and 53ave- it is a day-care center located in a big one-family house. It has a big sign outside and it is open for kids of 6 months to 12 years. However, there are quite a few schools that offer programs for pre-schoolers. I thought I was missing something completely obvious by not finding places, so I decided to google it. I was right, though! There aren’t enough day-care centers in Maspeth; barely any. There are many in the bordering neighborhood of Woodside, quite close to Maspeth, but not in Maspeth. I’ve been living in this neighborhood for the about two years and all this time I thought Maspeth was a “good neighborhood.” Dolores Hayden proved me really wrong when she defined one in page 145. My definition was that of the “usually” defined thought and not of what she describes as “additional social services for the working parent” which I see Maspeth provides very little of. It must be very frustrating for parents, since I’ve seen that many that live in the neighborhood work in it as well.If it is of any consolation, there are many 24-hour or open-till-late laundromats.




Now, finding and defining male/female/gay spaces in Maspeth was really hard. There are a ridiculous amount of hair salons in Maspeth, many which have gossip-y women or gay men. Yet, neither space is defined as one or the other, because all hair salons are unisex. There is this specific place, though, “The Red Chair Salon.”



I looked up reviews online and there are very few, yet those few are great reviews. But every time I pass by, there are two or three gay men just sitting there. It is usually empty. I have no idea how much a hair cut costs there and how many people even go there daily, but being that is a few blocks down the highway and hiding between houses, unless you are from the neighborhood, you don’t know about that small salon. Many nail spas also offer unisex services in Maspeth. Clearly, many are constantly full of women, but men come in now and then. Just the other day I was doing my nails, when a young man, maybe in his early twenties, comes in to get his eyebrows done. No one was shocked or surprised to see him there, although he looked slightly shy. So there you have it, hair salons and nail spas are no longer male or female spaces, although they are sometimes dominated by one gender. Now, to the bars. Universally considered “men spaces,” bars are tricky to define. Yes, it is men that go. Yes, it is men that drink the most. But most people that work there are women. My brother used to be the assistant manager to a bar that opened not so long in 69 street and 54 avenue- “NYC 69 Lounge.” He told me that there were girls working there, and many female costumers went every night. The bar right next to where I work in Grand Avenue (Burke’s Pub)- its filled with men! Yet all the bartenders and waitresses are females. It has me thinking, is it a men space because mostly guys go there, or does it become a female space invaded by guys because mostly girls work there? I, then, consider Maspeth and “non-sexist city,” that is, masculine spaces open for women and vice versa. I also realized that there aren’t any “night clubs” here; many Pubs, bars and open-late restaurants, but not any specifically-designated-for-parties sort of areas. Maspeth seems to wake up early and sleep early.

I Googled “gay map of New York” and an extensive list of bars and clubs showed up in every link I clicked. I found maybe three areas that were in Maspeth, none of which are very known or visible. Many are in neighboring cities, but very, very few in Maspeth. A huge amount of these gay bars are located in the city and in Flushing, with others scattered here and there in Queens and Brooklyn. I think gays choose specific and designated areas everywhere, because they need a space where they can express themselves and be who they are. I don’t mean to sound corny, but let’s be real, gays are not fully accepted in NY, so many hide who they are in public, but are who they are when they are surrounded by other gays and lesbians.