No entrance free. Female figures the public in situations of exclusion

Abstract

As a byproduct of the processes of industrialization at the Mexico and USA border, the participation of women in the public sphere has entailed a transformation of the relationships between men and women. Such a transformation has implied that the forms of the public sphere, as well as of the femininity and masculinity, have been tested. Violence as a response to the presence of women in street and pubs calls for rethinking the conditions for access to the public sphere in situations where prerequisites for the enjoyment of a satisfactory participation in the city are not present.