Choose 1 or 2:
1 (Strictly for theory-heads!)
The plague town is an early "political dream" (end of 17th-century) of the disciplinary society to come. It foreshadows the great lockdown of the 19th-century, Foucault tells us. Describe its principle elements and compare it with the (earlier) exile of the leper.
2 To what extent can the housing reforms described by Groth be described as anti-urban?
“Hotel Homes as a Public Nuisance” written by Paul Groth is a piece about the negative views on hotel and downtown living. Groth starts out by explaining who the people against hotel living were, the type of backgrounds they came from, and why these people thought this concept was so terrible. The people who were against this type of urban living were those from upper-middle class families who had grown up in a suburban lifestyle. They felt as if living in the downtown environment took away from family life and the roles women and men were supposed to uphold.
As I was reading this piece I actually found it quite humorous, I know that it was written at a time where it made sense to most people, but to me it sounded very silly. Women were seen as lazy, irresponsible and selfish just because they lived in an environment where they did not have to cook, clean and provide for a family? I wonder what these critics would think of women today! The men that lived in the hotel environment were seen as men who never had to have a woman around to wait on them, which in turn suggests that these men would never have to find a wife. Not having a wife supports the idea of not having a family, which I will now go into.
One of the main focuses of this piece was the strain put on families and family development by living in a hotel. Groth states, “People who felt…that home and family were the ‘crucible of our happiness’ saw the notion of people living alone, or family groups living in uncharacteristic ways, as a clear danger to several aspects of the Victorian middle-income family (208).” One of the downfalls these critics saw was the inability to have children, or if a family did have children, the inability to keep a proper eye on them. One of the reasons of this was the fact that there was no yard for the children to play in and no positive community for the children to submerse themselves in.
I feel as if this article can easily be described as anti-urban. Throughout the discussions we have had in class, a city is a densely populated place with many different types of people who interact on an impersonal, but daily basis. What comes to my mind when I think of a city is precisely what the critics of hotel living do not like; independence, or freedom, from the strict rolls you have in the suburbs or small towns. For me the whole idea of a city is the ability to be able to be anonymous. Just like Jane Jacobs mentioned in her piece about the ability to speak with people about important things, yet not have to necessarily be extremely emotionally attached to them. These critics of this life basically think it is a complete evil to want independence and to want to be free of what society thinks a woman or a man should do. Groth states that, “…the distractions of living downtown rendered people selfish and self-centered (211)…”
I think it is great that people were becoming independent, at least in the sense of not having to live up to societal rolls. Yes, it may be a bit selfish but why would these critics want a selfish person to have a family? This would just end up in more problems that are intensely worse than being selfish for a little bit in your life. I think it is great to take time for yourself and take care of your needs and wants, because maybe someday you will not be able to do this.
-Kate Cichy
Before reading the groth article, I had no previous knowledge of “hotel homes”. It is an interesting theory, yet seems to follow the same path as most other theories and revolutions of the time. Distinct class lines becoming more prominent in some aspects, yet diminishing in others. Gender roles becoming more slack, especially women in their free time. It even goes on to point out the fact that Harper’s Magazine was claiming that the women of the day did not know how to cook, clean, sew, etc. There were more single people than ever before, which was influenced by this hotel living, and less children were being born. These changes however did not have such a important impact on the more rural communities and small towns.
This period of time was that of free thinkers with liberal arts educations. They began to explore new and more efficient ways for social problems. Solutions to urban problems was the main focus of this period from 1890 ot the early 1900s. The traditional morals and values however were not lost on these new ideas, hence the hotels were not looked fondly upon by all. These places were seen as unsanitary and breeding places for disease. This inspired public health officers to impose definitions for minimum room size, ventilation, and plumbing.
One could almost call this the age of health reform, for people in all areas of society were working to educate people on good hygiene and the importance of decent housing. Architects and city planners began implementing housing reforms in their building. Hotel living, at this time, was almost the complete opposite of what these people were working hard to change. Families were considered essential to the health and well-being of new housing and the growth of communities. These hotels had mostly single people, once again working against the facets of the progressive era.
While reading the Foucault piece I began to wonder how the "noble" and upper class people fit into this scheme of governing and if they would be included in this treatment. This instantly made me think of a piece by Edgar Allen Poe titled, "The Masque of the red death" published in 1842. In the story, a king brings 1000 "noble" people to a secluded and closed off abbey to seek shelter away from the spread of the plague as it sweeps the land. All the while, these noble people are able to live in comfort and share in the luxurious life of the king. One night during a masquerade party, a person comes dressed up as a victim of the plague, (or so the king thinks), and so since it is a costume party everyone thinks it is a costume, but in reality it is really a person suffering from the plague and all the noble people and the king die rather quickle. I guess it is somewhat random, but this article reminded of this story which I read a while ago, if you like Poe you should check it out sometime.
I was reminded of that too! Did anyone else go to Bare Bones this year? It was based on the Masque of the Red Death. You kinda ruined the surprise of the story, though, yo! It's a lot like this reading though, and it deals with class issues and our socially constructed illusion of safety.
The Foucault also reminded me of the description of Kin-Sai, Constantinople and the ancient cities a bit too, with the water ways mentioned and the social control measures that seemed to be pretty regimented. The way that everything was partitioned brought to mind Abu-Lughod's description of an Islamic city a bit too.
I agree with kate that some of the critics of hotel life were just silly but at the time, they seemed less silly. We are more accepting of a wide variety of lifestyles in our time than people have been in our nations history. This was all going on at the beginining of the breakdown (which I'd say kinda goes back and forth)of the family as the most important social unit.
yeah. bare bones was pretty darn good last year.
i think it's beautiful that the groth reading reflects foucault's theories of discipline and punishment. Bio-power, is "an explosion of numerous and diverse techniques for achieving the subjugations of bodies and the control of populations". (foucault) In Groth's text, biological hygiene is equated with social hygiene. The health reformers were affecting housing laws. And of course, there were stupid-ass critiques of women in hotels, because there bodies could not be controlled by the dominant social order. All in all, I think environmental determinism is sscccccccccaaaaarrrry.
Comments
Posted by: Anonymous | February 22, 2007 01:53 PM