We’re now familiar with the ways of the flaneur, having followed the poet Baudelaire through the city, along the movement of his consciousness, stimulated by life happening in every corner of Paris, but we first encountered the figure of the flaneur in connection with the glass ceiling — the arcades, where it may not have clear to what extent the position of the flaneur — his mobility, his access to experience, his freedom of thought– is an exclusive privilege.
If we take the claims of Hollaback! seriously (and we should), this difference in social positioning remains a glass ceiling.
To focus on what the flaneur’s activity can reveal to us about our own conditions for being-in-the-world, I want to highlight a few keywords in this feminist critic/art historian’s definition of the flaneur:
One of the key figures to embody the novel forms of public experience of modernity is the flaneur or impassive stroller, the man in the crowd who goes, in Walter Benjamin’s phrase, “botanizing on the asphalt.” The flaneur symbolizes the privilege or freedom to move about the public arenas of the city observing but never interacting, consuming the sights through a controlling but rarely acknowledged gaze, directed as much at other people as at the goods for sale. The flaneur embodies the gaze of modernity which is both covetous and erotic. (Griselda Pollock, “Modernity and the Spaces of Femininity,” 67 )
What does it mean to be an “impassive stroller”? You certainly can’t give off the impression that you are seeking interaction. But as we discussed in class, the gendering of dress comes with the kinds of assumptions that prompt unwanted attention and unsolicited acknowledgement. The distraction of catcalling is a title IX issue, to some extent; objectifying or, worse, sexualizing another person draws their attention away from what they are pursuing as a subject out in the world, such that there is no longer equal opportunity. “Jessica’s Feminized Atmosphere” from the Daily Show offers some solutions, including the bitch face!
As we discussed in class, this is not just a gender issue. Our social position is the intersection of multiple identity categories, the most visible ones (race, class, age) being the most active ones.
Next time you’re walking down the street, think about what your gaze is really saying — are you avoiding contact? are you inviting it? what assumptions are you making about other people? what assumptions are people making about you? what captivates you and what does this say about what you’re most interested in? etc. The flaneur would never be occupied by such thoughts, but it might prove to be a worthwhile distraction.