Women in US cities: urban captives
Abstract This article examines the contemporary position of women in US urban areas. It seeks to explain the increasing numbers of service-dependent women residing in urban locations through reference to the historical evolution of the urban political economy as it reflects the national and global political economy. More specifically, it recognizes that policies at the national level influence and change urban form and function, a process which has definite and identifiable consequences for society.
Older Women in the City
The particular vulnerabilities of women and the vicissitudes of aging1 combine to isolate the older woman. This situation, which urban settings often exacerbate, is our concern now. Because so many older women live in cities, often in great difficulty, our subject is hardly a trivial one. Despite this, and despite ruminations about the "graying of America," old women have received surprisingly little scholarly attention. Until relatively recently, large numbers of old women in the city or elsewhere were scarce. In 1900 the average life expectancy at birth for white women was 48.7, for nonwhite women 33.5. However, in 1976, the average life expectancy at birth was 77.3 for white, 72.6 for nonwhite females. The proportion of women reaching age 65 has also changed dramatically. By 1973, 82.2 percent of all white and 68.1 percent of all nonwhite women could expect to reach age 65. Obviously changes in these mortality patterns have had marked effects on the demographic
Negotiating the cultural and economic outcomes of sport heritage attractions: the case of the National Baseball Hall of Fame
ABSTRACT Contemporary museums must balance their roles as commercial entities and repositories of various, and often dissonant, heritages and histories. Sports museums in particular often have clear commercial and nostalgic aims, particularly through tourist visitation, though the extent to which they represent more challenging narratives remains unclear. This paper examines how one of the most famous sports museums in the world, the National Baseball Hall of Fame (NBHF) in Cooperstown, New York, balances its dual role as tourist attraction and repository of baseball's sometimes checkered past. It was found that different sections of the museum provide greater or lesser degrees of engagement with more controversial issues, although the commercial outputs and appeal of the museum remains clear throughout. Utlimately, the NBHF demonstrates that balancing veneration and critique in collections can be commercially prosperous, and can provide a template for other sport and popular culture museums who may be wary of incorporating more challenging narratives in their exhibits. Furthermore, the symbiotic relationship between the Hall of Fame and the village of Cooperstown, particularly in creating and maintaining cultural and economic outputs, requires further exploration.