Central Park

Thursday May 12

How do you choose a space as yours in public?  As I walked along the grass in Sheeps Meadow, I walked almost across the entire field on an angle before I settled into a spot; not too close, but not too far away from my neighbors. Almost every neighbor is also alone.  My back is near an external fence, but not so close as to have it part of my immediate surroundings.  Yet when a large group of school children walk by on the path behind me, as they are now, it definitely takes over the space, and recedes as it walks off.  I wonder where I would be sitting if I had come in at another entrance?  Or where  I would sit if I wasn’t alone, or with my dog? Or where I would have sat if this public lawn wasn’t fenced in?

And that itself is interesting- a public space, fenced in with entrances to it- for control of the space; no dogs, no team sports, bike riding, glass bottles, and damn if it doesn’t close at dusk.  It doesn’t say no nudity, and there are lots of people lying out in their underwear getting some sun.  It also doesn’t say no sex, no drugs, and whatnot, because these are already expected laws and rules in our society.  There is no ball playing either.  Yet I see groups of people playing with balls, others with Frisbees, clearly breaking rules and that’s ok with the people here; but my picture taking seems to be a bit disconcerting to those nearest me; they are looking as though I am wrong.  I have crossed a line, though this is a public spot. I am alone where people are relaxing, and my taking pictures of my surroundings is perhaps a bit off-putting to them.

A female couple holding hands just walked past me, and have sat down in the shade right behind me to my left.  If I were to walk over to them and talk to them about lesbian invisibilities I would be appropriating ‘their’ space, just as when they walked by, as closely as they did, they cam into mine.  They didn’t talk to me, only a glance (I wish I had nodded) so no appropriation, no interaction.  I wonder if the head nod would have given me the recognition, the observation and the inclusion in the invisible community of queer identified women.  Just a nod, because what else is there besides physical understanding?  Without conversation, only by two women holding hands and being intimate in public, there is no way to know-  one can make guesses about ‘butch’ women, but would be wrong many times, as these are specific cultural assumptions.

Saturday May 14

I am back in Central Park, this time with my dog.  I can’t sit in Sheep’s Meadow, so I am just North of there, in a smaller field, about a third of the size, with lots of trees and low-lying bushes.  A rough count tells me that there are over 180 people in this field, and around 65 dogs of all sizes. Dogs are supposed to stay on leashes, and some are, but many are wandering around sniffing people, dogs and begging for food. The people are friendlier than they are in Sheep’s Meadow, and perhaps this is because the space is smaller, so we are closer together, or perhaps it is because as dog owners, we are so used to being kept out of places, that when one is welcoming, it becomes a shared space.  In reality, it is probably because dog owners are forced to interact with other dog owners on the street, and in the dog runs, just by having their dog sniff another dog.  In any case, the dogs roam freely, appropriating sections of strangers’ blankets and attempting to get cheese off of strangers’ sandwiches.  Children are running around after the dogs, and one girl plants herself on our blanket and begins petting our dog.  She tells us she is five, and then proceeds to ask many questions about our dog; from how many teeth she has, to what she likes to eat. The girl’s dad is sitting about 30 feet away from us, and he is keeping an eye on her, but lets her stay for almost 15 minutes before he calls her away.

I look around to see who the people are in the field.  Out of the 180-odd people, only two are homeless.  There are a handful of people of color; at most ten people.  Everyone else here looks white, ages ranging from mid-twenties to mid-thirties.  Most people are with dogs, many have children.  It seems as though it is predominantly heterosexual.  We are potentially the only queer women here.