Connecting Space and Performance

Doreen Massey’s “A Global Sense of Place” relates to Ulysse’s Downtown Ladies in several ways.  Massey’s article centers on the importance the connection of time and space in relation to power, money, movement, and social relations.  This specifically relates to chapters 4 and 5 of Downtown Ladies, because in order to understand the arcade or the situations the ICIs are placed in, you have to understand the geographical location of the arcade and its place within the complex society of Kingston. 

There is a distinct difference between uptown and downtown Kingston.  Downtown, and especially the main arcade, has a stigma of danger (which Ulysse says is not “without basis” (158)).  This danger whether real or perceived has led to the idea of portraying toughness for female ICIs.  This idea of toughness ties in with Ulysse’s ideas of performance that she mentions earlier in the book.  Toughness is not an accepted characteristic of a “lady”, which allows the upper echelon of society to further distances the arcade ICIs from the term.  So in a sense they are forced to perform the label that has been placed upon them.  It is a cycle that they have no choice but to play a part in.

 If a look is given to the connection of money, power, and location you can see how the ICIs, especially those most visible, are at a disadvantage.  They stay in the business because it gives some form of income.  As more ICIs enter the market and taxation becomes more of a burden, very few are actually making more than what is needed to simply survive.  Taking a look back at Massey we see that the ICIs are part of “groups who are also doing a lot of physical moving, but who are not 'in charge' of the process” (3).  Building on this idea Ulysse states that the ICIs recognize their importance to the global economy, but they also recognize the ways in which they lack really power and authority (212).  From both of these we see how they are continuously navigating the complex world in which they live, sometimes through performance, in order to carve out an existence.

Briana