“Our cities are patriarchy written in stone, brick, glass, and concrete.”

“We kept each other safe, and even more, helped each other learn to take up space, to fight back, to be ourselves despite the constant reminders about how we were supposed to look or behave. My friends were my safety net, my city survival toolkit. Schaefer exclaims that her friends “are like a life raft I didn’t know i was looking for before I got on it.” Being with my friends helped me to challenge the deeply-ingrained, unconscious belief I should take up very little room, physically, emotionally, and verbally. They helped me to feel...strong and less afraid. Female friendship, in short, was more than a life raft: it was power.”

This is a powerful little book. Wonderfully researched and extremely thorough, Leslie Kern traces women’s complex relationships with cities. The book is divided into seven sections: City of Men, City of Moms, City of Friends, City of One, City of Protest, City of Fear, and City of Possibility. The book starts with an idea form Adrienne Rich: the geography closest in. “Begin with the material...Begin with the female body...Not to transcend it, but to reclaim it.” Using this concept as a framework, Kern wonders what cities would look like when we use a politics of asking women’s questions. And she does this beautifully. I could go on and on about this book, but I will end by saying I learned so much and that this is a must read for everyone.