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This paper focuses upon the town of Point Pleasant, West Virginia located at the confluence of the Ohio and Kanawha rivers in the Ohio Valley. It examines the processes involved [...]

It has been noted that the geographical work on race and space has often overlooked the geographies of individual African-Americans. This paper adds to the literature on race and space [...]

Dwarfs, midgets, even freaks, are among the terms that have been used to label little people. Feminist theorists have argued that discursive identities of women prevent any meaningful essentialised analysis of their experiences. Similarly, disability researchers have argued against generalising the experiences of disabled individuals. This paper explores the intersection of gender and dwarfism through the narratives of four women who are little people. Findings suggest that the ways women, who are little people, negotiate public spaces are affected by discourses of gender, disability and common conceptions of what is physically normal. Furthermore, these discourses have material implications in the everyday lives of these women. A brief historical overview of dwarfism is followed by narratives that describe experiences in public spaces, perceptions of height related to age and capability, gendered spaces and sexual stereotypes, uncomfortable spaces, violations of personal space and transportation. This paper provides a partial perspective on how discourses of dwarfism are manifest in social spaces and the built environment. Despite these significant commonalities that little people shared with other disabled people, there are socio-spatial experiences that appear to be unique to people with dwarfism. Nains, les nains, monstres egaux, sont parmi les termes qui ont ete utilises pour etiqueter petits gens. Petits gens sont des individus qui pour les raisons genetiques ou hormonales grandissent a une hauteur de moins de huit pouces de quatre pieds. Les theoriciens feministes ont discute ces identites discursives de femmes empechent toute analyse de l'essentialized significative de leurs experiences. De la meme facon, les chercheurs de l'invalidite ont discute contre generaliser les experiences d'individus infirmes. Ce papier explore l'intersection de genre et nanisme a travers les narrations de quatre femmes qui sont de petits gens. Les conclusions suggerent que les femmes de chemins qui sont de petits gens negocient les espaces publics sont affectes par discours de genre, invalidite, et conceptions communes de ce qui est physiquement normal. En outre, ces discours ont des implications materielles dans les vies ordinaires de ces femmes., Introduction Feminist researchers have focused attention upon the discursive identities of women in a variety of contexts (Rose 1993, 1999; Valentine 1993; Pratt and Hanson 1994; Moss and Dyck 1996; [...]

Forty years after their rise to international fame, the Beatles continue to be a presence on the cultural landscape. More than any other place, Liverpool remains intrinsically linked with the Beatles' legacy. This paper explores the ways in which the Beatles continue to affect the meaning of places in Liverpool. Framed by both commercial and governmental agencies as a tourist landscape, the places associated with the Beatles are represented to visitors through narratives that selectively employ particular discourses related to the Beatles. The fieldwork for this research suggests that the landscape of Beatles places in Liverpool is composed of a patchwork of authentic, replicated or historically unrelated commercial and vernacular places. Narratives forwarded by the local tourism industry weave the places together as a unified landscape and locate visitors in relation to it. This research draws from and expands upon literatures of music geographies, and the commodification of experience through heritage tourism. Drawing upon post-structural conceptualizations of discourse and the lack of fixity of cultural texts, the following account is an analysis and discussion of the relationships between representations of the Beatles and representations of places in Liverpool with which they are associated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Describes the methods used in teaching the geography of the music group the Beatles. Impact of the Beatles on the cultural landscape; Song-writing exercise; Concepts of cultural geography; Examination of the music and lives of the Beatles; Song and film analysis.

Dwarfs, midgets, even freaks, are the terms that have been used to label little people. Little people are individuals who for genetic or hormonal reasons grow to a height of less than 4 feet 8 inches (1.42 m). While little people face similar issues of access to those of other physically disabled groups, they live in spaces that are designed, both physically and socially, for people of 'average height'. In addition, little people face unique stigmas that are historically rooted in mythology, idealized body types, and the commodification of body difference for profit. This paper draws upon the spatial conception of Henri Lefebvre and the premise that social spaces are produced. Specifically, this paper offers the term, staturized space, to describe how the material environment produces relative stature in common representations of space. Furthermore, it identifies the ways in which dwarfism affects social relations as they are played out in spaces intended for average-height people. Finally, this study describes the ways little people's homes and meetings of the organization Little People of America are re-staturized spaces both physically and socially. The production of such alternative social spaces produces enabling and normative environments for little people. These issues are explored through in-depth interviews and participant observations with a married couple in which both individuals are little people. The case study of the Jamisons is part of a larger project which seeks to reveal aspects of the social spaces of a population that is difficult to access and frequently misunderstood. Geographers can benefit from the perspectives of little people by becoming increasingly sensitized to discourses of height and their material implications in the production of public and private spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]