Doors

Barriers seem to be important to creating a safe space. David said about Manuel’s:

I mean, the back room,

it felt like a safe space –

even because

we had the physical door that

you could open and close.

You know, that door’s closed and everybody is there for the storytelling,

and they have that one purpose in mind.

It just felt like

we’re all in this together.

And nobody’s just wandering in

so you have a safe space

to say what you want to say,

and you know you’re in there with a supportive environment.

David and others have mentioned the curtains helping to make the new room more closed in. And I think that the closed nature of the room must be important to creating a safe space. The door literally shuts out the outside world. This is significant because the Carapace community is not the same as the outside world. The exclusion of the outside world creates a safe space. And as with many of the “safe space” elements, this one is primarily meant to benefit storytellers. The performers need to feel safe to share their stories. In beginning to look at literature on safe spaces, I have noticed that some communities create a safe environment for sharing by only having certain people in the community. For example, Bond (2007) writes about gay teen chat rooms, and Workman and Coleman (2014) write about the feminist Reddit forum 2X. Members of these communities feel free to discuss gay teen issues, feminist issues because their communities are made up of people who get it. The Carapace community isn’t bounded in the same way. It isn’t a safe space because everyone in the community faces similar issues. It is a safe space because the people there are willing to hear about issues they don’t personally face. And instead of drawing boundaries based on easily defined commonalities, there is a physical door. Those on the inside agree to be supportive listeners.

Bond, B. J. (2007). Out online: The content and context of gay teen chat rooms. Presented at the NCA 93rd Annual Convention, Chicago, IL.

Workman, H., & Coleman, C. (2014). “The front page of the Internet”: Safe spaces and hyperpersonal communication among females in an online community. Southwestern Mass Communication Journal, 29(2), 1–21.