I just started reading Adela Licona’s “Zines in Third Space: Radical Cooperation and Borderlands Rhetoric,” and it’s reignited my interest in the idea of a “third space.” For context, “Third spaces” are different from “third places.” You may have heard of “third places:” social places outside of work, school, and home where you can be yourself/relax in a social setting. On the other hand, third spaces, a term coined by Homi Bhabha in “The Location of Culture,” are places that allow you and others to negotiate your cultural and social identity.
I’ve been thinking about third spaces a lot because I recently realized that the place I go to outside of work and home is a place where I can be social and somewhat relaxed, but where my cultural and social identity isn’t necessarily affirmed at all, particularly as a queer person. It’s made me think about how important it is to have this outside space where you can be social AND be able to express your identity. So, I’m trying to think about what a “third space” might look like. Right now, I’m thinking there’s a community art space near my apartment that might be a space where I can “negotiate my identity,” as it were.
This leads me to my question for you all: Where is your third space? What aspects of this place make it feel out of the ordinary or transformative for you? If you can’t think of one, what would the ideal third space look like for you?