Being in Thunder Bay, I knew I would be able to see a waterfront that would include people in swimwear, similar to the waterfront in Saskatoon but actually at swimmable water rather than a green park at city center. The Prairies have small water sources and don’t have much access to swimming but Thunder Bay has various out of town rivers and waterfalls that allow for a summer dip, changing the way sexuality exists in the city. People wear their bathing suits in the water rather than in a park beside the water. I have never come across people in full swimwear within the city of Thunder Bay.Trowbridge is a camping site/park that runs alongside a river than empties into Lake Superior to the Northwest of town. The entire length is a series of small waterfalls, coming from a small river at the top. This river has a basin at the head of the falls acting like an infinite pool, pouring over the rocks at eye level while you are swimming in the pool.
The area itself has surprisingly little sexuality because there are enough areas to go into; it is often a private experience rather than a public display. Often you catch glimpses of people in full swimwear, in their private little section. There is hardly any attempt at public displays of sexuality because the area is used for cooling off with a private group rather than a beach-like sun tanning display. Though you will see couples out for a swim, it is unlike the couples walking the waterfront in the evening in Saskatoon, there is no strong classification of the area as heterosexual or overly sexual in any way.
The gender was very reminiscent to Banff’s landscape because it is outside of town, which holds the strongest gender signifiers. Besides the campsite, the place is entirely natural following the shape of the landscape. The amount of people who frequent the place are an even mix of male and female, and both are using the space in a similar manner – for swimming, hiking, using the park for picnics which don’t allow the gender of the space to lean one way or another. I have never come across any strong displays of masculinity or femininity in this outdoor space.
