ABSTRACT
The widespread assumption that women feel unsafe in outdoor spaces after dark is a key justification for artificially illuminating the night. In this chapter, I present the more nuanced counter-perspectives of four female experts of dark skies who actively explore night-time environments in cities and in the countryside. Take-home messages from our online conversation are as follows: gendered perspectives on darkness, light, and safety are misleading and harmful to life on earth; we do not need telescopes to look up and enjoy starry night skies; outer space is part of our “nocturnal commons”. I conclude with a “cosmopolitical proposal” and invitation to accept the tensions and accept the challenge of protecting dark skies in the 21st century.
