In the late 19th century, visionary public park designers across the country created areas within parks to be used solely by women and children, providing a safe, protected space for both. The domestic atmosphere of the spaces reinforced Victorian notions about appropriate feminine behavior, based on middle-class values. Central Park was the prototype, and San Francisco's Golden Gate Park exemplified the trend with its "children's house," says UC Davis researcher Heath Schenker, who studies public parks. The spaces aimed to draw women and children of all economic classes. That goal rarely materialized, however, and, it turns out, the park designers were hardly as forward-thinking and inclusive as they professed to be. The situation is similar to today's design standards for parks, Schenker says. "We envision certain conservative, middle-class behaviors for public spaces, yet in fact the spaces are used differently. For example, camping by homeless people in Golden Gate Park," Schenker says. "We have a certain image of what should go on in public parks" that often reiterates ideas already around for years. Perhaps, Schenker says, parks could address needs of lower-income people better. That, she says, might involve more creative thinking. Schenker, an assistant professor in the landscape architecture program, has published her work on parks recently in the journal Gender, Place and Culture.