~ What is the Impact of Gender on Design Practise? ~
Gendered products have been a staple in the sphere of product design. It was simple, you either designed for men or women. More modern times saw the rise of unnecessarily gendered products whilst also bearing witness to the evolution and advancement of gender from being binary, male or female, to more of a gender spectrum. So, is this mindset of pointlessly gendering products acceptable in this new age of gender identity?
“But gender now also means gender identity” [Butler, 2009]. This new way of visualising and categorising gender has led to a concept of a gender spectrum and a view of fluidity rather than binary as supported by [Monro, 2005] stating that “…replacement of bipolar models of gender with a gender spectrum, with important implications for conceptualizing gender”. The expansion of gender to this model could lead to the decline of unnecessary gendering of products. Not all gendered products fall under this term of unnecessary however, as certain products must be created for one gender for biological reasons such as contraceptives. However, these unnecessarily gendered products range from razors, bodywash to even confectionery and are beginning to lose appeal with many people due to this modern era of gender fluidity. As more and more people are leaving the binary confines of “male” and “female” these pointlessly gendered products are becoming increasingly redundant.
Figure 1 - An Old Yorkie Chocolate Bar
Figure 2 - A Limited-Edition Yorkie Bar Gendered Towards Females https://www.minsterfm.com/news/local/2504165/the-search-is-on-for-the-elusive-pink-yorkie/
Figure 1 shows an old Yorkie chocolate bar that is clearly gendered towards men, whereas figure 2 shows a Yorkie bar that is gendered towards woman. The act of gendering a product can be described as “associating its image with a sex role stereotype in the minds of consumers” [Alreck, 1994]. As seen in both figures 1 and 2 the brand uses the age-old stereotype of using blue for the men and pink for the women as one way to imply the products gender bias. This specific stereotype of using pink among pastel colours and perceived feminine imagery as a quick way to gender a product has been previously recorded, in one instance by [Stilma, 2008] who writes “…superficially uses flowers and pastels in their designs to reach them”. She Further proceeds to talk about an “… “as-long-as-it’s-pink” focus, where existing products are “redesigned” for women, only by giving it a pinkish colour” [Stilma, 2008].
Figure 3 - Men’s Razor https://www.gillette.co.uk/mach3-turbo-razor-for-men/10271251.html
Figure 4 - Women’s Razor https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gillette-Venus-Swirl-Flexiball-Womens/dp/B017XAH0CU
This colour stereotype is one of a few used by brands to gender products. Another stereotype used is the inclusion of masculine and feminine aspects in the design as can be seen in figures 1 and 2, a men’s and women’s’ razor respectively. This stereotype is more subtle than the blue vs pink previously mentioned as the masculinity and femininity respectively can be scaled from minimal to maximum. This is more in keeping with the current outlook on gender identity as it relates to the spectrum of gender model that is accepted whereas the blue and pink colour stereotyping is very rigid, its either one or the other.
In conclusion the pointless gendering of certain products is outdated and becoming more redundant when viewed through the lens of the views and models on the expansion of what gender means.
Bibliography:
· Alreck, P. (1994), "Commentary: A New Formula for Gendering Products and Brands", Journal of Product & Brand Management, Vol. 3 No. 1, pp. 6-18.
· Butler, J., 2009. Undoing Gender. New York, NY: Routledge, pp.1-16.
· JINDAL, R. (2020). Gender and Identity, from CULT2100 Design Cultures II. De Montfort University, CL0.01 on 31st January. Available from: Blackboard. [Accessed 21/02/20].
· Stilma, M. (2008) DS 48: Proceedings DESIGN 2008, the 10th International Design Conference, Dubrovnik, Croatia. Pp. 1065-1070
· Surya Monro PhD (2005) ‘Beyond Male and Female: Poststructuralism and the Spectrum of Gender’, International Journal of Transgenderism, Volume 8 Issue 1, pp. 3-22
Image List:
· Figure 1, Brian Apa. (2009) Yorkie Chocolate Bar. [Online Image] Available from-https://www.flickr.com/photos/brianapa/3871381475
· Figure 2, (2018) Limited Edition Yorkie Chocolate Bar Gendered Towards Women. [Online Image] Available from-https://www.minsterfm.com/news/local/2504165/the-search-is-on-for-the-elusive-pink-yorkie/
· Figure 3, Gillette. (2020) Gillette Mach 3 Turbo Men’s Razor. [Online Image] Available from-https://www.gillette.co.uk/mach3-turbo-razor-for-men/10271251.html
Figure 4, Gillette. (2020) Gillette Venus Swirl Women’s Razor. [Online Image] Available from-https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gillette-Venus-Swirl-Flexiball-Womens/dp/B017XAH0CU
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