Gender Equality

Figure 1. Flight Attendants. Photo retrieved from http://www.travelchannel.com/ interests/airports/photos/mile-high-fashion-flight-attendant-uniforms                                        Figure 2. Police Officers. Photo retrieved from https://smpoa.us/

“Equal pay for equal work.” “Y’all means all.” “Gender equality is not a woman’s issue, it is a human issue.”

Gender equality has been a hot topic lately, and its significance in society permeates every profession, religion, age, race, and social construct. Gender equality is largely about gender neutrality, but removing deeply rooted ideas about gender from society is no easy task. This encompasses everything from the pink and blue aisles at toy stores to the gender neutral bathrooms in public spaces. There are efforts being made in certain professions to simply change job titles in order to change the association of a specific gender from specific job. For example, stewardesses are now flight attendants and policemen are now police officers (Bridges, 2012). However, as illustrated in figures 1 and 2, those efforts have done little to actually change the perception or reality of historically female or male dominated fields.

A formalized Gender Theory did not come about until the 1970’s and 80’s. Its main purpose was “looking at masculinity and femininity as sets of mutually created characteristics shaping the lives of men and women” (Smith, 2001). This theory discussed gender as a much more fluid idea than was previously considered, and it questioned the way history had always been told. It gave women a seat at the table.

How does this apply to architecture and interior design?

As Betsky, the dean of the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture and author of the book Building Sex, put it, “the man-made world, as we call it, has in fact, been made by men” (Quirk, 2016). So, when thinking about design, whether it is ornate Victorian detailing or straight lined brutalist forms, it is all, in a way, perceived as a masculine practice. Even the Architectural Graphic Standards book was written using the (white) male body as a model for buildings, as seen in figure 3 below (Hoesy, 2001).

Figure 3. Dimensions of the Human Figure. Drawings by Ernest Irving Freese. Architectural Graphic Standards, 3rd edition (1941). (John Wiley and Sons.)

Architecture has always been a male dominated field, while interior design has been female dominated. This suggests that men are responsible for designing and building our built environment and women are responsible for decorating it. Obviously this is a gross over-simplification, but you can see the problem here. If gender norms are accepted for whole professions, it will take more than just time to change it. Betsky believes that critical theory and appraisal, as is currently done in the realm of architecture, will need to happen in interior design for it to gain the same kind of respect (Quirk, 2016).

It is interesting to note here, that although interior design is female dominated, there is still a huge lack of historic literature about women in design. It is likely that this missing information actually contributes to women feeling inferior because of a seeming lack of participation by their own gender (Rowbotham, 1987). Gender equality and gender neutrality in design professions, like any other deeply rooted societal perception, is not something that can be solved quickly.

What about gender neutrality in the actual designs?

To quote Betsky one more time, “We need to really think about how we can use data to not predict how people will behave but to provide different opportunities and different possibilities for people to use spaces” (Quirk, 2016). Gender neutrality is about more than finding colors that appeal to everyone. It is about providing design solutions that allow opportunities to use and experience spaces according to your specific needs rather than your specific gender.

We are starting to see this in the overly politicized gender neutral public bathroom debacle, but it will begin to permeate all design soon. This is what Universal Design (UD) is all about. Rather than designing for the average person as the Architectural Graphics Standard does, or the handicapped person like the American Disabilities Act (ADA) does, UD strives to design for as many people as possible, as seen in figure 4 below.

Figure 4. The Principals of Universal Design. (Zheng, 2017).

By definition, Universal Design is “The design and composition of an environment so that it may be accessed, understood and used, to the greatest possible extent, in the most independent and natural manner possible, in the widest possible range of situations, without the need for adaptation, modification, assistive devices or specialized solutions, by any persons of any age or size or having any particular physical, sensory, mental health or intellectual ability or disability” (Center for Excellence in Universal Design, 2014).

Universal design is for everyone, and it, in my opinion, is what will take gender out of design conversations all together.

 

 

References

Bridges, T. (2012, August 11). Are “Gender-Neutral” Spaces for Children Doing Anything? Retrieved from https://inequalitybyinteriordesign.wordpress.com/2012/08/11/are-gender-neutral-spaces-for-children-doing-anything/

Center for Excellence in Universal Design. (2014). Definition and overview. Retrieved from http://universaldesign.ie/What-is-Universal-Design/Definition-and-Overview/

Hosey, L. (2001). Gender, race, and the body in “graphic standards.” Journal of Architectural Education, 55(2), 101-112.

Quirk, V. (2016, October 6). Aaron Betsky: Can We Overcome Design’s Gender Problem? Retrieved from http://www.metropolismag.com/architecture/aaron-betsky-can-we-overcome-designs-gender-problem/

Rowbotham, S. (1987). Woman’s Conscienceness, Man’s World. New York, NY: Penguin Books.

Smith, B. (2001). Gender Theory. In Encyclopedia of European Social History online. Retrieved from http://www.encyclopedia.com/international/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/gender-theory

Zheng, R. (2017). Learn to Create Accessible Websites with the Principles of Universal Design. Retrieved from https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/learn-to-create-accessible-websites-with-the-principles-of-universal-design