DESIGN DEBATE
12 june: Gender-blender
19.30-21.00 pm White Lady Room (5th Floor)
Including a free 'rose' beer!
Gender is one of the most visibly, socially, culturally and even economically defining factors in life, but there is no clear dividing line. On the contrary, the grey area between being male or female and feeling like a man or a woman is vast. The sliding scale between 100% XX and 100 % XY chromosomes, between male and female, is the focus of project Genderblending that will be on show at MU this summer.
In academic and feminist circles, genderdiversity as a theme has been a topic of discussion for many decades. However, outside these circles it is still shrouded in taboos and considered ‘problematic’. Genderblender turns this around and considers it primarily as a source of creativity and a question of identity which concerns us all. Sexual preference has little to do with it; it is not about being gay or straight, but about the levels of masculinity and femininity that define who we are, each of us, and how we perceive the world around us but also how the world perceives us. And what about gender in design? Does gender affect everyday design and technology and if yes, how?
Forum:
Ann Gabriel Maher, graduate Masters on Gender Issues & Tracey Ingram, Frame Magazine
