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This is a man's world, because we have designed it to be one. Here are a few examples, that will make you think, how almost everything is created to facilitate men.
This is a man’s world because we have designed it to be one. Here are a few examples, that will make you think, how almost everything is created to facilitate men.
There is a lot of debate about equality of the sexes but have you wondered how the world you live in is designed to be sexist? It is in our thoughts, in our products and in our designs. Here are some examples of our daily environment where designs are not in favor of women but we don’t seem to be doing anything about it.
If you are a working woman in a centrally air-conditioned office, I am sure you would have experienced this. I feel cold in office, many of my women colleagues do too. I keep something warm in my desk at all times as I need to stay warm every now and then. But the men in office are mostly comfortable. Why? Because the air conditioning standards are too old – it was designed by and for men. The standard used a standard metabolic rate to arrive at a comfortable temperature but with more women in offices today, these standards don’t hold good as metabolic rate of women are 23% lower than men on an average. It is a simple design flaw which hasn’t been changed in the last few decades.
Haven’t we all waited in long queues to go to the loos? They never seem enough for women; how many ever there are. Well, there is the issue of time a woman spends. Our clothes restrictive and pregnant and menstruating women take longer. But why is that women’s and men’s loos are evenly divided. Why can’t more number of restrooms be made for women? Laws in the US are changing fast, calling for more gender neutral restrooms mostly because of the LGBT community. Shouldn’t the designs change everywhere?
Recently, there was a big debate on design called #hairgate and how the new iPhone traps hair in the seam between the glass and aluminum. It has happened to men as well but obviously the number of women with long hair is far higher than men. It’s the same design that doesn’t consider that women have smaller hands and tiny or no pockets. The slew of new and big phones hitting the market are just too cumbersome to use.
I am always conscious of transparent stairs or winding stairs where you can look up and see everybody. It’s not intentional but by design, these places don’t consider women and their dressing.
I sometimes wear my seatbelt under their arm, especially on long distance drives. The seatbelt is truly uncomfortable when you have breasts. It’s just not designed for women. The current 3 point seatbelt was invented in 1959 by Nils Bohlin, a Swedish engineer. Obviously women drivers at that time were rare. Now the numbers are significant. While I agree that it is one of the most important inventions of our time, why hasn’t the design been changed since?
These are just a few examples I have experienced or read about where the innate design of the system has not considered a woman as the user. I am sure you might have observed other examples. Have we just accepted that there can’t be a better and more comfortable design for women? Or we are not doing much to raise our voices and make people understand the situations? I am not sure. What do you think?
Cover image via Shutterstock
I am a marketing professional and love looking for new ideas and creative implementation techniques. But it is WORDS that are my passion - I think I have the ability to see patterns and express that read more...
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Neena was the sole caregiver of Amma and though one would think that Amma was dependent on her, Neena felt otherwise.
Neena inhaled the aroma that emanated from the pan and took a deep breath. The aroma of cumin interspersed with butter transported her back to the modest kitchen in her native village. She could picture her father standing in the kitchen wearing his white crisp kurta as he made delectable concoctions for his only daughter.
Neena grew up in a home where both her parents worked together in tandem to keep the house up and running. She had a blissful childhood in her modest two-room house. The house was small but every nook and cranny gave her memories of a lifetime. Neena’s young heart imagined that her life would follow the same cheerful course. But how wrong she was!
When she was sixteen, the catastrophic clutches of destiny snatched away her parents. They passed away in a road accident and Neena was devastated. Relatives thronged her now gloomy house and soon it was decided that she should be married off.
Women today don’t want to be in a partnership that complicates their lives further. They need an equal partner with whom they can figure out life as a team, playing by each other’s strengths.
We all are familiar with that one annoying aunty who is more interested in our marital status than in the dessert counter at a wedding. But these aunties have somehow become obsolete now. Now they are replaced by men we have in our lives. Friends, family, and even work colleagues. It’s the men who are worried about why we are not saying yes to one among their clans. What is wrong with us? Aren’t we scared of dying alone? Like them?
A recent interaction with a guy friend of mine turned sour when he lectured me about how I would regret not getting married at the right time. He lectured that every event in our lives needs to be completed within a certain timeframe set by society else we are doomed. I wasn’t angry. I was just disappointed to realize that annoying aunties are rapidly doubling in our society. And they don’t just appear at weddings or family functions anymore. They are everywhere. They are the real pandemic.
Let’s examine this a little closer.
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