Iâm going to jump in on this conversation because the idea that Andy sparked has really created much discussion! (I did find it hard to differentiate certain points and arguments so I am just going to put forward my opinion)
 I also found it interesting that our course is quite obviously female dominated. Itâs something that I hadnât really considered all that much up until nowâŚI hadnât questioned why our course is very female dominated, and to be honest I am still wondering.
David Cutter mentioned at the beginning of the year, that throughout this course we will essentially learn about ourselves. Part of that is our gender â as a male or a female. I agree with him in that as men and women, we literally see things differently, we do things differently. David also noted that 9/10 he can pick whether a design had been created by a male or a female. I find this such an intriguing observation â it makes me think; is design gendered? As males and females, do we have a completely different perspective of colour and shape?
As I circulate the room in our peer review sessions I think this as well â I am immediately aware when I am at âthe boys tableâ. Their designs are just different.
Now that I consider it, all of the key designers that Andy has talked about were male (as he made note of). Personally, I think that this is because up until recently (Iâd say the last 50 or so years), women didnât have as greater opportunity to enter the world of design. As Andy said, women were not so common at the Bauhaus, simply considered to be a ânecessary evilâ.
I thought Iâd do a little of my own research to get some consensus on this idea of the under representation of women in design. Cohn (2013) lists the most 30 influential designers of all time, just one is female. I looked at a few others such as Kuan (2011), 50 most influential designers â which had similar statistics. However â the majority of these designers are pre-1950, a time when design was more male-dominated as a profession. I feel if this list is reviewed in another 40 yearsâ time, women will have a far greater presence, simply because we will have been a part of the industry for a greater period of time.
Personally, I think that women as a part of design is still gaining momentum (albeit very slowly). The arts and crafts movement in the 1890âs saw women becoming more involved in the commercial part of design. Womenâs traditional skills âsuch as cross stitching, had been more a hobbyâ, this was seen as the only design that women were capable of. But the arts and craft movement saw their involvement inâ typography, calligraphyâŚillustration and bookbindingâ Irwin (2010). âBy the end of the first world warâŚ.women had penetrated design schools, workshop and professional training)â (Irwin 2010).
In the 1980âs, women designers are noted for being a key part of the fashion industry â but still few and far between in terms of architecture and graphic design.
It is interesting to note that in America there was a more dramatic increase in female designers from 25% to 53% in 1980-1985 â women in the design industry was gaining traction. Particular fields of design tend to be more female dominated, for example, book and magazine publishing and of course, fashion, as explained by Irwin 2010.
It is understandable that the early days of graphic design, the industry was male dominated as this was a time when women rarely worked, but in the second half of the 20th century, women have become more career orientated. Still their contribution to the graphic design remains under-rated.
One point that I would like to look at -
@yuicai - So here he clearly states the differences as women tend to be more intuitive when solving problems, able to collect, considerate information at the same time and find interconnection within elements, while men are more single-minded that one specific problem at a time, then move on to the next one.
I wonder if this would influence how women design and how men design? As women, do we create more complicated and intricate designs? Is intuitively, part of our nature? I find it so interesting that this lecture coincided with our gender attitudes toward colour in Image & Identity. This prompted me to think about our attitudes not only of women, but of women toward menâŚ.
Anyways- thatâs my rant overâŚ
Coh, H (2013), The 30 Most Influential Designers of All Time, weblog post, July 22nd, Complex, viewed 12th May 2016, http://au.complex.com/style/2013/07/influential-designers/
Irwin, R (2010), Gender Inequality & The Role of Women within graphic design, ebook, viewed  12th May 2016, https://issuu.com/rachel_irwin/docs/itc_report_rachel_irwin
Swah (2011), Some thoughts on the gender inequality in graphic design,http://loveswah.com/2011/07/some-thoughts-on-the-gender-inequality-in-graphic-design/
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