Design for Women → Design for Men
What will it take for men to start Designing for Women?
The other day I was talking with a friend about ‘maternal health and child nutrition,’ when I stopped for a second to realise that in international development, maternal health and child nutrition have been bucketed together for so long that we don’t even realise that they’re bucketed together. Or how we are so used to gender meaning anything non-male — the amount of gender-equity summits I’ve been to that have a 95% non-male attendance, it’s as if men aren’t even a gender anymore!
As you already know, I’m peeved by the idea that femtech is emerging as a space focused mostly on reproductive and sexual health. What irks me is that men aren’t participating in this conversation, even though they have a role to play in reproduction, contraception, and sexual health. 90% of birth control methods are created for women, so it’s her responsibility. Similarly, when we bucket child nutrition with maternal health, men become passive or absent participants in this conversation.
In design school, my classmates and I worked together on MINE Condoms, a concept to increase women’s agency to purchase and exercise birth control and sexual health even though the product is directly used by men. The reframing of seeing condoms as a product for both sexes shifts power and can create shared responsibilities. (Meanwhile, the most prominent condom brand in India is called…Manforce — I can’t even).
But women already have enough on their plates. We need to reframe in the other direction as well. For example, what might emerge at the intersection of oral contraception and the male gender? Or, what might empowerment training look like for men? (As you’ll find below in our Links section, this field is emerging to shift perspectives on masculinity).
I also wonder what this reframe might look like, for Design for Women. I have a number of ‘nice’ male friends who, while they are signed up to this newsletter, have admitted that they don’t read it. “It’s for women,” they say. It’s been hard to engage men in the conversation. Should I re-name it Design for Men? Maybe they’ll begin showing up then.
Have you come across any gender-equity initiatives focused on men?
Design for Women → Design for Men (Part II)
A dedication to all the readers who responded to our name change provocation:
Within minutes of writing about engaging men in Designing for Women, I gratefully received a number of responses, filled with suggestions, thoughts, examples and ideas. It seemed to have struck a chord with this community. Here’s what I heard:
Language matters —
First off, I’m not changing any names (not yet, anyway). However, language is a powerful tool — case in point, even teasing a name change sparked responses, and from men too! Although no name change will miraculously solve the inaction around “men as allies,” maybe these conversations can be a starting point.
That said, I do think about the name often. I’ve settled with ‘Design for Women’ for now, instead of something more inclusive such as ‘Design for All’ or ‘Design for Humans,’ because often ‘human, user, or all,’ still defaults to men. Do I worry that I’m being exclusionary, not just with men, but other groups too? All the time. But for now, I’ve chosen transparency — saying and practicing Design for Women — rather than saying Design for All and defaulting to one particular group. How do we change our default behavior? That’s what Design for Women is all about.
Unfortunately, there’s a default female as well —
Here’s what some of you shared:
- Is fertility female? Men in the developing world leave wife after wife for being barren, never considering the problem might lie with them (via Ana P.)
- The changing tables are always in female restrooms (via Neha K.)
- Feminist theorist Cynthia Enloe coined the term “womenandchildren” to highlight how the two are often clubbed together and made passive subjects in need of “saving” by active subjects — men (via Tariqa T.)
We’re now seeing a parallel trend with “womenandnonbinary” in the West and I wonder what the repercussions might be in the future.
I am so grateful to each of you for reading and moving this conversation forward. This is why I started Unconforming, and it brings me so much joy to hear from you.
This post is an excerpt from Unconforming: a newsletter about Design for Women. Unconforming goes out every two weeks and also shares learnings from experts, job and other opportunities, examples and articles — all to make an impact in the women’s space. Sign up here to get it in your inbox!
