That navigation loop keeping women “in their place”
Women, in navigating the world as it is, experience the “i don’t fit” loop that keeps the status quo alive.
When I first began to sit in the front passenger seat and the seatbelt felt like it was chafing my neck or I never found the right position for the sun visor to really block direct sun — I thought, oh my body doesn’t fit this car yet. However, as I still continue to throw the part of the belt that should sit across my front to the back — because it still chafes at my neck, I have now “learned” that my body doesn’t fit the car.
Not that the car doesn’t fit my body, but instead that — my body doesn’t fit the car. This has now been my narrative for many years. And, as I found out recently, it might be the narrative of many other women.
Mallory Feldman, a doctoral student of Neuroscience and Psychology at UNC, put words to this experience:
“When you experience that nothing fits you — that experience is physical, and the patterns of how your body feels in those experiences is being internalised.”
She added that product designers have the power to change this narrative by designing experiences that are more than the “one-size-fits-men” world we live in today.
Women, in navigating the world as it is, experience the “i don’t fit” loop so much that we don’t even know we’re learning this narrative. This unconscious navigation loop keeps the status quo alive.
Feldman’s research has shown her that women are disembodied in product design. How should this insight affect design processes? More largely, how might academia positively impact Design for Women?
Maybe we can all start with reflecting on our own experiences: what “i don’t fit” navigation loops have you experienced?
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!
