Unconscious biases with regard to which products are 'female' and which are 'male' stem from what we see around us. We are all aware that some shapes and colours are designed to appeal more to women than men or vice versa. We assume that these stereotypical applications are very obvious, like Barbie and Hot Wheels. What about the ones that are right under our noses?
Coca-Cola
Are you like me and ever wondered why there is a Coca-Cola Diet and Coca-Cola Zero, even though they're basically the same thing? For Coca-Cola, it was the word 'diet'.
For a long time, Coca-Cola attempted to attract male customers to its zero-calorie beverage, Diet Coke, which was already popular among women and packaged in a striking white can. Despite its efforts, the company failed to draw men towards the product until it introduced Coke Zero, a zero-calorie cola packaged in a black can with a marketing strategy explicitly geared towards men.
They soon discovered that despite the practical need for men to consume low-calorie soda, men could not overcome the negative gender association without a new brand and product tailored specifically to them. This approach provided a means to assure men that it was acceptable and offered them a product that would not associate them with women. For a while, it was nicknamed "Bloke Coke" in the UK.
Personally, I just grab whatever is on offer but this fact knocked my socks right off.
Volvo
After writing my posts on women's safety in cars I had quite a shocking revelation. I was importing Volvo's logo onto a presentation I have to give.. can you spot what I am about to say?
YES! Their logo is literally the symbol for males:
This is what Volvo have to say about it (yes it's on their website) :
"At a glance, some of you might think that the ideogram behind Volvo is a male symbol. Hilariously, this is a coincidence. The manufacturer’s goal was aimed at paying homage to a key industrial-age product from Sweden: iron. The alchemical symbol for iron is one of the oldest in Western culture, and in more recent times, such as the Classical Roman period, this symbol was associated with the God of War (Mars). Again, another accidental male association. This 5000-year-old symbol was chosen to represent war and had to do with the metallurgic composition of weapons. Which, as you might have guessed, was mainly iron."
Oh dear.. I understand what Volvo is trying to say but it all smells a little fishy to me. Regardless of having to explain themselves, it still can produce unconscious biases in their customers or anyone who comes into contact with their logo. I asked my peers, flatmates, friends and family and not a single one guessed what it actually stood for. I don't want to nitpick but it's things like these in design which make women feel like they're not welcome. An excellent example of this is all the engineering textbooks I've used during my time at university. Every example refers to the engineer as 'he', some even go as far as referring to the actual reader as a man! I understand that the content they hold is crucial and well explained (well for some anyway) and that back then it was 'different'. But I am personally sick of it, change it and choose a different textbook. As my fellow female engineers in my course agree, these small things add up, they make us feel like we shouldn't be here. As proud as I am to be becoming an engineer, regardless of being the opposite sex from who is currently dominating the field, these little details really do add up and we all notice them. In fact, the textbook debate wasn't even brought up by me, it was brought to light by one of my friends and colleagues, Anna.
I don't believe that we should be constantly walking on eggshells over minute details with our designs, but let's educate ourselves and be more aware of the social implications and biases we have the power over as designers.
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