How the Design Industry is Failing Women
Our world was designed by men, for men. The design industry is failing women in more ways than one, and it’s not only holding us back; in some cases, it’s actually threatening our lives.
Going as far back as historians can, we can see evidence that the only experiences that have warranted attention are men’s experiences. Women are seen as silent in so many aspects of our world, and as a result, there is a gap in what we know and the data we have about the experiences of women. “The gender data gap is both a cause and a consequence of the type of unthinking that conceives of humanity as almost exclusively male*.”
As designers, we are meant to question everything, from industry standards created in the 1950s to what is considered safe for everyone. Women are 51% of the population, yet we have been living invisible to so many industries, including medical, workplace design, and furniture.
One example of this is in the automotive industry. Because men are more likely than women to be involved in a car crash, they dominate the percentage of people seriously injured in them. But when a woman is involved in a car crash, “she is 47% more likely to be seriously injured, and 71% more likely to be moderately injured, even when researchers control for factors such as height, weight, seat belt usage, and crash intensity. She is also 17% more likely to die. And it’s all to do with how the car is designed – and for whom*.” Cars were designed for the average male body.
The test dummies used in test car crashes are 5’8” and 167 pounds. These are the main dummies being used for studying how a person, more specifically a male, will be injured during a car crash in the driver's seat. Female crash dummies are used… but only in the passenger seat. Because women are shorter and tend to weigh less than the average man described above, we often sit closer to the wheel, something that is considered “out of position” and consequently not considered during testing. So naturally, we think wearing a seat belt will help reduce the risk of injury. But, seat belts were also designed for men and do not make up for the fact women do not have as much muscle mass in their bodies, making us more susceptible to chest injuries and whiplash. And all of this is considering the average women; we have not even started talking about how poorly designed a car is for pregnant females.
Similarly, the personal protective equipment (PPE) that many women rely on daily to protect them while on the job was developed with the proportions of men in mind. “Differences in chests, hips, and thighs can affect the way the straps fit on safety harnesses… only 5% of women said that their PPE never hampered their work, with body armor, stab vests, hi-vis vests, and jackets all highlighted as unsuitable*.” And the failure to account for women’s proportions for PPE can be deadly. In 1997, a female police officer had to remove her body armor because she could not properly maneuver in it, and as a result, she was stabbed and killed by the hydraulic ram she was using. Many female police officers have also come forward stating that they had to have breast reduction surgery, a dangerous and invasive surgery, because they were facing health issues due to poorly fitting uniforms. Despite this, little has been done to change equipment to better accommodate female proportions.
But in addition to endangering lives, we are also failing women by holding our peers back from monumental achievements. Just as women were about to make history by completing the first female-only spacewalk, it was suddenly canceled as their spacesuits were too large and would have endangered their safety. Although a female-only spacewalk is something we have been striving towards since the 1960s, it has never been possible because smaller spacesuits were never developed for female astronauts.
It was recently revealed these spacesuits were never created because all men could fit into the larger ones, and there was not enough budget to create female-friendly suits. Although NASA was likely experiencing budget shortages, the real problem here is what it reinforces about a woman’s place in these jobs and our society. “Budget constraints have always been a way for others to say “no” to supporting efforts that product creation teams dedicate to women. The message really says we don’t want women to be successful or perform to their greatest potential. “No,” says you don’t belong because there is there isn’t any appropriate gear for you**.”
Luckily, this is not all bad news. Some companies, like Volvo, are stepping up to better understand how their products are affecting the lives and safety of the women using them. Volvo has been collecting research data from real accidents with women and children to better understand how they can make their cars safer for all drivers.*** Could this improvement be a result of Volvo’s multi-gendered design team?
These stories are just more examples of why having women in decision-making positions and having female designers on your team can make a world of difference. In this case, it could even save someone's life. Having an all-male team can mean overlooking critical differences between men and women behind the wheel, on a police force, or even in space. As designers, it is our responsibility to look into the human factors of what we are designed to see: is this helping everyone, or is this just what we have been doing for the past 50 years?
From The Guardian, ‘Serious injuries at work are increasing among women.’ Model: Nina Trickey. Hair and makeup: Vale Von Der Wehl using Laura Mercier and Kerastase. Assistant: Bruce Horak. Dummies: courtesy of Cellbond. Photograph: Kellie French/The Guardian *
Olivia Echols’ final design of the space bra, designed to adapt to conditions and comfort in space.
Jerrie Cobb, testing the Gimbal Rig in the Altitude Wind Tunnel in April 1960. The Gimbal Rig was used to train astronauts to control the spin of a tumbling spacecraft.
Volvo engineer Nils Bohlin created the first three-point seat belt in 1959. Since then, it’s estimated that over one million lives have been saved as a result of Volvo Cars waiving its patent rights so everybody could benefit.
Sources.
*https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/feb/23/truth-world-built-for-men-car-crashes
**https://theconversation.com/female-astronauts-how-performance-products-like-space-suits-and-bras-are-designed-to-pave-the-way-for-womens-accomplishments-114346
***https://www.volvocars.com/us/about-volvo/human-innovation/future-of-driving/safety/cars-safe-for-all