Put a Skirt on It Gender Stereotypes in Pictogram Design A Thesis

Transcription

Put a Skirt on It
Gender Stereotypes in Pictogram Design
A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the Graphic Design Department
in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the
Degree of Masters of Fine Arts in Graphic Design
at
Savannah College of Art and Design
Maggie Wolicki
Atlanta, GA
© May 2015
Lisa Babb, Committee Chair
Elizabeth Mandel, Committee Member
Barry Roseman, Committee Member
Acknowledgements
I would like to express how grateful I am to my thesis committee chair, Professor Lisa Babb; and
committee members, Professor Elizabeth Mandel and Professor Barry Roseman for your unwavering
support and encouragement throughout this process. I would have not been able to complete this project
without your guidance and encouragement. For this and so much more, I am forever thankful.
Table of Contents
I. Abstract
1
II. Introduction
2
III. History of Pictograms
3
A. Isotypes
3
B. From Isotypes to Modern Pictograms
5
IV. Gender
6
A. Gender Stereotypes
7
B. Man as Default
9
V. Gender Stereotypes within Wayfinding and Career Pictograms
11
A. Pictograms in Medical Signage
13
B. Developments Towards Gender Neutral Signage
14
C. It Was Never A Dress
16
VI. Digital Pictograms
17
A. The Noun Project
17
B. Hlvticons
18
VII. Conclusion
19
VIII. List of Figures
20
X. Figures Referenced
22
XI. Appendix A: Visual Project
42
XII. Appendix A: List of Figures
43
XIII. Appendix B: List of Figures
52
XIV. Appendix B: Survey Results
53
XV. Glossary
59
XVI. Works Cited
60
Put a Skirt on It
Gender Stereotypes in Pictogram Design
Maggie Wolicki
May 2015
Gender can have a direct effect on how people choose to cut their hair, what clothing they wear and how
they life their lives. Gender stereotypes, while seemingly benign, can have a direct impact on a person’s
life, limiting their self-worth and potential. Graphic designers need to become more aware of the ideas
about gender their designs are communicating.
This paper will explore the history of pictograms beginning with Isotypes. Notions of gender are
discussed and how gender stereotypes can seriously impact on a person life. The concept of Man-asDefault is discussed in regard to language and how that is evident in pictogram design. This paper looks
at gender stereotypes within wayfinding, career pictograms, medical field signage and digital pictograms
as well as case studies of cities around the world that are making strides towards gender neutral signage.
Keywords: Pictograms, Gender Stereotypes, Awareness, Graphic Design
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“Not all stereotypes are obvious. In fact, the pictorial stereotypes in the media that we don't notice could
be the most harmful because we aren't even aware of the negative false ideas they perpetrate.”1
— Susan Ross and Paul Lester
We live in a global world. With that comes a need to be able to communicate clearly and efficiently with
everyone, no matter what language they speak. It would be very confusing to write restroom (for
example) in multiple languages on a sign because each culture has their own terminology. A restroom in
Great Britain is a loo, in France a water closet and in Australia a dunny.2 Pictograms solve this dilemma
with simple and effective design. A pictogram (or pictograph) is a pictorial symbol for a word or phrase.3
They have become essential to everyday communication because they have the ability to transcend
language through the process of simplifying a term or idea into a basic image. Simplifying a term or
concept is more difficult than it appears. If a designer keeps too many details in the pictogram, the
meaning becomes convoluted. If a designer oversimplifies the image, it is nearly impossible to understand
its message. There is a fine line between simplifying and oversimplifying an object or concept.
Regardless of how well a pictogram is designed, it is up to the viewer to determine what the pictogram is
communicating. Since language can vary between cultures and pictograms are visual interpretations of
language, people from around the world could interpret a pictogram into multiple meanings. Some of
those interpretations could align with the designers original message and while others could mean
something different.
Pictograms theoretically plan to neutrally communicate, however upon closer inspection they
communicate cultural beliefs about gender. Graphic designers need to become more aware that the
decisions they are making when creating pictograms are inadvertently perpetuating gender stereotypes.
1
Susan Ross, and Paul Lester, eds. Images That Injure: Pictorial Stereotypes in the Media. 3rd ed. Santa Barbara,
Calif.: Praeger, 2011.
2
"Toilet Names." - ToiletInspector.com -. Accessed February 15, 2015. http://www.toiletinspector.com/index.asp?
pgid=166.
3
"Definition of Pictograph in English:." Pictograph: Definition of Pictograph in Oxford Dictionary (American
English) (US). Accessed February 15, 2015. http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/
pictograph?searchDictCode=all.
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While gender stereotypes may seem relatively harmless, they can narrow the options a person has
available to them, thus limiting a persons potential. For example, if doctors are always portrayed as men,
a young girl could see that and think that only boys have the ability to perform that career and
automatically remove being a doctor from their list of potential future careers. This essay will (1) discuss
the evolution of pictograms, (2) look at gender roles and stereotypes, (3) discuss how pictograms (a)
reflect the man-as-default bias of verbal language, (b) maintain traditional gender roles in professions, and
(3) investigate those issues in terms of wayfinding signage and digital realms.
HISTORY OF PICTOGRAMS
Isotypes
Pictograms have been around for thousands of years. The pictograms that we know today were invented
by Otto Neurath a sociologist and economist born in 1888 in Austria. In 1918, he became the director of
the Settlement Museum or Museum of City Planning, which was renamed the Social and Economic
Museum in 1924.4 The purpose of the museum was to communicate reform policies on housing, health
and education to the general public.5 Neurath knew that in order to effectively communicate the statistics
and information to the general public, he would have to display the simplified statistics visually to help
the public remember the information. In Neurath’s autobiography he stated, “I think we were the first to
evolve a theoretical framework of visualization, which started from a few observations but later on
covered a wide field of experience…I think one can fairly say that Isotype [International System Of
TYpographic Picture Education] work has in any case already influenced modern visual education.”6 In
1928, Neurath hired Gerd Arntz to create the visual language needed to communicate the statistical
information effectively. Neurath picked Arntz because he used woodcut and linocut techniques to create
simplistic images that had a high contrast, a style that was foreign to the artists of Vienna at the time.7
4
Otto Neurath and Matthew Eve, From Hieroglyphics to Isotype: A Visual Autobiography (Hyphen Press, London,
2010), 6, 99-110
5
Jordi Cat, “Visual Education,” The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Winter Edition (2014)
6
Neurath and Eve, 103
7
Ibid.
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With the combination of Neurath’s vision and Arntz’s artistic skills the pictogram or Isotype was created.
The Isotypes “expressed the modernist ideals of minimalism and functionalism, of design, with the
factuality, universality and neutrality, relative autonomy and stability, of the visual, with respect to
interpretation and cultural references.”8 As seen in fig. 1, Neurath used volume to show statistics about
the political organization of America, Europe and the Soviet Union. Rather than increasing the
pictogram’s size to convey a higher amount, he used the same size image repeated multiple times.
Neurath was very conscious of the risk of presenting false specificity to social statistics—numbers that
were of necessity estimates and approximations—especially when they were presented as geometric
elements such as curves in graphs.9 Education was always the goal of the Isotype. Neurath created
traveling exhibitions and books of Isotypes so that everyone, including schoolchildren and the illiterate,
could learn more about their place in the world. Neurath never meant for the Isotype to replace language,
realizing that it would never be a fully developed language but a language helping tool.10 With the onset
of World War II, the Social and Economic Museum closed but the Isotype continued to have an impact on
visual language.
There are critics of Neurath’s Isotype because of their reliance on stereotypes (fig 2). Phil Patton, a
professor of design criticism at the School of Visual Arts writes, “One of Neurath's diagrams on ‘social
problems of the present’ offers up a diagram of continents with racial types—e.g,. an Asian figure with
conical hat and yellow skin. Isotypes could not entirely escape stereotypes.”11 Even though Neurath
wanted to represent all the nations equally, he saw no other way than to rely on cultural stereotypes to
allow the viewer to differentiate between the groups.12 Fig. 3 shows many different isotypes of women
designed by Neurath and Arntz. The female figures are represented in many different contexts, for
example, a teacher, housewife, maid, cook, flight attendant, nurse, receptionist and seamstress. Fig. 4
8
Ibid.
9
Phil Patton, “Neurath, Bliss and the Langauge of the Pictogram,” AIGA, October 20, 2009. Accessed January 4,
2015. http://www.aiga.org/neurath-bliss-and-the-language-of-the-pictogram/.
10
Ibid.
11
Ibid.
12
Ibid.
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illustrates “crime” isotypes, with a male figure fulfilling the role of a police officer, reinforcing the notion
that men preform “tough” jobs while women fulfill the role of the damsel in distress. Though these
pictograms accurately reflected thoughts about jobs and gender at the time they were created, the visual
depictions continue to serve as a source of inspiration for modern pictogram design.
From Isotypes to Modern Pictograms
Like the Social and Economic Museum, the Olympics are another example of where a large amount of
pictograms are seen. Pictograms are needed in settings like the Olympics because so many people from
around the world attend the games. The Berlin Olympic Games (fig. 5) in 1936 were the first to have a
standardized set of pictograms designed for those specific games, illustrating each sport without the use of
figures. Yoshiro Yamashita designed the pictograms for the Tokyo Olympics (fig. 6) in 1964. The idea of
using standardized, abstracted images to communicate information to visitors, a common theme seen
among modern Olympic pictograms, was thought of by Yamashita. All of the figures seen in Yamashita’s
pictograms that illustrate different events appear to be male because the female athlete pictogram
Yamashita created is not seen in any of the event icons. Otl Aicher designed the Olympic pictograms (fig.
7) for the 1972 Munich Olympics and is credited with creating the visual style we are familiar with today.
The 1964 and 1972 pictograms are visually similar, but the pictograms Aicher designed are generally
thought to be the springboard for modern pictogram design.13 They incorporated the use of an underlying
grid system and simplified figures using basic geometric shapes. In 1974 and later updated in 1979, the
American Institute for Graphic Arts (AIGA) and the United States Department of Transportation (D.O.T.)
came together to create a unified set of pictograms to illustrate different travel situation. Pictograms are
needed in transportation design because there are many scenarios that have to be communicated to
everyone. In 2003 the Society for Experiential Graphic Design (SEGD) created a set of pictograms for the
healthcare community. As seen in the Olympics, pictograms for transportation and hospitals are seen all
over the country. Pictograms have become a universal language. They are seen in countless places,
13
Abdullah, Rayan, and Roger Hübner. Pictograms, Icons & Signs: A Guide to Information Graphics,
(London: Thames & Hudson, 2006), 20-21.
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physically and digitally, around the world. They reduce language down to the bare minimum of what is
needed to communicate however, they’re communicating more than just their intended message.
GENDER
Gender is a complex term that takes multiple factors into consideration and views on gender and gender
roles have changed throughout history. “Gender refers to the varied and complex arrangements between
men and women, encompassing the organization of reproduction, the sexual divisions of labor and
cultural definition of femininity and masculinity,”14 according to Harriet Bradley, professor of sociology
at the University of Bristol. Gender terms have expanded recently to include gender nonconforming,
transgender, pangender and cisgender. How we differentiate between genders in visual language has
become increasingly difficult as society becomes more cognizant of the transgendered community. While
pictorial representations of the transgendered community are important and there is much work that needs
to be done to alleviate male/female stereotypes in transgendered signage, this essay will focus on how
harmful gender stereotypes are unintentionally being communicated.
Gender is built into a variety of aspects in the world from language and color to clothing and hairstyles.
Typically, once a person is born, we immediately place them into a demographic, however this can
happen even before a baby is born due to technological medical advances like the ultrasound.
Traditionally, In the United States, boys and girls wore white dresses until the age of six and boys did not
receive a haircut until the age of seven. Jo B. Paoletti, a historian at the University of Maryland and
author of Pink and Blue: Telling the Girls From the Boys in America, writes, “What was once a matter of
practicality—you dress your baby in white dresses and diapers; white cotton can be bleached—became a
matter of ‘Oh my God, if I dress my baby in the wrong thing, they’ll grow up perverted.’”15 There have
been examples of gender specific colors since the mid 19th century, however they did not become popular
until the 1940s.16 Pink dresses and dolls are bought for baby girls while blue clothing with tractors and
14
Harriet Bradley, Gender (Polity Press, Cambridge, UK. 2007.) 1.
15
Maglaty, Jeanne, "When Did Girls Start Wearing Pink?" Smithsonian. April 7, 2011. Accessed January 26, 2015.
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/when-did-girls-start-wearing-pink-1370097/?no-ist
16
Ibid.
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dinosaurs are given to baby boys, all because of their gender. The child has not expressed an interest in
any of those things but we stereotype them and assume that is what they want, because that is what our
culture has deemed appropriate.
Gender Stereotypes
A stereotype is a “widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or
thing.”17 Stereotypes exist for everyone no matter their age, ethnicity, socioeconomic status or gender. It
is easy for a person to see a characteristic and assign it to everyone that fits in the same demographic
regardless of if it actually applies to everyone. A common gender stereotype in the United States is that
men are doctors and women are nurses. According to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human
Rights of the United Nations, “A gender stereotype is harmful when it limits woman’s and man’s capacity
to develop their personal abilities, pursue their professional careers and make choices about their lives and
life plans.”18 A person can also be unfairly judged or criticized because of the their gender. Men and
women in a high-power position, such as a business executive, given the same behavior are perceived
very differently. Men are commonly thought to be strong and assertive while women are bossy and
annoying. A recent study on reviews of professors through the website Rate My Professor done by
Benjamin Schmidt, a professor of history at Northeastern University, found just that. It suggests that
“people tend to think more highly of men than women in professional settings, praise men for the same
things they criticize women for, and are more likely to focus on a woman’s appearance or personality and
on a man’s skills and intelligence.”19 Sheryl Sandberg, the Chief Operating Officer of Facebook, created
the Ban Bossy campaign in 2014, with the goal of eliminating the word bossy from descriptions of young
girls and empowering them to have the self confidence to take on leadership positions. Sandberg states,
“Words like bossy send a message: don't raise your hand or speak up. By middle school, girls are less
17
“Stereotype,” Oxford Dictionaries, accessed January 2, 2015, http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/
american_english/stereotype
18
"Gender Stereotypes/stereotyping." Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, accessed January 10,
2015. http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Women/WRGS/Pages/GenderStereotypes.aspx.
19
Miller, Claire. "Is the Professor Bossy or Brilliant? Much Depends on Gender." The New York Times.
February 6, 2015. Accessed February 10, 2015. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/07/upshot/is-the-professor-bossyor-brilliant-much-depends-on-gender.html?_r=0&abt=0002&abg=1.
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interested in leading than boys—a trend that continues into adulthood.”20 Problems with perceptions of
language and gender can begin at a young age and continue to influence a person throughout their life.
In the past, gender stereotypes have influenced how men and women were to live their lives. An example
of this is the belief that women are more nurturing than men, so the woman should stay home and take
care of the children while the man goes to work. Just because a person fits into the group of men or
women that society has created, does not mean they are all the same.21 Since 1965, American fathers have
nearly tripled their time spent on child care from 2.5 to 7.3 hours a week, according to a Pew Research
Center Study. Dual-income households are more common today than the traditional idea of a man being
the sole breadwinner of the home. In 1960, only 25% households had two incomes compared to 60% of
households in 2012.22 70% of families had a father who worked and a mother who was at home with the
kids in 1960 compared to 31% of families in 2012.23 According to JWT Intelligence, “two out of three
men [in the U.S. and U.K.] wish that they could change their work schedule to better accommodate their
family.”24 83% in the U.S. and 81% of men in the U.K. feel they face the same tough decisions as women
do about how to balance career and family. While gender roles have changed dramatically over the past
25 years, a woman performing a typically male profession and a man performing a female ‘profession’ is
not just a twenty-first century phenomenon.
Elizabeth Blackwell was the first woman to graduate from medical school in the United States in 1849.
Despite the fact that she graduated at the top of her class, no hospitals would hire her, forcing her to travel
to Europe and eventually open her own hospital in order to find work.25 Women have been in law
20
"Ban Bossy. Encourage Girls to Lead." Ban Bossy. Encourage Girls to Lead. January 1, 2015. Accessed February
25, 2015. http://banbossy.com/.
21
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
22
Parker, Kim, and Wendy Wang. "Modern Parenthood." Pew Research Centers. March 13, 2013. Accessed January
26, 2015. http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2013/03/14/modern-parenthood-roles-of-moms-and-dads-converge-asthey-balance-work-and-family/
23
Ibid.
24
Marian Berelowitz, Nicholas Ayala, The State of Men (New York, JWT Intelligence, 2013) 65, accessed October
14, 2014, http://www.jwtintelligence.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/F_JWT_The-State-of-Men_TrendReport_06.04.13.pdf
25
“Elizabeth Blackwell,” Science Museum: Exploring the History of Medicine, Accessed January 27, 2015. http://
www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/broughttolife/themes/practisingmedicine/~/link.aspx?
_id=6B05ED46A4FC4D26B0FF286BAF4F1E39&_z=z.
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enforcement going back to 1893, when Mary Owens became an unofficial police officer, instead of
receiving death benefits from the Chicago Police Department after her police officer husband was killed
in the line of duty.26 Nursing has been considered a female profession, however the first known nursing
school dating back to 250 B.C. only admitted men because they were “pure” enough to be nurses.27
Historically, men have been taken care of the ill during epidemics and times of war. Walt Whitman was a
volunteer nurse during the Civil War after his brother was wounded.28 Another well known symbol of
nursing is a nurses cap. Florence Nightingale was the first to wear a nurses cap in 1800. Around the late
1980s, many nurses in the United States began to wear scrubs instead of the white dress and hat in an
attempt to create a more unisex uniform as more men entered the field. There are some nursing schools
that still perform the “capping ceremony” where the new female nursing student is presented with her cap
and pin before she begins her clinical training. Male nursing students are presented with their pin but not
a cap.29 While nurses in the United States no longer wear the cap, it remains a symbol of nursing and it
has strong ties back to when nurses were women only, helping to reinforce nursing stereotypes. Just has
language has become more gender neutral, traditionally gendered careers such as a doctor and nurse are
no longer thought to be male or female jobs. Despite these shifts, pictograms of the healthcare field
(which will be discussed later) are stuck in the 19th century context.
Man as Default
The male pictogram is often used to represent people, as well as a man, depending on the context in
which the pictogram is seen. The crosswalk pictogram could be seen as “people” or a man depending on
the receiver. In a survey conducted for this essay (see Appendix B, p.50), 106 people were asked eleven
questions about pictograms, what the pictogram is illustrating and what gender they thought the figures
are. When asked about a standard crosswalk sign, (fig 8) . 58% of participants found the figure to be male
26
"A History of Women in Policing." Feminist Majority Foundation. Accessed February 2, 2015. http://
womenandpolicing.com/history/historytext.htm.
27
O'Lynn, Chad. "History of Men in Nursing: A Review." In Men in Nursing: History, Challenges, and
Opportunities, 9. New York: Springer Pub., 2007.
28
Ibid, 8.
29
Ibid.
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and 35% thought the figure was neutral. The tendency to use the male as a “neutral” image is based off of
verbal language. Certain languages, such as Spanish, apply gender to nouns with the use of an “o” for
masculine or an “a” for feminine. In the English language nouns are only gendered when “they refer to
biological sex differences such as man and woman.”30 While gendered nouns such as actor/actress, host/
hostess were considered normal, neutral terms have begun to become more common such as waiter/
waitress is now server. The Academy Awards have categories such as best actor and best actress while the
Screen Actors Guild awards use best female actor and best male actor. This could be attributed to the fact
that the Academy Awards were first held in 192831 when gendered terms were more common, while the
Screen Actors Guild awards were first held in 199532. Simone de Beauvior once said “man represented
both the positive pole and the neutral.”33 If men are positive, women are negative. If men are neutral,
women are gendered. There are phrases that can be said using neutral language but people still default to
using the male form, for example, mankind versus humankind. Women are not seen as a neutral
representation of people because in order to illustrate women in pictograms a skirt, long hair, breasts or
buttocks is used to differentiate the woman from the man. Japanese designer Yukio Ota has stated that,
“Differentiating between men and women is a design problem. Up to now most have used clothing to
differentiate. But… there is a flaw of the figure as a whole becoming complicated in order to differentiate
between male use and female use.”34 Just as in language where the root of the word woman is “man” and
female is “male”, the female figure is second to the male figure through the details used to differentiate
her from him. The idea of using a skirt seems just as outdated as using a pictogram of a floppy disk to
show “save file” on a computer. Many different online communities are debating over the use of the
floppy disk icon, saying that it is becoming more and more irrelevant as generations who used floppy
disks become older. Some would argue to keep the floppy disk icon and signage systems the same
30
Ibid, 1
31
Micheline Goldstein. "1929: The 1st Academy Awards." Oscar.com. December 15, 2014. Accessed February 25,
2015. http://oscar.go.com/blogs/oscar-history/1929-first-academy-award-winners.
32
"Screen Actors Guild Awards." The Inaugural. Accessed February 25, 2015. http://www.sagawards.org/node/
1636.
33
Beauvoir, Simone De. The Second Sex;. New York: Knopf, 1953. 111.
34
Yukio Ota, Pictogram Design (Tokyo: Kashiwa Shobo Publ, 1987), 128.
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because people have been conditioned to understand what they mean. However, there is a big difference
between a neutral icon and one that only appears to be neutral.
In Communicating Gender in Context, Helga Kotthoff and Ruth Wodak discuss what they call the MAN
(man-as-norm) principle and how male gendered language, which is thought to be neutral, has been used
to hold women back. For example, “One of the arguments used to deny women the right to vote in
Switzerland was that the paragraph on suffrage in the constitution was written in the masculine.”35 It is
impossible for the woman to be neutral when our language uses the masculine as default. In Germany, the
use of a “male figure in traffic signs to represent pedestrians was debated and finally abolished only in
those signs where it was combined with the figure of a little girl (to designate a foot path). In this context,
it was feared, the use of a male figure might encourage children to let themselves be approached by
unknown males who could molest them.”36 Even though the male figure was meant to represent people,
when accompanied by a young girl, the adult is reading as a man. The idea that this sign could lead to
kidnappings may have been valid because women were the main childcare providers, however that is not
the case today as men have become more involved in raising their children. As gender roles evolve it is
important that our visual depictions of them change as well, so as to not promote outdated ideas.
GENDER STEREOTYPES WITHIN WAYFINDING AND CAREER PICTOGRAMS
Systems of pictograms can appear to be neutral, upon close inspection, gender stereotypes can be seen
based on outdated ideas of which gender has the capabilities to perform certain careers. Women are
shown performing “female jobs.” Passive, supplementary jobs where the woman is shown waiting on a
man, or assisting but not leading. As Meredith Davis, a graphic design educator, wrote in Graphic Design
Theory: Graphic Design in Context, “Ellen Lupton, stated ‘if the icon depicts service, the person being
served is usually the male and the person providing the service is usually female.’ The seemingly
objective qualities of the icon are actually socially symbolic in their gender references as applied with the
35
Kotthoff, Helga, and Ruth Wodak. “Making Men out of People: The MAN Principle in Translating Genderless
Forms,” in Communicating Gender in Context. (Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamin Publishing, 1997), 6.
36
Ibid.
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system.”37 In fig. 9, multiple pictograms illustrate information services designed by the AIGA and D.O.T.,
SEGD, and the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization). All of the pictograms show a woman
assisting a man. It would be easy to infer that only women are suited to perform a job like a receptionist
or secretary or that women do not go on business trips from these images. The pictograms designed by
the AIGA were created in the 1970’s, so a person could argue that the gender roles highlighted in fig. 9
were more in touch with those times. However, the SEGD healthcare symbols were designed much more
recently and are promoting outdated gender roles. In the survey for this essay (see Appendix B, p.50),
when asked about the “ticket purchasing” pictogram designed by the AIGA and D.O.T., 85% of
respondents said that the figure purchasing the ticket was a man, 11% said the figure could be either
gender and 0.04% said the figure was a woman.
Pedro Bessa, a professor of design studies and sociology at the University of Aveiro, performed a survey
in 2005 of 49 different signage systems from different countries, found that “the female gender was under
represented, and heavily stereotyped.”38 Women are shown more often with children or careers that deal
with children. Fig. 10 shows examples of this from Australia, Germany, the United States, Sweden and
Japan.39 Of the pictograms analyzed, 22 images out of the 49 signage systems showed adults
accompanied by a child. 13 out 22 showed women and children, while 4 out of 22 showed a man and a
child. There were only 3 images that represented both genders. The idea that women are more nurturing
and are stay-at-home-moms is reinforced by the higher percentage of women shown accompanied by
children. Bessa also found that career pictograms are highly stereotyped. The professions represented in
the analyzed pictograms were doctor, nurse, police officer/customs, kindergarten personnel, information
services/check-in, cleaning personnel, manager/director, secretary and flight attendant. Fig. 11 shows
examples of the pictograms analyzed from Germany, the United States and Australia.40 There was one
image of a female doctor versus ten images of male doctors. There were five images of female nurses
37
Meredith Davis. Graphic Design Theory: Graphic Design in Context. London: Thames & Hudson, 2012. 128.
38
Bessa, Pedro. “Skittish Skirts And Scanty Silhouettes: The Tribulations Of Gender In Modern Signage.” Visible
Language 42, no. 2, 2008: 119-141. Communication Source, EBSCOhost (accessed November 7, 2014), 120
39
Bessa, 128
40
Bessa, 136
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with no depictions of a male nurse. There were 27 police officers/customs officials represented. All 27 of
those images were male. The three images of managers were male, while the three images of cleaning
personnel were female. It could be easily inferred that there are certain jobs that only men or women can
perform based on the messages of these signs. Bessa stated,
“Comparison between sign systems of different periods allows us to realize signage pictography
is, in essence, conservative. This is partly due to characteristics of the medium itself. By technical
necessity (to make the message simpler), pictography is more or less condemned to provide us
with a caricature of reality. Abrupt change in the symbol design might also result in confusion (or
even danger, as in traffic signs) and loss of trust on the side of the user. Does that mean that all is
left for designers is to carry on their job, playing with stereotypes (that is, ‘solid, fixed
characters’)? Or is it possible to modify this situation?41
As visual representations of stereotypes become more common, it becomes more difficult to recognize a
stereotype when seen. Female figures are unable to be shown without their gender playing into account,
because they are always seen in specific contexts unlike the male figure who is shown in a variety of
scenarios as neutral.
Pictograms in Medical Signage
Numerous pictograms, designed by the SEGD, reinforce stereotyped career roles in the healthcare field
(fig 12). The female figure is a nurse and a receptionist while the male figure is a doctor, a surgeon and a
teacher. The man is shown in a situation where he is the superior, while the woman is shown performing a
job where she is a subordinate. The ideas that women are too fragile to be a doctor and that nursing is a
female profession are outdated and have been proven untrue for hundreds of years, yet designers still use
the stereotypical beliefs about those careers when creating pictograms. In the survey for this essay (see
Appendix B, p.50), 74% of people found the pictogram to be a man (fig. 13), 23% found the image
gender neutral and 0.009% thought the pictogram illustrated a woman, despite the fact that women now
41
Bessa, 137
!13
account for 44% of medical students.42 76% of participants found the pictogram illustrating
“immunizations” in fig. 14 to be a woman, 15% thought the pictogram could be a man or a woman and
0.08% thought the figure was a man. While 9.6 of all registered nurses in the United States are men, that
percentage has tripped since 1970,43 helping to create an image of the field that is more gender neutral
Developments towards Gender Neutral Signage
There have been different campaigns around the world to try to correct the stereotyping in signage with
varying degrees of success. In 2004, the town of Zwickau in Germany gave the male figure on crosswalk
signs, Ampelmännchen (fig. 15), a female counterpart, Ampelfrau (fig. 16). The German town’s plan is to
replace images of Ampelmännchen with Ampelfrau as the lights burn out, creating an environment that is
more gender neutral. However, many people have opposed to the design of Ampelfrau, with her pigtails
and skirt,44 she seems more like girl than a woman. Since her initial implementation in Zwickau,
Ampelfrau has been introduced to several other cities, receiving mixed reactions, some positive and
negative, amongst the German population.
In 2006, Fuenlabrada Spain began a campaign to replace half of the images of the standard crosswalk man
with a female figure (fig. 17). Rosalina Guijarro, the town councillor in charge of this project, stated,
“The fact that the image of women is seen appearing on something like this, even if it is just a traffic sign,
is important because gender equality has a lot to do with the way we transmit information.”45 The
campaign received negative criticism from many of the city's conservative groups and the General
Director of Traffic opposed the change in signage because it “violated the Vienna Convention on Road
42
"Medical School Applicants, Enrollment Reach All-time Highs - News Releases - Newsroom - AAMC." Medical
School Applicants, Enrollment Reach All-time Highs - News Releases - Newsroom - AAMC. October 24, 2013.
Accessed February 25, 2015. https://www.aamc.org/newsroom/newsreleases/358410/20131024.html.
43
Gross, Lexy. "More Men Join Nursing Field as Stigma Starts to Fade." USA Today. July 10, 2013. Accessed
February 25, 2015. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/07/10/men-join-nursing-field-asstigma-fades/2504803/.
44
Feargus O’Sullivan, “Germany's Famed Crosswalk Man Comes Under Fire for Being ... a Man,” City Lab,
November 20, 2014, accessed December 19, 2014, http://www.citylab.com/design/2014/11/
germany-moves-toward-gender-parity-with-ampelfrau-crosswalk-signals/382984/.
45
Danny Woods, “'Skirts on signs’ in Spanish town,” BBC News, December 4, 2006, accessed December 17, 2014,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6206084.stm
!14
Signs of 1968”46 despite the fact that the majority of the population of Fuenlabrada was excited about the
step towards gender equality.
In 2007, the city of Vienna launched their Vienna Sees It Differently campaign which included a series of
posters featuring the countries pictograms with gender changes. The campaign shows situations that
everyone is familiar with in unfamiliar ways. The typical sign for a baby changing station no longer
features just women but as well men. A pictogram for a construction zone features women instead of men
(fig. 18). Sonja Wehsely, the former city councilor for women's issues stated, “We want the effect to be
jarring in the best sense of the word, by playing with our expectations, the campaign encourages us to
change the way we think, see, and act.”47 The different signage comes as a new generation blurs the line
that used to separate the way men and women are perceived. When asked about the new signage, Gunther
Mendel, a father in Vienna said, he thinks the campaign is progressive. If he needed to change a baby's
diaper and saw the new sign, he says, "I would feel 100% integrated.”48 Many different private and public
businesses have requested the new signage to use in their establishment, most notably the female exit sign
(fig. 19).
It is a delicate balancing act, representing more women in signage while debunking stereotypes about
gender. Fig. 20 shows the new signage for “strollers” in suburban trains in Oporto, Portugal represented
by a man with a stroller designed in 2003. This is an excellent way of correcting the stereotype that
women are always the primary caregivers however, the new design had all but erased representations of
women. The only time a woman was seen was when an image of a pregnant woman was needed.49
Similar issues were discovered with the new signage in Fuenlabrada and Vienna. The main criticism is
that the woman was designed from the viewpoint of a man, with long hair, in heels and dresses. As Bessa
stated,
46
Bessa, 121
47
Bricker, Mindy. "Vienna Gives a Gender Change to Its Signs." The Christian Science Monitor. March 14, 2007.
Accessed Janury 2, 2015. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0314/p13s02-woeu.html.
48
Ibid.
49
Bessa,138.
!15
“Over simplification and stereotyping, as we have seen, are to some degree intrinsic to picture
language. To the point that it has been suggested that to install genuine gender neutrality, it would
be necessary to restore some of the old ‘marked’ features of male pictograms: to make them wear
the old-fashioned hats again: to give them bow-ties, baseball caps and male suits. This would
eliminate the old argument that the stick figures are not necessarily male (‘they are too abstract,’
‘they could be women in trousers.’)”50
Some might suggest an easy solution to this problem would be to simply replace male figures with
female figures. However, with the current nature of pictograms that would be incredibly difficult. For
example, “no entry” signs currently use the male figure to represent “people”. What would happen if the
male figure was replaced with the female figure? Would it look like the sign is saying that women
specifically, not people, are not allowed to enter that building? Because the female figure is unable to be
represented without her femininity coming into play, some people may think the sign would not apply to
men. She is always going to be gendered by her skirt while the male figure appears without any signifier
to show that he is a man. This could change with a different approach to distinguish between genders in
pictogram design or signs that do not use figures at all, like the Berlin Olympics.
It was Never a Dress
In May of 2015, Axosoft, a software company, launch the It Was Never A Dress campaign. The main
focuses on shifting perceptions of the universal symbol for women, by changing the dress shape into a
cape (fig. 21). Axosoft began this campaign as a way to, “to shift perceptions and assumptions about
women and the audacious, sensitive, and powerful gestures they make every single day. In science,
technology, arts, mathematics, politics, houses of worship, on the streets, and in our homes, insightful
women are often uninvited, overlooked, or just plain dismissed.”51 On the campaign’s site women are
invited to share their stories about how they had to overcome gender stereotypes about being a woman.
Girls as young as 16 years old have written posts about how their gender does not define what they are
50
Bessa, 139
51
"It Was NEVER a Dress!" It Was NEVER a Dress. Accessed May 10, 2015.
!16
capable of and how they have overcome double standards they have encountered in their daily lives. This
updated version of the global symbol for women provides a more accurate representation of women
wearing pants, like most women do on a regular basis, instead of a dress. There are some people who
would say that projects like the ones mentioned above have no merit but that precisely why these projects
are so important. People have become so desensitized to these figures, they don’t see how these images
can negatively impact a person. With more people questioning these signs, there will be more debate and
ultimately more change.
DIGITAL PICTOGRAMS
With technological advances, pictograms are omnipresent in digital as well as physical navigation and are
seen in a larger variety of spaces. Designers are creating custom pictograms for their projects and stock
image sites seem to be overflowing with different pictogram sets. Using online search engines is a quick
way to see the variety of pictograms available today. It also gives insight to the stereotypical nature of
pictograms. When searching for a police officer icon (fig. 22), the results typically show the male figure
in a police officer’s hat and tie and in a patrol car. One would have to type in “female police officer
icon” (fig. 23) to get any results with the female figure. The results of that search would bring up a few
icons, images of actual police officers and images of women in police officer Halloween costumes. In the
survey created for this essay (see Appendix B, p.50), 78% found the police officer pictogram (fig. 24) to
be male, 21% said the figure was gender neutral and 0% said the figure was female. When searching for a
nurse or a receptionist, most results are of women and not men. Even when using gender neutral terms,
the search results are gendered.
The Noun Project
The Noun Project, created in 2010, is an online “warehouse” of different pictograms. Users are able to
create their own designs and upload them to the site for the subscribers to download and use in their work.
The variety of pictograms seen on the Noun Project has opened up picture language to include any
concept, from shipwreck to imposter. When searching for CEO in the Noun Project’s database, 227
different pictograms are found. Out of the 227 pictograms, 8 images did not use a human figure to
!17
illustrate a CEO (fig 25), 43 pictograms illustrated women as CEOs through the use of hair style and/or
clothing (fig 26), 133 images represented male CEOs through the use of hair style, clothing and/or facial
hair (fig 27), and 43 icons that were able to remain neutral by cropping the figure (fig 28). When
searching for nurse, 189 pictograms are found. 22 of those images represented male nurses (fig. 29)
through the use of hair style, 76 images used a cross or the medical symbol to illustrate medical help (fig.
30), 29 images remained neutral by cropping the figure (fig. 31) and 62 of the images were female (fig.
32) by using hair style and clothing, especially the nurses cap. The titles of the male pictograms that
represent “nurses” do not say nurse, but (most typically) doctor and patient. Graphic designers need to be
aware of what they are communicating with their designs.
Hlvticons
Hlvticons provides vector icons, glyphs and symbols all based off of the Helvetica Bold typeface for web
and application interfaces. Fig. 33 shows two pictograms for “users,” one male and one female. The only
distinction between the male user and the female user is their hair. Taking this into account, it would be
easy for someone to infer that all the images that have the same hairstyle as the male user pictogram, are
representing men. If this is the case, fig. 34 is saying that all employees are male, especially since there is
no “female employee” pictogram included in Hlvticons. Fig. 35 is using the male figure and a tie to
represent “clients.” Both the employee and the client pictogram bring to mind images of the 1950s, men
leaving their suburban homes and driving off to work while their wives stay behind with the kids. If the
male figure is supposed to represent people in general, why is the “female user” pictogram necessary? If
the need to distinguish between male and female is so important, why not include a female version of a
client and employee pictograms to equally represent both genders? The fact that the designers felt it was
not necessary to include female versions of all the pictograms shows the subliminal gender bias that
comes along with professions.
CONCLUSION
Pictograms have become essential elements in non-verbal communication especially in signage and
digital realms. Ever since they came into existence, they have made communication among people who
!18
speak different languages much easier because of their ability to simplify language. Since languages are
gendered, we often assign gender to concepts or objects without even realizing what we are doing. A man
is thought to be neutral because men were in charge of everything for so long, women became
afterthoughts. As Bessa, a professor of design studies and sociology, stated, “society is still based on
discrimination and unequal opportunities; thus ‘political correctness’ and feminist language reform is a
way to change gender power relations. Until recently, shifts in pictographic signage remained a great deal
behind the times.”52 Signage may never be truly, completely gender neutral, but designers can be more
aware of their choices and decisions when creating pictograms. In the survey created for this essay (see
Appendix B, p. 50), participants 21 and under found 10 out of 11 pictograms to be male (fig. 36) and 1
out of 11 to be female (fig. 37). It is important that designers are very critical of how they portray gender
and gender roles, seeing as younger audiences are less likely to accept man as neutral. Designers need to
question if a figure truly needs to be a woman in order for the pictogram to communicate properly or if
they used a female figure because that is what has been traditionally used. They may choose to use a male
figure on a diaper changing station sign because they understand that it is not just women who are taking
care of the children anymore. If designers are more aware of how their designs are communicating
stereotypical ideas about gender, they have an opportunity to use their work to challenge these potentially
harmful stereotypes that have influenced how a person lives their life and limits their potential.
52
Bessa, 140.
!19
List of Figures
Figure 1: Political Organization 22
Figure 2: Signs for the 5 Groups of Men 23
Figure 3: Isotypes of Women
24
Figure 4: Isotypes of Crime 25
Figure 5: 1936 Summer Olympic Pictograms in Berin
26
Figure 6: 1964 Summer Olympic Pictograms in Tokyo
27
Figure 7: 1972 Summer Olympic Pictograms in Munich 27
Figure 8: Pedestrian Symbol 28
Figure 9: ICAO, Ticketing, Billing 28
Figure 10: Adults accompanied by Children 29
Figure 11: Information Services 29
Figure 12: Family Practice, Care Staff Area, Registration, Surgery, Inpatient,
30
Immunizations, Heath Education
Figure 13: Doctor
30
Figure 14: Immunizations 31
Figure 16: Ampelmann 31
Figure 17: Dresda I’Ampelfrau
32
Figure 15: Equality also in road safety
32
Figure 18: Vienna Sees it Differently: Construction 33
Figure 19: Vienna Sees it Differently: Exit Sign 33
Figure 20: Oporto Suburban Trains 33
Figure 21: It Was Never A Dress
34
20
Figure 22: Google Image Search: Police Officer Icons 35
Figure 23: Google Image Search: Female Police Office Icons 35
Figure 24: Hat 36
Figure 25: Org-Chart, Org-Chart, Org-Chart 36
Figure 26: Business-Woman, Business-Woman, Executive 36
Figure 27: Ceo, Ceo, Ceo 37
Figure 28: Use, Users, User Growth 37
Figure 29: Doctor, Doctor, Patient 38
Figure 30: Nurse, Stethoscope, First-Aid 38
Figure 31: First-Responder, Doctor, Doctor 39
Figure 32: Nurse, Nurse, Nurse 39
Figure 33: Users, User, User Female 40
Figure 34: Employee 40
Figure 35: Client 40
Figure 36: Immunizations
41
Figure 37: School Crossing Symbol, Hat, Doctor, Reception, Park Ranger,
41
Pedestrian Crossing, Construction, Doctor, Ticketing, Baby Changing Station
21
Figures Referenced
Figure 1
Otto Neurath, Political Organization, 1939, (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, plato.stanford.edu/entries/neurath/visual-education.html)
22
Figure 2
Otto Neurath, Signs for the 5 groups of men, 1936, (American Institute of Graphic Arts, www.aiga.org/
neurath-blixx-and-the-language-of-the-pictogram/)
23
Figure 3
Otto Neurath, Istoypes of Women, 1925-1934 (Handbook of Pictorial Symbols, p.10-11)
24
Figure 4
Otto Neurath, Istoypes of Crime, 1925-1934 (Handbook of Pictorial Symbols, p.31)
25
Figure 5
1936 Summer Olympic Pictograms in Berlin, 1931-1936 (Olympic Museum, http://olympic-museum.de/
pictograms/symbols1936.htm)
26
Figure 6
Yoshiro Yamashita, 1964 Summer Olympic Pictograms in Tokyo, 1959-1964 (Olympic Museum, http://
olympic-museum.de/pictograms/picto1964.htm)
Figure 7
Otl Aicher, 1972 Summer Olympic Pictograms in Munich, 1966-1972 (Olympic Museum, http://olympic-museum.de/pictograms/picto1972.htm)
27
Figure 8
Meeker & Associates (SEGD, https://segd.org/sites/default/files/14_segd_recreation_symbols_art.pdf)
Figure 9 (from left to right)
ICAO, 1970 (Handbook of Pictorial Symbols, p. 70), AIGA and D.O.T. Ticketing, 1974 (AIGA, http://
www.aiga.org/symbol-signs/), SEGD, Billing, 2003 (SEGD, https://segd.org/healthcare-symbols)
28
ADCA Australia 1972, Frankfurt Airport 1979, New York City Hospitals undated, KFAI Sweden undated,
USA circa 1990, GSO Austria 1986, Soccer World Cup Japan 2002, SN Sweden 1972, (Skittish Skirts
and Scanty Silhouettes, p. 128)
Martin Krampen and H.W. Kapitzki, Information Services, 1969, Martin Krampen and H.W. Kapitzki,
Information Services, 1969, ICAO, 1970, Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, 1973. Henry Dreyfuss: FUA. 1995,
Todd Pierce, Australian Standards, (Skittish Skirts and Scant Silhouettes, p. 136)
29
Figure 12 (From left to right)
Family Practice, Care Staff Area, Registration, Surgery, In Patient, Immunizations, Health Education,
Society for Experiential Graphic Design, 2003 (Society for Experiential Graphic Design, http://sedg.org/
heathcare-symbols)
Figure 13
Darin S., Doctor, 2014 (The Noun Project, http://thenounproject.com/term/doctor/53681/)
30
Figure 14
Immunizations, Society for Experiential Graphic Design, 2003 (Society for Experiential Graphic Design,
http://sedg.org/heathcare-symbols)
Figure 15
Loozrboy, Ampelmann, 2010, Niedergorbitz, Dresden, Saxony (Flickr, https://www.flickr.com/photos/
loozrboy/5321470272/)
31
Figure 16
Roberto, Dresda l’Ampelfrau, 2008 (Flickr, https://www.flickr.com/photos/skymino/2793588137/)
Figure 17
Equality also in road safety, 2006 (The Daily Mail, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1119803/Fernando-Torres-Talks-To-Martin-Samuel-Liverpools-Spain-superstar-Kaka-feeling-home-battle-stop-Manchester-Uniteds-title-chase.html)
32
Figure 18
Vienna Sees it Differently, 2007, (Charter Equality, http://www.charter-equality.eu/exemple-de-bonnespratiques/a-model-city-for-gender-mainstreaming.html)
Figure 19
Vienna Sees it Differently, 2007, (Spluch, http://spluch.blogspot.com/2006/12/viennas-gender-equality-initiative.html)
Figure 20
Oporto Suburban Trains, 2003 (Skittish Skirts and Scanty Silhouettes: Tribulations in Modern Signage, p.
139)
33
Figure 21
Axosoft, It Was Never A Dress, 2015 (It Was Never A Dress, http://itwasneveradress.com)
34
Figure 22
Google Image Search, 2015 (Google Images, https://www.google.com/search?q=police+officer+icon&es_
sm=91&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=0jjuVN_cHoqmyASL94HADQ&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1170&bih=744)
Figure 23
Google Image Search, 2015 (Google Images, https://www.google.com/search?q=police+officer+icon&es_
sm=91&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=0jjuVN_cHoqmyASL94HADQ&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1170&bih=744#tbm=isch&q=female+police+officer+icon)
35
Figure 24
Luis Prado, Hat, 2013 (The Noun Project, http://thenounproject.com/term/hat/10827/)
Juan Pablo Bravo, Org-Chart, 2015 (The Noun Project, http://thenounproject.com/term/orgchart/102629/), Juan Pablo Bravo, Org-Chart, 2015 (The Noun Project, http://thenounproject.com/term/
org-chart/102629/), Julynn B., Org-Chart, 2014 (The Noun Project, http://thenounproject.com/term/orgchart/102629/)
Hyuk Jun Kwon, Business-Woman, 2014 (The Noun Project, http://thenounproject.com/term/business-woman/29688/), Simple Icons, Business-Woman, 2014 (The Noun Project, http://thenounproject.
com/term/business-woman/29688/), Harold Weaver, Executive, 2014 (The Noun Project, http://thenounproject.com/term/executive/101419/)
36
Mark Bult, Ceo, 2011 (The Noun Project, http://thenounproject.com/term/ceo/1885/), Maxi Koichi, Ceo,
2014 (The Noun Project, http://thenounproject.com/term/ceo/1885/), Wilson Joseph, Ceo, 2014 (The
Noun Project, http://thenounproject.com/term/ceo/1885/)
Wilson Joseph, User, 2014 (The Noun Project, http://thenounproject.com/term/user/65098/), Wilson Joseph, Users, 2015 (The Noun Project, http://thenounproject.com/term/users/97908/), Wilson Joseph, Use
Growth, 2015 (The Noun Project, http://thenounproject.com/term/user-growth/97915/)
37
Darin S., Doctor, 2014 (The Noun Project, http://thenounproject.com/term/doctor/53681/), Wilson Joseph,
Doctor, 2014 (The Noun Project, http://thenounproject.com/term/doctor/65701/), Wilson Joseph, Patient,
2013 (The Noun Project, http://thenounproject.com/term/patient/27705/)
David Padrose, Nurse, 2014 (The Noun Project, http://thenounproject.com/term/nurse/29252/), Michael-Andre Joda, Stethoscope, 2013 (The Noun Project, http://thenounproject.com/term/stethoscope/9613/), Eric Bird, First-Aid, undated (The Noun Project, http://thenounproject.com/term/firstaid/43562/)
38
Luis Prado, First-Responder, 2013 (The Noun Project, http://thenounproject.com/term/first-responder/16066/), Wilson Joseph, Doctor, 2014 (The Noun Project, http://thenounproject.com/term/doctor/50102/), Peter Mzr, Doctor, 2014 (The Noun Project, http://thenounproject.com/term/doctor/32262/)
Yarden Gilboa, Nurse, 2013, (The Noun Project, http://thenounproject.com/term/nurse/21743/), Ajay
Boga, Nurse, 2013 (The Noun Project, http://thenounproject.com/term/nurse/20058/), Scott Lewis, Nurse,
2001, (The Noun Project, http://thenounproject.com/term/nurse/859/)
39
Users
User
User female
Hlvticons, Users, 2012 (Hlvticons, http://hlvticons.ch/), Hlvticons, User, 2012 (Hlvticons, http://hlvticons.ch/), Hlvticons, User Female, 2012 (Hlvticons, http://hlvticons.ch/)
Employee
Figure 34
Hlvticons, Employee, 2012 (Hlvticons, http://hlvticons.ch/),
Client
Figure 35
Hlvticons, Client, 2012 (Hlvticons, http://hlvticons.ch/),
40
Figure 36
Immunizations, Society for Experiential Graphic Design, 2003 (Society for Experiential Graphic Design,
http://sedg.org/heathcare-symbols)
School Crossing Symbol, (Road Traffic Signs, http://www.roadtrafficsigns.com/school-zone-signs), Luis
Prado, Hat, 2013 (The Noun Project, http://thenounproject.com/term/hat/10827/), Wilson Joseph, Doctor,
2014 (The Noun Project, http://thenounproject.com/term/doctor/50102/), Reception, 2014, (The Noun
Project, https://thenounproject.com/term/reception/79126/), Meeker & Associates (SEGD, https://segd.
org/sites/default/files/14_segd_recreation_symbols_art.pdf), Meeker & Associates (SEGD, https://segd.
org/sites/default/files/14_segd_recreation_symbols_art.pdf), Construction (The Noun Project, https://
thenounproject.com/term/construction/440/), Darin S., Doctor, 2014 (The Noun Project, http://thenounproject.com/term/doctor/53681/), AIGA and D.O.T. Ticketing, 1974 (AIGA, http://www.aiga.org/symbol-signs/), Baby Changing Station (Men’s Room), (CPC Signs, http://www.cpcsigns.com/images/RECBIGRS137.jpg)
41
Appendix A
Visual Project
For the visual component of my thesis, I created 5 pieces that visualized and built upon the research done
for this essay and presented them in an exhibition. I create a neutral icon (fig. 1) that was designed based
of the body proportions of the standard male and female icons. I presented the neutral icon alongside
the male and female icons on large posters with the measurements displayed on the figures. I also cut
the icons out of transparent colored films that allowed the viewer to compare the different figures when
overlayed.
I created twelve timelines, six timelines of women in “male” professions and 6 timelines of men in “female” professions (fig. 2). The data for the female timelines was designed around the male icon and the
male timelines around the female icon. They were designed this way to showcase how people overlook
male contributions to female professions and female contributions to male professions. The stereotype of
nursing being a female profession has been untrue for quite some time but people still see it as a female
career. Each profession was printed on a transparency, so when the viewer overlayed the timelines they
could see the full icon put together. I designed two small books to go along the timelines (fig. 3). Inside
the books was a detailed explanation of the data I used to create the timelines.
To test how effective the neutral icon was, I created a book of pictograms in context (fig. 7). I photographed signage from the Atlanta area and then altered the photos to see how the sign’s communication
changed depending on which gender was shown. Each sign was presented as it was found then the viewer
was able to pull a tab and watch the sign change from a man, to a woman, to a neutral figure.
I designed an infographic out of the survey results (fig. 12). This helped inform the viewers which icons
were seen as gendered or neutral and how the design of those icons differed. The poster also highlighted
how the participants, when presented with a man as default icon, saw the icon as gendered and not
neutral.
42
Appendix A: List of Figures
Figure 1: Gendered and Neutral Icons
46
Figure 2: Timelines and Context Book
47
Figure 3: Detailed Timeline Information Books
47
Figure 4: Detailed Timeline Information Books 2
48
48
49
Figure 7: Pictograms in Context 49
50
50
51
51
Figure 12: Survey Results Poster
52
Figure 13: Guests at Exhibition 53
Figure14: Guests at Exhibition 2 52
43
Figure 1
Put a Skirt on It: Gender Stereotypes in Pictogram Design, Gendered and Neutral Icons 2015.
44
Figure 2
Put a Skirt on It: Gender Stereotypes in Pictogram Design, Timelines and Context Book, 2015.
Figure 3
Put a Skirt on It: Gender Stereotypes in Pictogram Design, Detailed timeline information
books, 2015.
45
Figure 4
books 2, 2015.
Figure 5
books 3, 2015.
46
Figure 6
books 4 , 2015.
Figure 7
Put a Skirt on It: Gender Stereotypes in Pictogram Design, Pictograms in Context, 2015.
47
Figure 8
Put a Skirt on It: Gender Stereotypes in Pictogram Design, Pictograms in Context 2, 2015.
Figure 9
48
Figure 10
Figure 11
49
Figure 12
Put a Skirt on It: Gender Stereotypes in Pictogram Design, Survey Results Infographic,
2015.
50
Figure 13
Put a Skirt on It: Gender Stereotypes in Pictogram Design, Survey Guests at Echibition, 2015.
Figure 14
Put a Skirt on It: Gender Stereotypes in Pictogram Design, Survey Guests at Echibition 2, 2015.
51
Appendix B: List of Figures
Figure 1: School Crossing Symbol
51
Figure 2: Hat
51
Figure 3: Doctor
52
Figure 4: Reception
52
Figure 5: Meeker & Associates
53
Figure 6: Meeker & Associates
53
Figure 7: Construction
54
Figure 8: Doctor
54
Figure 9: Ticketing
55
Figure 10: Immunizations
55
Figure 11: Baby Changing Station 56
52
Appendix B
Survey Results
Is the figure on the right…
10%
7%
83%
Figure 1
School Crossing Symbol, (Road Traffic Signs,
http://www.roadtrafficsigns.com/school-zonesigns),
Male
Either
Female
Is the figure…
22%
78%
Male
Female
Either
Figure 2
Luis Prado, Hat, 2013 (The Noun Project, http://
thenounproject.com/term/hat/10827/),
53
Is the figure…
14%
43%
42%
Male
Either
Female
Figure 3
Wilson Joseph, Doctor, 2014 (The Noun Project,
http://thenounproject.com/term/doctor/50102/),
Is the figure…
31%
61%
8%
Male
Female
Either
Figure 4
Miguel C Balandrano, Reception, 2014, (The Noun
Project, https://thenounproject.com/term/reception/79126/)
54
Is the figure…
13%
87%
Male
Either
Female
Figure 5
Meeker & Associates (SEGD, https://segd.org/
sites/default/files/14_segd_recreation_symbols_art.
pdf)
Is the figure…
36%
64%
Male
Female
Either
Figure 6
Meeker & Associates (SEGD, https://segd.org/
sites/default/files/14_segd_recreation_symbols_art.
pdf),
55
Is the figure…
37%
75%
4%
Male
Either
Female
Figure 7
Construction (The Noun Project, https://thenounproject.com/term/construction/440/),
Is the figure…
24%
75%
1%
Figure 8
Darin S., Doctor, 2014 (The Noun Project, http://
thenounproject.com/term/doctor/53681/),
Male
Female
Either
56
Is the figure on the right…
11%
4%
85%
Male
Either
Female
Figure 9
AIGA and D.O.T. Ticketing, 1974 (AIGA, http://
www.aiga.org/symbol-signs/)
Is the figure on the left…
8%
15%
81%
Male
Female
Either
Figure 10
Immunizations, Society for Experiential Graphic
Design, 2003 (Society for Experiential Graphic
Design, http://sedg.org/heathcare-symbols)
57
The figure on the left is…
46%
49%
5%
Figure 11
Baby Changing Station (Men’s Room), (CPC
Signs, http://www.cpcsigns.com/images/RECBIGRS137.jpg)
Male
Female
Either
58
Glossary
Icon: Imitates the object it refers to
Ideogram (ideograph): A figurative sign that represents an abstract concept e.g. the symbols of the man
and woman are used to denote “toilet”
Pictogram (pictograph): A pictorial symbol for a word or phrase e.g. the symbols of a man and woman
read as man and woman
Symbol: A sign whose relation to its object is basically conventional
Sex: Classification as male or female or, rarely, intersex (not exclusively male or female). Sex is usually
assigned based on external anatomy but is determined by characteristics like chromosomes, hormones and
reproductive organs.
Gender: Roles, behaviors and activities that a given society considers appropriate for males or females.
“Sex” and “gender” are often mistakenly used interchangeably.
Gender Identity: Internal, deeply held sense of one’s gender.
Gender Nonconforming: Expressing gender outside of conventions (clothes, behavior) typically associated with masculinity or femininity. Not all nonconformists are transgender.
Transgender : Umbrella term for any gender identity that differs from the one associated with the sex
assigned at birth.
Trans*: Short for transgender, with the asterisk meant to indicate the wide range of identities beyond the
norm.
Genderqueer: A gender identity that falls outside of the male/female binary. A third gender.
Pangender: Having a fluid identity. Might be expressed as both male and female, or shift from one gender to the other. Under the umbrella term genderqueer.
Cisgender: Possessing the gender identity commonly associated with one’s biological sex. “Cis-” is a
Latin prefix meaning “on the same side as.”
Trannsexual: Out-of-favor term for those who alter their bodies hormonally or surgically to align with
their internal gender identity.
Sexual Orientation: Romantic, physical attraction, be it homosexual, heterosexual, bisexual, asexual,
polysexual, pansexual.
59
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