"Men should design ads for tools, sports and beer. Women should design ads for perfumes, clothes and cleaning products. Men are better at design because they have to do it or starve, wheras women do it because they are bored and need something to occupy their time."
"Are jobs stereotyped toward gender? Yes. I've seen firsthand many projects going to a man or a woman because the director felt that it needed a "man's" or "woman's touch". Sometimes they have a point."
"Women do not have interests other than chocolate and sex."
"I think as a general rule, men are just better at everything. You should not stereotype and pigeon-hole this gender superiority to design or any one categorized field. It is a global dominence, in every facet of work and play. We're just better, period. To say that we're only better in design is an unfair prejudice."
Through my research so far I have found that there once was a great divide between the number of men and women in the industry however now it has almost balanced out and the tipping point is almost gone. What concerns me more though is why all the 'celebrity' designers are usually men? If women have established our role with design why aren't we celebrated for it just as much as men? Whats standing in our way?
This was a question asked to the all-male panel by one of the audience at a graphic design presentation and panel discussion hosted by Milton Glaser, Chip Kiddand Dave Eggers, 'Why do you - all three of you - suppose there are so few female graphic designers - or at least so few female 'superstar' graphic designers? Is there a glass ceiling in graphic design?'
[Glaser said] that the reason there are so few female rock star graphic designers is that "women get pregnant, have children, go home and take care of their children. And those essential years that men are building their careers and becoming visible are basically denied to women who choose to be at home." He continued: "Unless something very dramatic happens to the nature of the human experience then it's never going to change." About day care and nannies, he said, "None of them are good solutions.
What Glaser said concerns me, not just because he address's the issue of there being so few rock star designers, it is not fair that women do just as brilliant and innovative design work as their male co workers...so why do they not get recognised for it? But mostly because he uses the issue of having children and a family as the reason why women can never get to this celebrity status. It bothers me because if we strip down the issue right down to the basics, women and men were put on earth for different reasons, women carry the children and are the primary carer for a child when it first arrives, there are reasons, such a breast feeding, which made it easier for a women to fall into this role, especially in the past. Although opinions are changing slowly unless there is a big change is social views on stereotypes child care then how would a women, who has chosen to have a career AND a family, make it to the top?
In my newspaper design I want to address the issue of sexist and stereotypical social issue, such as women's position in society and having children as well as the issue of the majority of celebrity designers are male.
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