So, is this me? or is this icon sexist? you decide. (uploadpie.com)
please keep in mind that this was a support ticket, not a thesis. i think my assumptions are obvious, fair, and valid.
how "groups" are depicted in public is internalized, privately. "hmmm, everyone in that commercial looks like me / doesn't look like me. i think i'll buy that product / won't buy that product."
it's like the problem with public bathroom signs. and false choices. why not instead use the letters "M" "F" "U". Male, Female, Unisex. There. We can embrace kilts and convenience. (and if that doesn't work, there are other options. i'm sure we can come to some agreement that doesn't require equating gender with "my favorite color is..." or "most people of gender x/y (pun totally intended) wear...")
so, is it just me? or is this icon sexist? (even a littel?) you decide.
24 comments
[ 1.7 ms ] story [ 57.1 ms ] threadplease keep in mind that this was a support ticket, not a thesis. i think my assumptions are obvious, fair, and valid.
how "groups" are depicted in public is internalized, privately. "hmmm, everyone in that commercial looks like me / doesn't look like me. i think i'll buy that product / won't buy that product."
it's like the problem with public bathroom signs. and false choices. why not instead use the letters "M" "F" "U". Male, Female, Unisex. There. We can embrace kilts and convenience. (and if that doesn't work, there are other options. i'm sure we can come to some agreement that doesn't require equating gender with "my favorite color is..." or "most people of gender x/y (pun totally intended) wear...")
so, is it just me? or is this icon sexist? (even a littel?) you decide.
The symbols, while not independent of knowledge of gender stereotypes, are language independent and widely and immediately recognizable. Words aren't, but at least are unambiguous if you know the language. Letters are the worst option, as they are the least likely to be understood.
OK, I'll bite, seeing as you're going down that route.
If I want to represent the differences between a male and a female (for that matter, what are they?) I can't easily put millenia of ingrained and imposed cultural norms into a small desktop icon, nor could I even summarise the last 100 years of inclusive gender thinking (and even reducing that by omitting anything controversial, because, y'know, we don't want to alienate users).
On the other hand I could simply represent the differences between a male and a female by creating an icon that shows the differences that nobody can disagree with on any basis: the genitals.
Personally, I think the icon shows "people" in a nicely minimal and inclusive way. I'm sure it's obvious to most (even people who might get offended by the blatant use of stereotypes) that it's meant to convey males and females, rather than family (parent and child), couples (two people holding hands), just men or women (as it could be if two gender-neutral people were there), or even something more confusingly abstract (two or more smiley faces). If you can think up an alternative that's neither confusing nor offensive to any minority (as in the linked case), while remaining attractive and minimal enough to work as an icon, I think the industry will rapidly adopt it out of self-preservation as much as anything else.
Millions of girls have their clitoris cut (don't know the technical term in English sorry), countless women are beaten by abusive men, but you choose to waste people's time because girls are associated with skirts and pink ...
As a man I'm fed up with this really small but hyper vocal minority of pseudo-feminists that tries to witch hunt people for arbitrary reasons.
Of course it's easier to taunt people on the internet than to go in Africa to see what you can do about women condition.
And what gets me even more is that my comment will be more justification for you to feel "persecuted".
[0] you can't write "men" and "women" as illiterate or foreigners won't understand
Some solutions:
- remove the icon, or replace it with the LastPass splat icon.
- remove the menu entry (if people would normally get to those features in other ways).
- If the icon is for a feature that really is best identified by association with the idea of "people" (I'm not convinced), then change it to a blue or grey single person without identifiable hair or clothes; a stick figure with thick sticks.
I'm a guy, the guy icon is blue, I don't care. It could have been pink. Our society sees boys in blue and girls in pink.
Is it bad ? no
Does it mean I can't wear pink ? no
Do I care about this specific design ? no, it adds some nice colors to the app. If it was red and yellow it wouldn't make sense.
Flippancy aside, the icon in question doesn't even look that nice in context.. a simple silhouette of two "generic" people would certainly look nicer.
I was in a rush and saw "Mna" and "Fir". Mna sounded like a drunken "man" so I went with it. Once I'd finished my business, however, I noticed there were no urinals and it was the women's toilets. I had to laugh.
But joking aside, classification can be healthy and helps us to orient ourselves. It is one of the basics of learning. If issues arise on types one has to allow the question, what is the issue and who actually has it. Do we no longer value qualities like female or male, ladies and gentlemen?
Distinctions have to be made somehow, otherwise we'd have two identical icons.
As for making them letters, well, the point behind universal signs was for people who are not native English speakers.
Just be glad that the man is blue. If you just erased him, he would actually be... white. oh noes
but, since it's becoming fairly obvious what many of you have assumed, i'll clarify. i'm a guy. i'm white. i'm straight. i'm upper-middle class. was raised christian (but have since converted to otherwise). grew up in texas. hold two degrees. in fact, i went to asu which was the #1 ranked party school one of the years i attended. i worked in a global investment company in the financial district of new york for 5 years before have the insanely fortunate opportunity to take a year off to study mathematics so i could transition to machine learning. i'm not the "persecuted" type. i'm actually the poster boy for not-persecuted. this is not about me.
this. is. not. about. me.
this is about assumptions.
subtle, banal assumptions. (at this time you're encouraged to dig in deep to the hannah arendt reference.) especially in the digital world. we are digital; online there is NO ANATOMY. out with skeuomorphism. web design has gone flat. so what's the rational behind using skirts (gender) to define a user (agent)?
"I'm a guy, the guy icon is blue, I don't care." really? really?? and thank you for speaking on behalf of our entire society.
you're a guy, you had the right to vote first. you have, on average, better pay. you are more often elected to public office. you occupy more seats on the supreme court. you control a greater percentage of the worlds wealth. i could go on. and on. and on.
regarding "adds some nice colors to the app", and this will be my last reply/comment because I'VE GROWN WEARY OF THE FALSE CHOICES PRESENTED AS "COUNTER ARGUMENTS," if the point of the icon is to add color, then use color. if it's to show different users then maybe use faces as netflix does for the ipad. if you want to use symbols, it doesn't have to be m,f,u and thus assume english; many, many other symbols would suffice. similar to what the other person said, when i go to a my favorite mexican restaurant and they have completely non-english, non-'united states culturally', absurd black and white photos to differentiate, i don't walk into the wrong stall. i don't turn stupid and have to ask my server what's what. and like the other person said, if i did, it'd be funny. whatever.
we are not stupid. some of us are just not concerned.
it's about assumptions. and since several replies have gone off topic, i'll go global. it's not just gender. it's also about culture. it's also about race. it's also about economic freedom. it's also about religion. it's also about language. it is about DIFFERENCE. the difference the icon is trying to demonstrate is the difference between two USERS. rather than give another, of the cuff, option for demonstrating two different USERS and have the entire conversation rear off course, i'll just say, i think we can do better.
Edit: removed snark
I think it's perfectly reasonable to consider them a prevailing example when discussing a thread about gender-identifying symbols.
Am I the only one who's really tired that having a gender is being translated into a crime now? This is just absolutely ridiculous.
Yes. It's you.