性別不確定性推動設計變革
One half of Gabriel Ann Maher’s hair is cut short, and the other half has been left to grow long. “If I wear it up with a blunt fringe, I look like one person, but with the hair down and my fringe swept away from my face, I look completely different and someone always says: ‘Oh! You look so feminine,”’ Maher said. “That’s why I have asymmetric hair — it allows me to be several people.”
加布裏埃爾·安·馬希爾(Gabriel Ann Maher)把一半頭髮剪短，讓另一半接着留長。“如果把頭髮梳起來，把齊劉海放下來，我看起來是一個樣子；把頭髮放下來，把劉海梳到一邊，就成了完全不同的樣子。放下頭髮以後，總有人對我說：‘哦！你可真有女人味，’”馬希爾說，“所以我留了個不對稱髮型，讓我能變成好幾副模樣。”An Australian designer now living in the Dutch city Eindhoven, Maher is one of the growing number of people who regard themselves as neither male nor female, but as having a fluid gender identity. Gender politics is a central theme of Maher’s work. A recent project analyzed the depiction of gender in a year’s issues of the Dutch design magazine “Frame,” and discovered that more than 80 percent of the people, mostly designers and architects, photographed in its editorial pages and the models in the advertisements were male.
馬希爾是澳大利亞設計師，目前住在荷蘭埃因霍溫市。越來越多的人像馬希爾這樣，認爲自己既非男性，亦非女性，而是擁有不斷變化的性別身份。性別政治是馬希爾工作的一箇中心主題。前不久，他分析了荷蘭設計雜誌《框架》(Frame)一年內所有期刊的性別描繪，發現社論版的拍攝對象（主要是設計師和建築師）和廣告中的模特超過80%是男性。
At a time of renewed interest in feminism and growing awareness of transgenderism, designers are striving to imbue products, graphics, environments and technology with subtler, more eclectic interpretations of gender both in commercial projects and conceptual ones like Maher’s. What will the outcome be?
如今，女性主義重又引發人們的興趣，變性主義也越來越引起人們的注意，所以設計師們努力把更微妙、更折中的性別闡釋滲透到商業項目和概念項目（比如馬希爾的《框架》研究項目）的產品、圖像、環境和技術中。結果會是怎樣的呢？
Until recently, most design experiments in gender identity focused on clothing and other aspects of personal styling that can be customized easily and inexpensively, like hair. This spring, the British retail group Selfridges opened dedicated spaces selling gender-neutral fashion in several department stores. But reflecting diverse interpretations of gender in other areas of design has proved more challenging, not least because they often involve the development of expensive, technologically complex objects whose design has traditionally been standardized to facilitate mass production.
直到不久前，關於性別身份的設計實驗主要集中在服裝或髮型等個人風格方面，因爲這些不用花太多錢就能輕鬆改變。今年春天，英國零售集團塞爾福裏奇(Selfridges)在自己的幾家百貨商場開設專門銷售中性服裝的空間。不過，事實證明，其他設計領域反映多樣化性別闡釋的難度更大，主要是因爲那些領域的產品更昂貴，技術更復雜。爲了便於大批量生產，那些產品的設計早已定型。“It’s easy to say that design must embrace these changes, but much more difficult to do it,” said Uta Brandes, professor of design and gender at the Cologne International School of Design. “Though that shouldn’t stop us.”
“設計應該順應這些變化，這說起來簡單，做起來就難得多，”科隆國際設計學校(Cologne International School of Design)的設計與性別教授烏塔·布蘭德斯(Uta Brandes)說，“不過，我們不應該因此止步。”Much of the existing research on design’s gender politics was conducted by late-20th-century feminist design theorists. Typically, it critiques the male dominance of the design industry, and its role in perpetuating clichéd concepts of masculinity and femininity. Since then, a number of influential female designers have emerged, including Hella Jongerius in furniture and Irma Boom in books. Yet the balance of power still favors men, as illustrated by Maher’s “Frame” analysis.
關於設計性別政治，現有的研究大多是女性主義設計理論家們在20世紀末進行的。那些研究主要涉及男性在設計行業的主導地位，以及它對男女特性固有觀念形成的影響。自那時起，出現了許多女設計師，包括傢俱設計師海拉·榮格里斯(Hella Jongerius)和書籍設計師伊爾瑪·博姆(Irma Boom)。不過，就像馬希爾對《框架》的分析那樣，男性仍佔主導。Design is still prone to stylistic stereotypes, like pink for girls and blue for boys, and to outdated assumptions about who will use certain objects. “So many things are designed by men from their perspective,” said the Swedish product designer Katja Pettersson. “Like lawn mowers designed for people with long arms, who find it uncomfortable to push baby strollers, because the handles are too short.” Another example is the difficulty experienced by female amputees in finding suitable artificial limbs, most of which are designed by male prosthetists seemingly for men.
設計仍傾向於固有風格和刻板印象，比如女孩用粉色，男孩用藍色，某些物品僅供某種性別使用。“有很多東西是男人從自己的視角設計的，”瑞典產品設計師卡特婭·彼得鬆(Katja Pettersson)說，“比如，割草機是給胳膊長的人設計的，而他們推嬰兒推車時會覺得彆扭，因爲把手太短。”又如，女性截肢者很難找到合適的假肢，那些假肢似乎大多是男性假肢設計者爲男人們設計的。So far the interpretation of gender fluidity in the design of objects and spaces has had mixed results, reflecting the complexity of gender politics and the multiplicity of possible identities. But two distinctive approaches have emerged. One response is for design projects to echo that diversity aesthetically and functionally, as the San Francisco and Stockholm-based company Toca Boca does in its children’s play apps.
到目前爲止，產品和空間設計對性別不確定性的闡釋產生了複雜的結果，反映出性別政治的複雜性和可能身份的多樣性。不過，出現了兩種不同的方式。一種方式是從審美和功能上反映這種多樣性，例如託卡博卡公司(Toca Boca)的兒童遊戲app。該公司在舊金山和斯德哥爾摩設有辦事處。Each app is designed to avoid gender stereotypes. The clients in the hair salon app are male and female with a few whose gender appears ambiguous. The science laboratory is designed in vivid colors, including pastels, and soft, fuzzy forms. In a motor racing app, Toca Boca’s designers also challenge gender clichés by switching the voices to make the girl sound gutsier, and the boy gigglier. The objective, according to Mathilda Engman, head of consumer products, is to give kids the freedom to choose how to play.
該公司所有app的設計都避免性別刻板印象。美髮沙龍應用程序裏的顧客有男有女，還有一些性別模糊的人。科學實驗室色彩鮮豔（含有粉色），形式柔和。在一款賽車應用程序中，託卡博卡的設計師們還挑戰聲音的性別成見，讓女孩的聲音聽起來更勇敢，讓男孩子更喜歡咯咯傻笑。該公司的產品主管瑪蒂爾達·恩格曼(Mathilda Engman)說，這樣做是爲了讓孩子們可以自由選擇玩遊戲的方式。A second approach is for designers to make their work appear neutral, and open to interpretation. Chris Liljenberg Halstrom, a Danish-Swedish furniture designer in Copenhagen, does so by analyzing each piece in terms of how it is likely to be used, without regard to gender.
另一種方式是設計師們讓自己的作品看起來是中性的，可以有不同的解釋。哥本哈根傢俱設計師克里斯·利延貝里·豪爾斯特羅姆(Chris Liljenberg Halstrom)就是採用這種方式，他分析每件傢俱最可能的使用方式，而不考慮性別。他具有丹麥和瑞典雙重國籍。Halstrom enlivens objects by accentuating their textures, rather than with visual effects, believing that our sense of touch is less prone to gender clichés. An example is the Georg stool in which a gray pillow in richly textured fabric is strapped on to a wooden base. The pillow’s shape can be adapted to suit each sitter. “My objects might not make a lot of noise, but they are who they are and are accepted,” Halstrom said. “That’s how anyone should be allowed to feel, regardless of gender.”
豪爾斯特羅姆的產品更強調質感，而不是視覺效果。他認爲，我們的觸覺沒有那麼多性別成見。比如，他設計的喬治凳(Georg stool)是在木頭基座上綁一個有豐富質感的灰色織墊。任何人都能把墊子調整成適合自己的形狀。“我的作品可能不會引起轟動，但它們純真質樸，易被接受，”豪爾斯特羅姆說，“任何人都應該被允許去觸摸，不管是什麼性別。”A similarly neutral style was adopted for a set of toy kitchen appliances by Pottery Barn Kids, the American chain’ of children’s stores. Made in simple shapes and painted white and gray, the wooden blender and toaster are sold alongside traditionally gendered toys, like a pink kitchen. “Gender-neutral toys are part of the mix, and we’ve noticed a growing interest especially among new parents,” said Allison Spampanato, vice-president of design.
美國兒童連鎖商店陶瓷穀倉(Pottery Barn Kids)的一套廚房電器玩具也採用了類似的中性風格。那些木製攪拌機和烤箱形狀簡單，顏色爲白灰兩色，它們和區分性別的傳統玩具一起出售，比如粉色廚房。“中性玩具是我們產品的一部分，我們發現，人們對它們越來越感興趣，尤其是年輕父母，”該公司的設計副總裁艾莉森·斯潘帕納託(Allison Spampanato)說。Elements of both the eclectic and neutral approaches were adopted by Selfridges in Agender, introduced to its stores in London, Manchester and Birmingham this spring as a six-week experiment. The British designer Faye Toogood designed Agender areas in the London store. Each space was enclosed by steel mesh whose utilitarian aesthetic was shared by plain canvas garment bags containing the clothes. Handwritten signs and garment tags added a personal touch without being explicitly male or female, as did the abstract sculptures made by Toogood in fleshy pinks on the men’s fashion floor, and somber grays on the women’s.
今年春天，塞爾福裏奇在倫敦、曼徹斯特和伯明翰的百貨商場推出了爲期六週的無性別實驗(Agender)，採用折中和中性這兩種方式的元素。英國設計師法耶·圖古德(Faye Toogood)爲倫敦的塞爾福裏奇百貨商場設計了無性別區域。每個空間都用鋼絲網圍起來，所有的服裝都裝在樸素的帆布袋裏，兩者都體現了實用主義審美觀。手寫的標牌和服裝標籤增加了個人觸感，而沒有清楚表明性別。出於同樣的目的，圖古德爲男裝層製作了肉粉色的抽象雕塑，把女裝層塗成暗淡的灰色。“I didn’t want Agender to look obviously androgynous, but to be about individuals exploring their identities,” Toogood said. “That’s why people had to make an extra effort by opening the bags to see the clothes.”
“我不想讓無性別實驗變成明顯的雌雄同體，我覺得它關乎個體如何探尋自我身份，”圖古德說，“所以人們必須多費些工夫，打開袋子才能看到裏面的衣服。”Describing the response to Agender as “wholly positive,” Linda Hewson, Selfridges’s creative director, said the company “is now thinking about how to progress its principles and aesthetics beyond a six-week scheme into the everyday.”
塞爾福裏奇集團的創意總監琳達·休森(Linda Hewson)說，人們對無性別實驗的反應“完全是積極的”，她說，公司“現在正在考慮如何讓自己的理念和審美觀超越六週的實驗，成爲常態”。Hewson believes there is equally strong demand for gender-neutral furniture and tech products. Yet other retailers and manufacturers are more conservative. Even designers who are personally committed to developing subtler expressions of gender believe there is still resistance. “The idea has yet to become mainstream,” said Yves Béhar, founder of the San Francisco design group Fuseproject, whose clients include Nike, Google and Samsung.
休森認爲，人們對中性傢俱和科技產品具有同樣強烈的需求。不過，其他零售商和製造商的態度更爲保守。甚至連那些致力於開發更微妙的性別表達的設計師們也承認，仍有一些阻力。“這種觀念尚未成爲主流，”舊金山設計集團“融合項目”(Fuseproject)的創始人伊夫·貝哈爾(Yves Béhar)說。該集團的客戶包括耐克(Nike)、谷歌(Google)和三星(Samsung)。This conservatism is apparent in long-term programs to develop future technologies.
這種保守態度在開發未來技術的長期項目中非常明顯。“Corporate research into the design of smart homes is often based on the family of a mother, father and two dependent children, even though those households are now in a minority,” said Nina Wakeford, an associate professor of sociology at Goldsmiths University in London. “There is very interesting radical thinking in design, but a huge disconnect between young people who take the fluidity of gender identity for granted and corporate agendas.”
“公司對智能住宅設計的研究往往基於一個包括父母和兩個獨立孩子的家庭，儘管這樣的家庭現在是少數，”倫敦戈德史密斯大學(Goldsmiths University)的社會學副教授尼娜·韋克福德(Nina Wakeford)說，“設計上存在非常有趣的激進想法，不過對於那些不確定性別身份的年輕人來說，他們的想法與公司規劃之間存在明顯脫節。”But the corporate influence over some areas of design may be eroded by technological advances. Digital manufacturing systems, like 3-D printing, are so fast and precise that they can construct objects individually enabling people to personalize them. Eventually, people will be able not only to adjust the height of baby strollers and to ensure that prosthetic limbs fit properly, but also to express different aspects of their characters, including nuances of gender identity in chairs or tech products, as easily as in their clothes and hair.
但是公司對某些設計領域的影響力可能會被技術進步削弱。數字製造系統——比如3D打印——又快又精確，它們能單獨製造個性化物品。最終，人們將不僅能夠調整嬰兒推車的高度，確保假肢正好合適，還能展現自己性格的不同方面，包括在椅子或技術產品上展現細微的性別身份差別，就像在服裝和髮型上展現那樣容易。
