37 / Design for Women → Design for Men

This post is part of the Unconforming newsletter series. View our previous issues here.

 
 

Dear Friends,

The other day I was talking with a friend about ‘maternal health and child nutrition,’ when I stopped for a second to realise that in international development, maternal health and child nutrition have been bucketed together for so long that we don’t even realise that they’re bucketed together. Or how we are so used to gender meaning anything non-male – the amount of gender-equity summits I’ve been to that have a 95% non-male attendance, it’s as if men isn’t even a gender anymore!

As you already know, I’m peeved by the idea that femtech is emerging as a space focused mostly on reproductive and sexual health. What irks me is that men aren’t participating in this conversation, even though they have a role to play in reproduction, contraception, and sexual health. 90% of birth control methods are created for women, so it’s her responsibility. Similarly, when we bucket child nutrition with maternal health, men become passive or absent participants in this conversation.

In design school, my classmates and I worked together on MINE Condoms, a concept to increase women’s agency to purchase and exercise birth control and sexual health even though the product is directly used by men. The reframing of seeing condoms as a product for both sexes shifts power and can create shared responsibilities. (Meanwhile the most prominent condom brand in India is called...Manforce – I can’t even).

But women already have enough on their plates. We need to reframe in the other direction as well. For example, what might emerge at the intersection of oral contraception and the male gender? Or, what might empowerment trainings look like for men? (As you’ll find below in our Links section, this field is emerging to shift perspectives on masculinity).

I also wonder what this reframe might look like, for Design for Women. I have a number of ‘nice’ male friends who, while they are signed up to this newsletter, have admitted that they don’t read it. “It’s for women,” they say. It’s been hard to engage men in the conversation. Should I re-name it Design for Men? Maybe they’ll begin showing up then.

Have you come across any gender-equity initiatives focused on men? Please share them — I'd love to take a look!

Until next time,
Mansi

D E S I G N F O R W O M E N C O N V E R S A T I O N S —

On October 19: Designing for Muslim Women

 
 

Taking the lens of faith, this conversation will explore what it means to design for intersectionality and groups with double disadvantages in a time when Islamophobia is at a high in so many parts of the world. Hanieh Khosroshahi and Aleena Musanna both design experiences to serve womxn of color, and Muslim women in India respectively. Join us on October 19 to hear what they have found to be successful in serving intersectional women with double disadvantages.

F R O M O U R G E N D E R P R A C T I T I O N E R S —

Hanieh Khosroshahi wants womxn of colour to have tanglible solutions to thrive in the workplace

 
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Her key insights about women & girls:

  • Women of colour are clumped together – a lot.

  • Women of colour have to work 10 times harder to get where they are. They are held to a higher standard than others. The consequences of failing or making mistakes becomes detrimental to their career growth.

  • Women of colour continue to face recurring challenges without tangible solutions—this signifies that not much has been done by those in power to shift from talking about change to actually implementing it

✨ Opportunities to Unconform ✨

Ways for you to Unconform via jobs, events, grants & more. If you hear of an opportunity to Unconform, definitely let us know!

Links

  • LONG READ: The Design of Everyday Men
    "Men as Allies” — it’s thrown around a lot, but have we seen it in action yet?
    As a follow up to “​​What’s Really Holding Women Back?” (which we shared last week), this piece places men at the center of gender equity research. It concludes that organisations have to play a bigger role in changing masculinity norms in order to achieve true gender equality. Scroll through to the end to find 5 interventions focused on men, for both business leaders and organisations.
     

  • LONG READ: Broadening Gender—Why Masculinities Matter
    Making true strides in reducing GBV will require changing perspectives on masculinity.
    How? Through the school system at a young age, by encouraging positive parenting practices among men, in the workplace, and by increasing support for abused children. Unsurprisingly, young men who experience sexual abuse are most likely to perpetuate it in adulthood.
     

  • BONUS TRACKS:
    We had a hard time finding gender-equity examples that focus their interventions on men. However, they have begun to surface slowly: mostly in GBV or sexual health in lower income communities.
    + From Prison To Periods: Meet The Men Fighting Menstruation Taboos
    + Men Stand Up
    + The COVA Project

...and there's more:

📚Community Shares: We got a lot of "yes's" for our most recent issue on not wanting to empower women. Thanks for your responses— Elouise E, Nonie T, and Suheil T!

💭Have a thought to share? Reply to this email or fill out this form. We would love to share your ideas with the entire community!

🔗The Unconforming Repository: Our one-stop-doc for all things women — find every link we've ever shared.

🎙Design for Women Conversations: all the round-ups, highlights, and event recordings here. Join the next session — RSVP here.

📖The Archive: Find all of our previous issues here.

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Unconforming is a newsletter about designing for women. It is crafted by Unconform Studio, a service design & strategy firm focused on making design for women mainstream. We use design research and behavioural design to support organisations in making systems-level change for women in a world traditionally designed for men. Learn more.

NewsletterMansi Guptarole of men, language