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adjective

1. suitable for, applicable to, or common to both male and female genders. “gender-neutral games and toys” 2. denoting a word or expression that cannot be taken to refer to one gender only. “gender-neutral terms like flight attendant, firefighter, and police officer”

Gender-

neutr l


Australia insurance firm offers gender-neutral option on forms An insurance company has become the first in Australia to formally recognise customers who do not identify as male or female. HIF, a health-insurance fund based in Perth, will allow its customers to list their gender as “other” on forms.

group/form/site in terms of culture It is a recent new about a insurance company in Australia that offers the neutral gender in their policies. Australia is a english-speaking language with controlled volume of immigrants and influences by EEUU and the UK. behaviours/attitudes/practices

The not-for-profit fund will also offer the honorific “Mx” on its forms as well as traditional titles. Australian citizens can legally identify their gender on their passports as M, F or X. This year’s national census was also the first to offer a third gender category. Grame Gibson, HIF managing director, said the decision to change the forms was made following feedback from the LGBTI community. “HIF members may select the ‘other’ gender option if they choose to identify as neither male nor female, including (but not limited to) those who are agender, androgyne, bi-gender, gender

fluid, intersex, neutrois, non-binary, pangender or transgender,” he said in a statement. The “Mx” honorific - pronounced “mux” or “mix” - is used to avoid specifying gender or marital status. It already appears on some government forms in Britain and is used by many banks. BBC (2016) Australia insurance firm offers gender-neutral option on forms.

Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-37548562 (Accessed: 5 October 2016).

In my opinion, the fact of adding a neutral gender in the policies of the insuramce it is a clear marketing strategy of the company. I think people will embrace the idea withouth analysing why is for?, how it works?, ... etc. the exhibit online/design of the sites The online page it was a common online newspaper. compare&contrast different sites in terms of attitudes exhibited In this site particularly there is not a blog or forum where you can see people’s opinion, reaction and personal opinion about the subject. It is only an informative article.


GENDER-NEUTRAL FRAGRANCES ARE NEXT WAVE OF GENDER IDENTITY POLITICS Last week, Barney’s launched its latest fragrance, the unisex scent Phuong Dang Leather Up ($300 for 50ml), with a soiree at Rockefeller

At an age when one of the country’s most legendary male athletes became a woman, the White House unveiled its first “gender-neutral” bathroom and Target proudly removed “boys” and “girls” signage from its toy departments, it should come as no shock that the line between male and female cosmetics is blurring, and gender-specific fragrances are starting to smell a bit passé.

“I try to capture the human spirit in liquid form and to transform how you feel; we all have masculine and feminine “There is a global trend to within us,” said Dang. genderless beauty in the highThis is the new normal according to Jennifer er end of the market,” reports Miles, the store’s vp/ divisional merchandising John Demsey, group president of the Center.

manager for cosmetics.

Estee Lauder companies.

“We are giving a lot of these brands prominent exposure in both the women’s and men’s fragrance areas in all stores.”

“It’s born out of Asia and makeup artist brands like MAC. In Asia, there is a whole notion of boy beauty; men use tinted moisturizers and concealers and Gen Z feels very comfortable with that. Mac was conceived for makeup artists, but 15 to 20 percent of their customers in L.A. and N.Y. are now men. Many are male actors and newscasters using product on TV, and there is probably not a political candidate in this country that isn’t using MAC. I would have to assume Trump’s man tan comes from someplace.”

“We really carry only true niche fragrance brands, so most of our brands would be considered gender neutral or gender anonymous,” she says.

Adds Sharon Garment, a global beauty product development consultant: “It’s

no longer just ‘men wearing women’s products.’ Now everyone just wants to present his or her opKrigler says fragrance names timal self.” impact gender perception. The barrier-shattering trend can be traced back to the ‘90s when Calvin Klein launched the unisex fragrance CK1, which became a runaway marketing success (the company’s recent effort to reignite that fire with CK2 fell a bit flat because the industry has gone so much farther in that direction). And while recent MAC ads used the sons of model Stephanie Seymour, Harry and Peter Brandt, sporting stained lips, earth tone shadows and brow gels to look as pretty as their mom, fragrance is the arena where the trend is the most prevalent. “Five years ago there were fewer than 200 new niche fragrances, but last year alone there were over 1,000 new launches, and probably 950 of them were gender free,” observes Amy Bourne, International Flavors and Fragrances’ regional marketing director for North America.

His company presented Extraordinaire Camellia 209 to Princess Charlene of Monaco, but when they sell it to men, they refer to it simply as “white tea,” one of the more masculine-sounding ingredients. Chateau Krigler was long perceived as feminine because Grace Kelly wore it to the Oscars when she won for The Country Girl and referenced it in her acceptance speech. “Now, we call it simply Number 12, and men love it,” he says.

Eric Korman, CEO and president of PHLUR, which makes only unisex scents, feels time-honored marketing techniques can be offensive to current clientele.

“That market is up 24 percent “We were trying to depart from since last year and it’s growing the tired messaging of the fradouble digits.” grance category for the past 70 years, which was entirely Ben Krigler, fifth-generation perfumer of the niche brand that bears his family name, says laced in sex, the objectificait was Hollywood that helped establish strong masculine and feminine fragrance marketing. “In tion of both genders, and an the 19th and early 20th centuries, people would almost carnal misogyny,” he come to our boudoir and we would ask what they liked; it was not linked to gender,” he main- says. “Traditional sexist mestains. “Then in the ‘40s, fragrance companies worked with movie studios, and very strong men saging just does not resonate like Clark Gable, Humphrey Bogart and John with younger consumers the Wayne helped to promote masculine fragrancway it has previously.” es.” Landman, B. (2016) Gender-neutral fragrances are next wave of gender identity politics. Available at: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/gender-neutral-fragrances-are-next-933853 (Accessed: 5 October 2016).


group/form/site in terms of culture The experts in fashion like Estee Lauder’s president state that “There is a global tren to genderless beauty in the higher end of the market”, The market is changing, the new generations do not want to be classified in stereotyps, labelling everyone. Young market is finding difficult to labelling themselves with the new advertisiement. Fashion companies are in a new social behaviour where they need to study deeply what is the teenager feelings, what they are affraid off, what they feel attracted to them, and so on. “ ... Messaging of the fragance category for the past 70 years, which wasl laced to sex, objectification of both genders and almost carnal misogyny.” , “Traditional sexist messaging just does not resonate with younger consumers the way it has previously.” That is a statement that the young target in general are not surprise with the sexual advertisement. The sexual subject has passed to be common and less tabu or intimidatory for new generations. behaviours/attitudes/practices The society is changing, in the not really far away past people had a lot of tabus in the society and advertisment & marketing was tacking advantage of ours desires, ours fears and the insecurity of the society. Fashion and beauty companies arrived until the point of selling sex as a desire, selling really thin models with doll faces to woman as a way to look like and to men as a delicated , small and cute person who is tempting you to buy the product. Today teenagers are used to this marketing strategies and they see it as a normal. The new generation are really used to the taboos we had, they are not innocent and they are growing in a world that everyone tries to be themselves as much as possible without being trap in a social label. the exhibit online/design of the sites The online page it was a common online newspaper. compare&contrast different sites in terms of attitudes exhibited In this site particularly there is not a blog or forum where you can see people’s opinion, reaction and personal opinion about the subject. However, the article shows that big fashion and beauty companies are retaking a social study with teenagers stating that teenagers are not surprised with the old advertising technics, plus anyone feels labelled anymore as a femenine or masculine, speaking about fragance or make up. Everyone uses make up and it started in Asia followed by actors and currently common people uses those products as a normal product without labelling only in the fememnine side.


Couple raise child as ‘gender neutral’ to avoid stereotyping A couple who raised their child as “gender neutral” for five years so the infant’s “real personality” could shine through have finally revealed he is a boy. Beck Laxton, 46, and partner Kieran Cooper, 44, decided not to reveal baby Sasha’s gender to the world so he would not be influenced by society’s prejudices and preconceptions.

They referred to their child as “The Infant” and only allowed him to play with “gender-neutral toys” in their television-free home.

For the first five years of his life Sasha alternated between girls’ and boys’ outfits, leaving friends, playmates and relatives guessing. But the couple have finally revealed his sex after it became harder to conceal when Sasha started primary school. Yesterday Miss Laxton, a web editor, said that she thought gender stereotyping was “fundamentally stupid”. “I wanted to avoid all that stereotyping,” she said. “Stereotypes seem fundamentally stupid. Why would you want to slot people into boxes?

“It’s like horoscopes: what could be stupider than thinking there are 12 types of personality that depend on when you were born? It’s so idiotic.

“Gender affects what

children wear and what they can play with, and that shapes the kind of person they become.”

She admitted that their stance had led them to suffering some ostracisation and she had been branded a “loony” by other parents. But she felt it was worth it.

“I discovered later that I’d been described as ‘that loony

woman who doesn’t know whether her baby is a boy or a girl’, she said.

“And I could never per-

suade anyone in the group to come around for coffee. They just thought I was mental.

has good relationships and good friends, then nothing else matters does it?

“I don’t think I’d do it if I thought it was going to make him unhappy, but at the moment he’s not really bothered either way. We haven’t had any difficult scenarios yet.” She said she early gender stereotyping was “harmful”.

Mr Cooper, a computer software designer, said his son likes to play with Lego and dolls. He said: “We wanted to challenge gender stereotypes and so if Sasha wants to dress up in girls’ clothes then so be it. But we are not forcing it.

“My mother’s very sporty and my dad was very emotional,” she said. “We’d watch The Wizard of Oz and always start crying, whereas my mum would think we were really soppy.

Dr Daragh McDermott, a psychology lecturer at Anglia Ruskin University, said the effect of raising a gender neutral child is not yet known.

“So it’s always seemed obvious to me that stereotypes didn’t fit the people I knew.” The family, from in Sawston, Cambs., were so desperate not to prejudice Sasha’s life with gender they didn’t ask midwives his sex until 30 minutes after he was born. Only a handful of immediate family members were told of the baby’s gender.

He said: “It’s hard to say whether being raised gender-neutral will have any immediate or longterm psychological consequences for a child, purely because to date there is little empirical research examining this topic.

“That being said, the family setting is only one source of gender-specific information and as children grow, their self-identity as male, female or gender-neutral will be influenced by school, Finally the secret got too hard to keep and Beck socialisation with other children and adults, as and Kieran were forced to reveal Sasha’s sex well as mass media. when he started school. Sasha wears a “ruched-sleeved” girl’s shirt as part of his school uniform, and has been banned from sporting combat trousers. The youngster is also encouraged to wear flowery tops at weekends. Miss Laxton said her son would think nothing of being given flowers – a gift which would embarrass many men.

“As a child grows they develop their own independent sense of self that will include their own individual gender identification.”

“I just want him to fulfil his potential, and I wouldn’t push him in any direction. As long as he Alleyne, R. (2012) Couple raise child as ‘gender neutral’ to avoid stereotyping. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/9028479/Couple-raisechild-as-gender-neutral-to-avoid-stereotyping.html (Accessed: 5 October 2016).


group/form/site in terms of culture This is a English family, mid class where is needed work to live. They live in a free TV house so I guess they enjoy doing activities all together, reading books, listening music and interacting between them. It is obvious that they are not high influenced for the manipulated information on TV, marketing and consumist society that consumes from letting themselves sell products on TV and capitalism with a passive actitude at some point in the day, like desconecting and absobing random infomation. behaviours/attitudes/practices They seem that they are aware about alternatives of how to rise your childreen without labelling them and influence in what they will be, instead they are giving opportunities to the child to become the person it has to be. They had got to change the common way to speak without using gender, something in english language is easier than in other languages where everything is he or she. Mrs Laxton has a strong actitude against other parents classifying her loose, labelling, streotyping something because it is out of the box, it is new behaviour. the exhibit online/design of the sites The online page it was a common online newspaper. compare&contrast different sites in terms of attitudes exhibited In this article there are different points of view, like the parents side see rising their child as a gender-neutral the most human and comprensible thing, contrasting it with the horoscop classification. Also, Mrs Laxton had to face a situation where something she was doing was uncommon for the rest of parents and their reaction versus that situation it was attacking her putting her labels like loosy. In the other hand, they state that the song has grown in a way that If someone gives him flowers, as a man he will not feel embarassed If not glad of receiving them. In my opinion is an interesting reflection of the child not being influenced by steriotypes that separete the femenin with masculine behaviour stating rules of how to be and act as an individual. However, is a practice is still being reviewed by professionals an it is not how you rise your child and you influence him, is also how others influence him outside of the parental side. zvv


1. Gender-Neutral Parenting (GNP) Isn’t About Gender-Neutral Toys

As I mention in the book, I do prefer the nonpink version of things because just slapping pink on a toy and calling it “girl” is insulting to girls (and boys).

This means going out of your way to get your girls engaged in large motor skills like kicking, running, and jumping because we (parents and society) may implicitly ignore these skills in our verbal girls.

However, that is not the primary aim of GNP toy It also means going out of your way to engage purchasing. your boys in storytelling and reading because we may implicitly ignore these skills in our physical boys.

The primary purpose is to break down gender stereotypes (cooking is for girls, cars are for boys) and compensate for possible, implicit bias in all genders.

Lucas-Stannard, P. (2014) Class. Available at: http://everyday feminism.com/2014/01/gender-neutral-isnt-always-the-answer/ (Accessed: 5 October 2016).

Remember, too: The “gender-neutral” in GNP doesn’t mean gender-neutral children. Rather, it is about gender-neutral parenting strategies and choices.

The Real Problem Behind Installing Gender-Neutral Bathrooms Learn the difference between gender and sex. Recently, there has been an uprising in gender-neutral bathrooms installed in various facilities across the country. Within the past couple of years, over 150 college campuses have implemented the gender neutral bathroom, but with what intentions? For those who don’t know what that entails, a gender-neutral bathroom is meant to be a safe place to go into regardless of gender, sex, sexuality, etc. But what are people really taking it in as?

lem that threatens a large part of society as a whole is the ignorance juxtaposed next to the complex LGBTQ+ spectrum.

One of the most important issues that people still get confused about is the difference bePerhaps a piece of tween gender and sex. privacy stripped from them? But see, this is They are two words exactly the opposite of that should never be considered synonythe purpose it’s supposed to serve. The mous, no matter what your fourth grade gender-neutral bathroom was not installed teacher told you. There to affect anyone in any are more than two genders, as gender negative aspect. is a social construct: like those things your In fact, the real prob-

parents told you not to do at a young age because you were a boy or a girl.

different gender depending Additionally, on the day. some people And to clarify, can feel more there are only than one gen- two biological sexes: male der at one time, or feel a and female. Further, the subject of transgender, gender-fluid, agender, gender queer or bi/tri/pan gender are not exactly highlighted or even addressed in school curriculum. A large part of ignorance is the assumption that it may not be affecting most people, but it should.


You can compare this to an African American or a woman or a Muslim fighting for their rights because they were once oppressed and still are. Maybe you’re not a minority or a woman, and maybe you don’t identity on the LGBTQ+ spectrum, but why sit on a high horse and bathe in ignorance? Society as a whole will continue to remain stagnant if everyone assumes that these issues are unimportant. So what is the real purpose behind gender-neutral bathrooms? Yes, they are there to provide a safe space to the people who are gender non-conforming, multiple genders and transgender; people who prefer a neutral bathroom to feel comfortable while figuring themselves out or in midst of coming out. But even more than that, they are for everyone. No one should feel their privacy stripped away from them.

If a trans person must use a restroom that does not align with their gender, their entire identity is invalidated at best, and they are harassed or physically assaulted at worst. For cisgender folks, it’s just peeing.

For transgender folks, it’s yet another voice in a choir of thousands who tell them that they cannot and do not beA person who identifies on the long in our society. And that’s a very dangerous message to LGBTQ+ spectrum and who wished to remain anonymous send.” explains that “If a cisgender Hence, our society still has a long way to go. through the comments section on a person is forced to use a gen- Scrolling New York Times gender neutrality article, I der-neutral bathroom, they are see people bark rude remarks such as, “If you’re a man, go to the men’s room. And vice mildly uncomfortable at best. versa! It’s not that hard people!” The ignorance is the reason why gender-neutral bathrooms are still controversial. The blame should certainly not be placed on the implementation of the gender-neutral bathroom itself.

Lai, J. (2016) The real problem behind installing gender-neutral bathrooms. Available at: https://www.theodysseyonline.com/the-real-problem-behindinstalling-gender-neutral-bathrooms (Accessed: 5 October 2016).


Public Toilets From NYC to LA Get Gender-Neutral Design Overhaul • Single-user unisex facilities more expensive but popular now • The bottom line is that ‘people want options for privacy’ At the restaurant at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, the restroom has stalls open to any gender and sinks in a common area. The setup is similar at the Press Lounge in Manhattan, at the Bliss Rebar in Scottsdale, Arizona, and at dozens of other establishments. While politicians argue and courts weigh in, businesses are forging ahead with new bathroom designs. The most private of public spaces has been evolving for more than a decade, in the interests of privacy and more equitable distribution for women and the disabled. Now the pace of change is quickening as the U.S. grapples with demands that transgender people be allowed to use the toilets of their choice. Gender neutral restroom in Durham, North Carolina, on May 10. Photographer: Sara D. Davis/Getty Images “It’s taken on a level of intensity and interest,” says Erik Kocher, a principle at Hastings+Chivetta architects in St. Louis who counts about a half-dozen different alternative-bathroom blueprints on the boards at the firm. “It’s much more out there.” To be sure, lavatories in most big venues, such as sports stadiums, will likely continue to be multiple-stalled and gender-segregated because of building-code requirements. But retailers including Target Corp., Starbucks Corp. and Barnes & Noble Inc. have set new rules or clarified policies to allow customers to make privy choices that don’t correspond to their birth genders. And prototypes in restaurants, on college campuses and elsewhere show how the public-latrine paradigm is shifting.

Grossed Out Codes written before the current transgender-access debate are driving some changes. The International Codes Council, whose edicts are adopted by most U.S. states and municipalities, issued regulations that in 2018 will require individual-user public toilets to be gender neutral, with door signage declaring them so. It’s too soon to know whether the ICC will address the multiple-user question when it crafts its next rulebook, for 2021. Public bathrooms are a political hot potato and a very personal matter. Some women, for instance, might not care who’s in the next stall but wouldn’t be thrilled about applying mascara next to a guy washing his hands. Others are grossed out at the idea of sitting where a man just did his business. In Yelp reviews of restaurants with unisex facilities, opinions are all over the map, with people applauding the accommodations or calling them creepy. Some men don’t like the idea of urinals going the way of the outhouse -- but lavatories are now on occasion being constructed without them. Stone Benches The transgender factor will propel experimentation with more individual but equal spaces, says Terry Kogan, a professor at the College of Law at the University of Utah who studies restrooms and transgender issues. The bottom line: “People

want options for privacy.”

That explains the orders for floor-to-ceiling stall panels flooding into Ironwood Manufacturing Co. in Snohomish, Washington, where co-owner Mark Nielson says transgender

become a concern for some customers.

access has

The search for a widely acceptable comfort room is probably 18 centuries in the making. The Romans had the first documented public latrine, according to Zena Kamash, a lecturer in Roman archeology and art at the University of London. Patrons back then sat cheek to jowl over holes in stone benches, with rushing water below carrying away the waste. In the U.S., Massachusetts first codified the gender-specific concept in the 1880s, as commercial buildings began embracing indoor plumbing. Such differentiation was the law of the land by the 1920s. Small

businesses had individual-user amenities, and those whose cramped quarters allowed only one had to make it unisex -- or, in today’s parlance, gender neutral. Cabana Style

Now, in North Carolina -- where a new law bars people from public restrooms that don’t correspond to their birth sex -- Charlotte’s Westin hotel is adding a single-user, all-gender facility to its second-floor meeting area. The American Restroom Association worked with the city of San Diego to design a unisex-stall bathroom at Kellogg Park.


In 2014, during exhibitions that featured transgender artists, the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York made restrooms on one floor all gender.

People not comfortable with that were directed to traditional alternatives elsewhere, says Danielle Linzer, director of access and community programs. The new Whitney building has several single-user gender-neutral units, though no multi-user unisex commodes. Sign Up At Hastings+Chivetta, architects are working on a college recreation facility with cabana-style showers rather than a central locker room. Clients are testing new ideas, Kocher says. One, a university in the Midwest, asked for a three-story building with 18 single-user restrooms. It would be cheaper to have multiple-stall rooms, but the route the school picked is popular because it takes gender identify out of the equation. “Colleges and universities have been on the cutting edge of this,” Kocher says. In some cases, designers face resistance from enforcers of local building codes that require ratios of men’s and women’s rooms. “Zoning

rules are definitely behind the times,” he says.

Transgender people aren’t asking for a new model, says Kasey Suffredini, chief program officer with Freedom for All Americans, an advocacy group. Their demand is simply for the right to use the lavatory that fits their gender identify, she says. “It’s not for gender neutral bathrooms. It’s not for single stalls. This is just where the long-standing discomfort with restrooms intersects with discomfort with minority identities -- and then we have a fight over bathrooms.” Green, J. (2016) Public toilets from NYC to LA get gender-neutral design overhaul. Available at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-18/public-toilets-from-nyc-to-la-get-gender-neutral-design-overhaul (Accessed: 5 October 2016).


group/form/site in terms of culture The articles are from the New York Times and Bloomberg news, approaching a critical analysis about the toilet sign and what it could mean in the mind of someone classify as LGBQ spectrum. In terms of culture we are speaking about the occidental culture, capitalist and consumist. A society which is changing and people is claiming it, However, the change it need to be mesuared and studied in the impact it will create with the target people. Bloomberg, states that in the 1920s small companies had a single toilet where man and woman could share it. behaviours/attitudes/practices The behaviour of the writer is critical. It is beautiful putting gender - neutral signs everywhere but the LGBQ - sprectrum opinion is that they have not asked about neutral-gender toilets, If not the common individual toilets that everyone can use without classifying it as a woman’s or man’s toilet. This simple act will give freedom to the person who has to go to the toilet. In the other side, the society is reacting “Zoning rules are behind the times” Kocher says. The attitude of the people is gonna be diverse, we can compare it with the brexit. There are people and there are people and depends on the age they are more reluctant to the change. Gender-Neutral/Transgender Research methodology

the exhibit online/design of the sites The online page it was a common online newspaper. The historical anecdote here is that the first toilets in the history were accesible for everyone without labelling the gender. Today, there are people who can not imagine sharing the toilet with the opposite sex when actually, many of them have been doing it in the familiar enviroment.

Research Primary:

Secondary: Ethnographic

compare&contrast different sites in terms of attitudes exhibited The attitude exhibited is the same welcoming attitude everyone is having, desmitifying the sexism and giving the value of each one the same as the others.

Tertiary:

Semiotics

Semantics Rhetoric

Define design problem Is the problem significant? Can visual communication contribute to its reduction? Define causes of problem Define target audience

Divergent research

Gestalt

Gather quantitative data and qualitative data Enhance design problem Agree design objectives Agree channels of distribuition Are channels an affordable and effective way to research the target audience?

Recommend improvements

Measure effectiveness Design prototype graphics Test on members of target Are graphics appropiate? Test Re-evaluate design objectives Was it successful?


why ethnography is useful? Ethnography is useful process of creating and representing knowledge (about society, culture, and individuals) that is based on ethnographers� own experiences. It does not claim to produce an objective or truthful point of view. what does it do? It does entail reflexive, collaborative or participatory methods. It may involve participants in a variety of ways- at different points of research and representation. what might it do in the development of your project? It should account not only for the observable, recordable realities that may be translated into written notes and text, but also for experience and knowledge. what are the problems with it & how high they be negotiated? The problems with it is the impossible way to transmit and show feelings, thoughts, emotions, sensation and others experiences throught the images, notes, or material collected.

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