La sedia del sadico. Il design sul corpo delle donne

Are objects gender-neutral or ‘sexist’? Does design contribute to the patriarchal system of oppression? Is it possible to imagine a design process that takes these questions into account? The users of 20th-century industrial design products have historically been defined by the so-called ‘average man’ standard: a male individual, able-bodied, and abstracted from context. The history of design itself, even when not written by men, or indeed even when dedicated to highlighting the exceptions of women who have distinguished themselves in this field, is influenced by male logic: either because it follows the criteria of big names, inventions, and the success of the few and for the few; or because objects, even when designed by women, have conformed to standards dictated by men; or because the social history of women’s material production has indeed been told, but within a passive, if not outright oppressive, framework. Viewing design from a feminist perspective helps us not only to denounce exclusion, but to imagine a world in which women design tools capable of safeguarding their own reproductive health, pleasure and safety, starting from a reclaimed understanding of their own bodies. Chiara Alessi, a leading design expert, describes some of these projects, starting with the gynaecological examination table, moving on to the speculum and self-diagnostic tools, and ending with menstrual devices and those designed for pleasure. It is now time to renegotiate design from a critical gender perspective: to renegotiate power, to renegotiate bodies, to renegotiate knowledge, to renegotiate function.