GENDER GAMES_ chosen object

GENDER GAMES_ MY TAKE 

FEMININE_ 

   Having qualities traditionally ascribed to women, as sensitivity or gentleness.

    Of a woman. Traditionally, in most cultures, the expectation for a lady to be nurturing, demure,       to care for her family, to look beautiful, and to be submissive to her husband(or girlfriend). 

    But not all women are like that. More than enough women are strong, direct, and independent. What is feminine is what a woman does.

    Feminine traits include but are not limited to: understanding, empathetic, sensitive, submissive, gentle, modest, willowy, and pretty.

MASCULINE_

    Often defined as aggressive, strong, and unfeeling or stoic. Being masculine means in modern times, at least, no shows of emotion, no flamboyance, no hugging or even looking at other men, must be interested in sports and physical/violent activity. 

    Positively characterized as qualities that are; strong, community building, utilitarian, practical. Negatively characterized as too aggresive, violent, uncaring.

Masculine/feminine personalities clashing

Robot. It strikes images of masculinity- a ‘boys toy’. My initial thought was to create a masculine garment for a woman, or almost a genderless garment. However this wasn't the exciting approach I was hoping for- the word ‘transformer’ from the robot, was the answer. Transformable fashion. Male-female, female-male. I decided to settle on the transformation from male-female, something bulky and masculine to beautiful and feminine. The idea of transformations is seen a lot within nature, and more specifically caterpillars to butterflies (something ugly to a beautiful creature), which would be the basis for my research, as well as the plastic transformer toys, which include wonderful linear, chunky shapes, contrasting the delicate, flowing shapes of the butterfly and its graceful nature. 

The garment becomes a double gender garment- two for the price of one, a game for many. Both genders can wear the garment, tranforming it throughout their wear.

I plan to explore the idea of transformable fashion through the use of materials, colour palette and construction methods. I will use typically masculine/feminine materials (leather, PVC, sheers, lace etc) but contrast them by pairing then with unconventional colours, or using them within the construction in ways that isn't the norm. Construction methods such as having seams on display, putting together with nails/ staples, incorporating both feminine and masculine materials together are all ways in which I can experiment to suggest my take on the gender games brief. 

Panels and hidden elements, perhaps seen through movement or opening is a part I will look into further to compliment the transformable side.

ROBOT_

MASCULINITY

The Transformer robot related as a masculine object due to a number of reasons. It was a BLOCKY, BULKY, CHUNKY object, with an ‘in your face’ form. It contained LACK OF DETAIL, however the shapes and lines on the robots legs were rather INTRICATE, creating lots of lines and shapes.

The material was CHEAP and PRACTICAL, taking on a TACKY quality. The plastic is rather typic of ‘boys toys’, theres something quite childish about the robustness of the material.

BRASH, HEAVY, BOYISH colours are included giving the appearance of a more ‘manly’ object. The colours also CLASH, having no real connection or harmony.

The construction is rather BLOCKY, with CONNECTIONS to keep it in place. The idea of the transformer is to TRANSFORM into something else, so he interaction element is rather COMPLICATED, having almost two objects in one. Therefore, the SWINGING and MOVEMENT of different components into the new object takes on rather intricate qualities. Maybe the idea that this is a boys toy, and in the biased world throughout history, boys/men are more able to figure out and use more complicated toys, leading on to men having more skills through work in later life.

The main purpose of the robot is to be played with, using the robot s a source of IMAGINATION, to crete a new and exciting world within boys heads, often including themselves to become the hero. The robot sparks thought of EVIL, like it needs to be DEFEATED. 

I selected this object as the basis of my research and starting point as I  enjoyed the construction and the block shapes. It gave a lot of potential to become interesting garment shapes, and the ‘TRANSFORMER’ element excited me with where I could take that.