blog post #3
Better Lives project
I am grateful about the option to be able to choose Critical Design as my project. As I am studying Fashion PR and Communications, and I think Critical Design is an area that will strengthen my existing knowledge on media and communications and develop my critical thinking on fashion. I have also been considering about Fashion Media and Criticism as a MA course to progress after undergraduate, therefore this is a great opportunity for me. With minimum knowledge on critical design, the unit has introduced me that there are endless possibilities of creative ideas on solving global issues. I feel limitless and imaginative given the well-chosen themes. I decided to expand my ideas on gender inequality as part of social inequality. Gender inequality has been an ongoing issue and I believe that it is time to disappear in the near future. A trailer is asked for the critical design team to each create to project what the future may look like for the issue.
I am very interested in video shooting, so I immediately started to brainstorm ideas on producing a trailer surrounding gender inequality. It is a broad topic, so I want to create an outcome that is based on my personal experience and secondary research. First, I began looking into the different idealism on women between different cultures. For example, some cultures are matriarchy from way back in history until the current days, while others believe women can never be natural leaders. Historical traditions are often kept in a culture regardless of time, such as if a culture puts men as superior from early history, it is likely that this value still exists today at some rate. This provides me with an idea to shoot a trailer that communicates about the rate of evolvement, with fashion embedded in it too. Throughout the history, fashion shows inequality and stereotypes of genders, class, and values. Like it is difficult for a woman who is different in style and in the lower class to be fully respected. This is common for any culture across the world.
Based on my own experience, I have heard phrases such as ‘only men can lead the world, just accept it and give up’. Even worse, I have been told that myself that during the process of working towards my ambitions, and I want to implement these voices in my trailer. The voices of all genders should be heard too because I am not supportive of any gender being superior, instead, I am looking for gender equality. I tried different versions of storyboards and test shoots, such as a story of a man abusing a woman with a covered face, and realized it was his mother afterwards. I also tried to film a woman killing a man because of hate, and realizing that it was really herself, because there is masculinity in every woman’s body and mind. Stereotypes confuse all genders, and it should no longer be a surprise when men shed tears, or women weightlifting. It is great that Women’s Day is celebrated, but Men’s Day should be widely encouraged too. As the world is becoming limitless, different genders should be celebrated and not limited.