The Subtle Sexism of Icons – Member Feature Stories

Christina Ou for Medium writes:

In many instances I can recall, ranging from company presentations to popular apps and websites, the main icons displayed were obviously representative of men. At best, this shows that women were not taken into consideration when the product team designed and developed the product. At worst, it isolates women to feel like they are not the intended audience or priority.
As a designer, you have to pick your battles, but this is one that’s worth fighting. Women don’t deserve to feel inferior to men, even in something as small as an icon. Especially because it is such an easy fix. And to me, if a company isn’t willing to change an icon, then it most likely isn’t taking the steps to prevent unconscious bias on a bigger scale, as in addressing the gender pay gap and increasing the balance of women and minorities (and women that are minorities) in leadership roles.
https://medium.com/s/story/subtle-sexism-of-icons-e646ab1b0211

One thought on “The Subtle Sexism of Icons – Member Feature Stories”

  1. Ooooo that’s a good point. I have thought about icons and racism (my phone, for example, doesn’t allow an emoji with a person of color) but you are right about icons and sexism too.

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