The article states that females establish a strong interaction with the art of design. Thus, they appear in multiple roles, which are central in the sphere: women work as designers, models; they contemplate the art of design from the positions of consumers, critics, historians, etc.
However, the expert argues that the connection is stimulated by the feminist theory, which took a firm ground in the contemporary society. Therefore, the primary objective of the article is to provide an insight into the world of design as well as to examine the art engagement of women in the context of patriarchate.
Initially, the article analyses the role of women designers in the history of design.
According to the author’s argument, the theory of modern art grew on a fundament of industrial relations and capitalism. Such social tendencies provoked a strong positioning of patriarchate not only as the home regulation but as the business principle as well.
Since women have been identified with designers more often than males, the role of a designer was diminished. Specifically, the production of industry surpassed design products in value. Moreover, it was deduced that the global community gave preference to the industrial work over domestic production, which have been correlated with women designers.
Finally, the author acknowledges that the history of art challenged female design in the context of craft theory. Thus, the historians claimed that exclusively mass-produced works might have been positioned as the art designs.
In contrast to it, women, according to their nature, were rather interested in the development of their artistic skills through the creation of unique hand-made works. Therefore, the role of a woman as a designer has long been prejudiced in the context of a strong industrialized society.
The article estimates the contributions of a woman to art design in the role of a consumer and an object. The author correlates females with the underestimated design consumers. Thus, he states that the standing of a woman as a design consumer has long been neglected for two reasons.
First, the patriarchate theory of social development launched a tendency to believe that females could be perceived only in the shade of males. Specifically, the role of a woman as a housewife influenced many male designers, who disregarded the art preferences of female consumers. Second, the theory suggests that women are leading easy lives for their work is facilitated with machinery such as vacuum-cleaners, wash machines, etc.
In the opposite, males have to cope with the undertaking industry challenges. Therefore, a particular shape of a female representation in design consummation was created. Consequently, the picture of a woman as a baby-sitter and a cook became heavily advertised on television, which certified the existence of gender divide in the area of design.
Finally, the last point for discussion, which is disclosed by the author, is the thematic content of the art production that is created by females. According to the theory, which is called “the rules of the game,” women designers revealed the tendency to positioning their roles as pivotal to the global community. This tendency has not been accepted by the capitalist society.
That is why, the major books on art design have excluded females from design development. Moreover, any innovative art movements such as modernism were disregarded as long as the objects of art were assigned to women. Therefore, the feminism theory defined the origin of the art design and hindered the quality of design improvement (Buckley 260).
Works Cited
Buckley, Cheryl. “Made in Patriarchy: Toward a Feminist Analysis of Women and Design.” In Design Discourse: History, Theory, Criticism. Ed. Val Margolin. Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1989. 251–262. Print.