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culture GPS comparison ( UK V.S China)

For getting depth understanding of gender gap report between UK and China, I did research of culture GPS comparison between two countries. 

What surprised me or make me interested is these two countries shared same score of masculinity at 66 which shows both of these two are Masculine society –success oriented and driven. This score to some degrees explains the reason of gender gap in these two countries between men and women although this masculinity is not a sexual term but representing a national characteristic. In comparison to Feminine cultures such as the Scandinavian countries, people in the UK and China live in order to work and have a clear performance ambition.Also, the power distance dimension shows the gap between these countries’ gender gap. At high 80, China is a society which believes that inequalities amongst people are acceptable, but at low 35, UK is a society that believes that inequalities amongst people should be minimized. This reflects the reason why the ranking of China’s gender gap is 100 but UK is 15. Meanwhile, other dimensions helped me to understand gap between same gender of these two countries. 

1. POWER DISTANCE

 China:

At 80 China sits in the higher rankings of PDI – i.e. a society that believes that inequalities amongst people are acceptable. The subordinate-superior relationship tends to be polarized and there is no defense against power abuse by superiors. Individuals are influenced by formal authority and sanctions and are in general optimistic about people’s capacity for leadership and initiative. People should not have aspirations beyond their rank.

 UK:

At 35 Britain sits in the lower rankings of PDI – i.e. a society that believes that inequalities amongst people should be minimized. Interestingly is that research shows PD index lower amongst the higher class in Britain than amongst the working classes. The PDI score at first seems incongruent with the well established and historical British class system and its exposes one of the inherent tensions in the British culture – between the importance of birth rank on the one hand and a deep seated belief that where you are born should not limit how far you can travel in life. A sense of fair play drives a belief that people should be treated in some way as equals.

2. INDIVIDUALISM

China:

At a score of 20 China is a highly collectivist culture where people act in the interests of the group and not necessarily of themselves. In-group considerations affect hiring and promotions with closer in-groups (such as family) are getting preferential treatment. Employee commitment to the organization (but not necessarily to the people in the organization) is low. Whereas relationships with colleagues are cooperative for in-groups they are cold or even hostile to out-groups. Personal relationships prevail over task and company.

UK:

At a score of 89 the UK is amongst the highest of the Individualist scores, beaten only by some of the commonwealth countries it spawned i.e. Australia and the USA. The British are a highly Individualist and private people. Children are taught from an early age to think for themselves and to find out what their unique purpose in life is and how they uniquely can contribute to society. The route to happiness is through personal fulfillment. As the affluence of Britain has increased throughout the last decade, with wealth also ‘spreading North’, a much discussed phenomenon is the rise of what has been seen as rampant consumerism and a strengthening of the ‘ME�� culture.

3. MASCULINITY

China:

At 66 China is a Masculine society –success oriented and driven. The need to ensure success can be exemplified by the fact that many Chinese will sacrifice family and leisure priorities to work. Service people (such as hairdressers) will provide services until very late at night. Leisure time is not so important. The migrated farmer workers will leave their families behind in faraway places in order to obtain better work and pay in the cities. Another example is that Chinese students care very much about their exam scores and ranking as this is the main criteria to achieve success or not.

UK:

At 66, Britain is a Masculine society – highly success oriented and driven. A key point of confusion for the foreigner lies in the apparent contradiction between the British culture of modesty and understatement which is at odds with the underlying success driven value system in the culture. Critical to understanding the British is being able to ‘’read between the lines’’ What is said is not always what is meant. In comparison to Feminine cultures such as the Scandinavian countries, people in the UK live in order to work and have a clear performance ambition.

4. UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE

China:

At 30 China has a low score on Uncertainty Avoidance. Truth may be relative though in the immediate social circles there is concern for Truth with a capital T and rules (but not necessarily laws) abound. None the less, adherence to laws and rules may be flexible to suit the actual situation and pragmatism is a fact of life. The Chinese are comfortable with ambiguity; the Chinese language is full of ambiguous meanings that can be difficult for Western people to follow. Chinese are adaptable and entrepreneurial. At the time of writing the majority (70% -80%) of Chinese businesses tend to be small to medium sized and family owned.

UK:

At 35 the UK has a low score on Uncertainty Avoidance which means that as a nation they are quite happy to wake up not knowing what the day brings and they are happy to ‘make it up as they go along’ changing plans as new information comes to light. As a low UAI country the British are comfortable in ambiguous situations – the term ‘muddling through’ is a very British way of expressing this. There are generally not too many rules in British society, but those that are there are adhered to (the most famous of which of of course the British love of queuing which has also to do with the values of fair play).

In work terms this results in planning that is not detail oriented – the end goal will be clear (due to high MAS) but the detail of how we get there will be light and the actual process fluid and flexible to emerging and changing environment. Planning horizons will also be shorter. Most importantly the combination of a highly Individualist and curious nation is a high level of creativity and strong need for innovation. What is different is attractive! This emerges throughout the society in both its humour, heavy consumerism for new and innovative products and the fast highly creative industries it thrives in – advertising, marketing, financial engineering.

5. LONG TERM ORIENTATION

China:

China scores 87 in this dimension, which means that it is a very pragmatic culture. In societies with a pragmatic orientation, people believe that truth depends very much on situation, context and time. They show an ability to adapt traditions easily to changed conditions, a strong propensity to save and invest, thriftiness, and perseverance in achieving results.

UK:

With an intermediate score of 51 in this dimension, a dominant preference in British culture cannot be determined.

6. INDULGENCE

China:

China is a Restrained society as can be seen in its low score of 24 in this dimension. Societies with a low score in this dimension have a tendency to cynicism and pessimism. Also, in contrast to Indulgent societies, Restrained societies do not put much emphasis on leisure time and control the gratification of their desires. People with this orientation have the perception that their actions are Restrained by social norms and feel that indulging themselves is somewhat wrong.

UK:

A high score of 69 indicates that the British culture is one that is classified as Indulgent. People in societies classified by a high score in Indulgence generally exhibit a willingness to realise their impulses and desires with regard to enjoying life and having fun. They possess a positive attitude and have a tendency towards optimism. In addition, they place a higher degree of importance on leisure time, act as they please and spend money as they wish.

reference:

https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country-comparison/china,the-uk/

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London Woman Guide Research _China

When I was in China, I did two main researched: first one is latest film& documentary&  TV series research to find out trending and main stream value of women and created lots of arguments about gender and women position in current Chinese society ; the second one is I talked with some insiders who focus on gender study and fighting for women’s  equal rights. They all recommend me to follow some relative secret account about woman which only insiders would know. I had followed three main social media account and read through all contents which made me understand more about Chinese woman rights and what they are fighting for now. 

Below are posters of film& documentary&  TV series I watched and social media accounts about women and gender equality I followed during Easter . 

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London Woman Guide Research _Paris

On my Paris trip, I checked some special destinations of woman, such as tomb of Simone de Beauvoir, the most symbolic figure of feminism and Hubertine Auclert who is  a leading French feminist and a campaigner for women’s suffrage, also the cafe flora where de Beauvoir and Jean Paul Sartre wrote their books about sex and gender. 

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London Woman Guide Research _International Women’s day

I collected some quotes and did researches on international women’s day for getting deeper understanding of it.

I began the discussion in what’s app and wechat group, members all shared their  opinions about this day. Also, I collected some opinions through social media platforms to find out how people treat this festival.

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London Woman Guide Research _WARCH THIS SPACE exhibition at goldsmiths

The artist Claire Collision used her body for creating artworks for 30 years. This exhibition revisited her own archive, as well as looking at her works of other women to exploring how to represent her current experiences. 

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London Woman Guide Research _Game It ( in class workshop)

The game is a good way to communicate difficulty, complicated or some sensitive topic to players. We were required to create one game which related to each design project. 

( my hand drawing clue cards) 

My game is a clue card game. I picked 6 famous woman figures, and create 7 clues card for each. The player could decide whether this clue match the figure , choose to abandon it or keep it. However, when I test it , I found some unclear rules and not as good as I imagined which showed the importance of testing ideas.  The good thing is I pushed myself to finish it within one day and transfer my conception to the real concrete objects. Thus, this workshop for me is really helpful and inspiring. 

( my classmates are testing my card game )

(other mates’ games, the water pollution one is really interesting and good )

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London Woman Guide Research _social media group

For my research, I built two chat group in two of main social media app : One is the biggest and popular Chinese one on wechat, and another one is on what’s app. I encourage all group members to share everything related to woman ,and discuss their own opinions. Also, I frequently would ask woman or gender related questions to them in the group and collect their answers. It’s not only the way to interview my target users , but also I can collect more interesting data or topics from these two group.

So far, I feel so satisfied with this research method and both of these two groups are active and full of energy, especially the Chinese social media one. They recommend me to do my guide in Chinese and all of them would be glad to help me to share and distribute it when my guide been printed. 

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London Woman Guide Research_the feminist library tour

The Feminist Library is a large collection of Women's Liberation Movement literature based in London. We have been supporting research, activist and community projects since 1975.

In 2015 The Feminist Library celebrated 40 years of archiving and activism. Totally volunteer run, we have created and looked after one of the most important collections of feminist material in all of the UK, and provided an inspiring learning and social space for thousands of people.

The Feminist Library holds a large archive collection of Women’s Liberation Movement literature, particularly second-wave materials dating from the late 1960s to the 1990s

Opening hours:

Monday closed

Tuesday 7-9pm

Wednesday 2-6pm

Thursday 7-9pm

Friday 11-5pm

Saturday 12-5pm for the

Feminist Library Bookshop

address: Multipurpose Resource Centre 5a Westminster Bridge Road London SE1 7XW

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London Woman Guide Research_London Suffragettes destinations

1. Suffragette Plaques, Monuments and Sites in London

Lesser known and hidden away across London are dozens of blue plaques, statues and memorial dedicated to British suffragettes. Peek carefully around the side of the Houses of Parliament and you’ll see the memorial to Emmeline Pankhurst, one of the leaders of the Suffragette Movement.

(2) Museum of London

Out of all of London’s museums, the Museum of London is the place to go to learn about the London Suffragette Movement. The Museum has a huge collection of memorabilia related to London Suffragettes and you can see some of the collection online. To celebrate the centenary of women getting the vote, a special exhibition called Votes For Women is running from February 2018 until January 2019. On display will be iconic London Suffragette related objects, including Emmeline Pankhurst’s hunger strike medal.

(3) Mary Seacole statue, London

Another heroine of the Crimean War, Mary Seacole’s application to assist the nursing effort was refused by the War Office.

Instead, she travelled by herself and set up the British Hotel to treat injured service personnel who were so fond of her, they raised money for her after she faced destitution following the end of the war.

You can see a statue of her at St Thomas's Hospital by the banks of the Thames.

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London Woman Guide Research_  East London

http://cubmagazine.co.uk/2014/08/the-feminists-guide-to-east-london-top-5-hotspots

1. NEW Gen NOW events at The White Building, Hackney, E9

A new project, NEW Gen NOW, has just started at this arts and technology centre: it is a series of talks and events exploring cyberfeminism and feminism’s internet presence and practices. The feminist creative genius behind Girls Get Busy zine, Beth Siveyer, recently gave a talk here addressing online representation for female artists. Contemporary and important.

Nearest tube stop: Hackney Wick overground / http://thewhitebuilding.org.u

2. Gal Space, Limehouse, E1

Gal is an art gallery supporting female artists through exhibitions, events and pop-up shops. It has provided a platform for so many pivotal feminist art projects, including the Beanie Babes products, showcased Vanessa Omoregie’s famous CamGirls project and supported Charlotte Cullen’s Intimates’ Index project.

Nearest tube: Limehouse DLR / www.galspace.tumblr.com

3. She Grrrowls events at The Gallery Café, Bethnal Green, E2

Carmina Masoliver’s event, She Grrrowls, is an arts event in Bethnal Green supporting female poetry, spoken word, music and comedy every third Monday. This is ideal for listening to fearless females and spine-tingling spoken word – and sipping beer in a beautiful café.

Nearest tube: Bethnal Green central line / www.shegrrrowls.tumblr.com

4. Rich Mix, Shoreditch, E1

This performance venue hosts live music, festivals and cinema screenings. DIY Cultures recently held a zine fair here, including exhibitions and workshops on mental health, creativity and talks on Decolonise It Yourself with Black Feminists and OOMK zine.

Nearest tube stop: Shoreditch High Street overground / http://www.richmix.org.uk

5. Power Lunches, Hackney, E8

This café on Kingsland Road is home to a huge variety of cool arts-related events, supporting female musicians and all sorts of creative fairs. I went to a mini feminist zine fest here a few months ago, which was attended by some amazing women, including the teams from OOMK zine, Girls Get Busy, Tom Tom magazine and SALT zine.

Nearest tube stop: Haggerston overground / http://powerlunchesltd.co.uk

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London Woman Guide Research

1. The Feminist Library 

http://feministlibrary.co.uk

The Feminist Library is a large collection of Women's Liberation Movement literature based in London. We have been supporting research, activist and community projects since 1975.

In 2015 The Feminist Library celebrated 40 years of archiving and activism. Totally volunteer run, we have created and looked after one of the most important collections of feminist material in all of the UK, and provided an inspiring learning and social space for thousands of people.

The Feminist Library holds a large archive collection of Women’s Liberation Movement literature, particularly second-wave materials dating from the late 1960s to the 1990s.

The library is located at: Multipurpose Resource Centre 5a Westminster Bridge Road London SE1 7XW

(2) Goldsmiths, University of London

Center for feminist research 

A dynamic feminist community providing a forum for discussion of equality and diversity at Goldsmiths.

https://www.gold.ac.uk/centre-for-feminist-research/

A dynamic feminist community providing a forum for discussion of equality and diversity at Goldsmiths.

We provide a coordinating hub for feminist work at Goldsmiths. In addition to organising seminars and conferences, we offer a symbolic and intellectual home for the MA in Gender, Media and Culture, co-convened by the Departments of Media & Communications and Sociology. We provide a forum for discussion of equality and diversity issues on campus (in relation to all aspects of the College’s equality policy: race and religion, gender, sexuality, disability and widening participation). We also provide an intellectual context for the delivery of Goldsmiths' equality policy. 

About the CentreThe Centre is currently based in Media & Communications and Sociology and is directed by Professor Lisa Blackman and Dr Yasmin Gunaratnam, with members working in a range of different disciplines. Goldsmith’s feminist community is dynamic and the Centre aims to preserve this dynamism. Goldsmiths has an longstanding international reputation for feminist research through the individual activities of staff based in a range of departments, from the contributions of alumni staff of the college who have shaped feminist histories (Sally Alexander, Valerie Walkerdine, Kay Stables, Helen Carr, for example), as well as through the numerous conferences we have organised on feminist themes since 1990's including: Emotion, Gender and Culture; Young Women and Feminism; Queer Theory; Feminist and Queer of Colour Scholarship; Feminist Genealogies; Race and The Academy as well as Feminism and Intimacy. The Centre for Feminist Research was inaugurated under the leadership of Professor Ahmed to consolidate Goldsmiths feminist histories and to help shape feminist futures at Goldsmiths. We wish to continue this legacy and build upon the feminist work that has shaped the institution.

The Women's Art Library

https://www.gold.ac.uk/make/

The Women's Art Library began as an artists' initiative that developed into an arts organization publishing catalogues and books as well as a magazine from the early 1980s to 2002. The main purpose however was to provide a place for women artists to deposit unique documentation of their work. WAL collected personal files that functioned together as an alternative public space to view and experience women's art. Thousands of artists from around the world are represented in some form in this collection.

As part of Goldsmiths Library Special Collections, the Women's Art Library continues to collect slides, artist statements, exhibition ephemera, catalogues, and press material in addition to audio and videotapes, photographs and CD-Roms. We welcome donations from women artists to help us develop this collection. Please see Artists' Documentation.

The Women's Art Library (MAKE) is located in the Library's Special Collections Suite on the ground floor. The Suite's audiovisual equipment includes integrated projection facilities for group use and a slide table. Independent researchers as well as students and staff are welcome to consult the collection. Proposals for group object-based teaching using items from the collection are also encouraged.

(3) Vagina Museum

https://www.vaginamuseum.co.uk

There is a penis museum in Iceland. Which is pretty cool. But there is no physical vagina museum. In the world. Anywhere. We were pretty miffed when we learnt this but we thought, there's only one way to rectify this.

A museum that takes a holistic view of vaginas, the variety of people and animals who have them, and their place in culture. It will be a diverse place where there will be lots of different ways of engaging and getting involved.

The museum is dedicated to being gender inclusive and intersectional.

Now : Search for permanent home in the UK

(4) Tate Modern

feminist art collection 

Feminist art is art by artists made consciously in the light of developments in feminist art theory in the early 1970s

http://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/f/feminist-art

In 1971 the art historian Linda Nochlin published a groundbreaking essay Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists? In it she investigated the social and economic factors that had prevented talented women from achieving the same status as their male counterparts.By the 1980s art historians such as Griselda Pollock and Rozsika Parker were going further, to examine the language of art history with its gender-loaded terms such as ‘old master’ and ‘masterpiece’. They questioned the central place of the female nude in the western canon, asking why men and women are represented so differently. In his 1972 book Ways of Seeing the Marxist critic John Berger had concluded ‘Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at’. In other words Western art replicates the unequal relationships already embedded in society.In what is sometimes known as First Wave feminist art, women artists revelled in feminine experience, exploring vaginal imagery and menstrual blood, posing naked as goddess figures and defiantly using media such as embroidery that had been considered ‘women’s work’. One of the great iconic works of this phase of feminist art is Judy Chicago’s The Dinner Party, 1974–9.Later feminist artists rejected this approach and attempted to reveal the origins of our ideas of femininity and womanhood. They pursued the idea of femininity as a masquerade – a set of poses adopted by women to conform to social expectations of womanhood.

(5)Southbank Center 

Women of the World festival 

https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/festivals-series/women-of-the-world

WOW – Women of the World festival celebrates women and girls, and looks at the obstacles that stop them from achieving their potential.

Around the world, individuals and communities are insisting on the simple proposition that women and girls must have equal rights and asking the question: why is gender equality taking so long?

Southbank Centre's WOW – Women of the World festival is a global network of festivals which provides a platform for celebrating what has been achieved, and exploring all the ways we can change the world for the better.

In the year that marks the 100th anniversary since some women got the vote in the UK, and when #MeToo shook the world, we bring together artists, writers, politicians, comedians, activists and more for the 8th annual WOW London at Southbank Centre.

WOW 2018 would not be possible without its generous sponsors and supporters: Bloomberg, UBS, American International Group Inc (AIG), The Chartered Insurance Institute and RELX group.

(6) Ugly Duck

location of feminism events , teams with Lon-art

e.g.

Sheroes - A social exhibition highlighting hidden her stories

49 Tanner Street London SE1 3PL

(7) Birdsong Festive Feminist Concept Store

https://birdsong.london/birdsongs-festive-feminist-concept-store-back/

35 beautifully-made, sustainable pieces, made entirely for fair wages by women's organisations in London. Shop these plus cool gifts by London designer Clio Peppiatt and New York's legendary, patented period pant brand THINX, homewares, and shirts from cult Spanish brand Paloma Wool. 

(8) The Women's Library

http://www.lse.ac.uk/Library/Collections/Collection-highlights/The-Womens-Library

LSE 

London School of Economics and Political Science

Houghton Street

London

WC2A 2AE UK

The Women’s Library currently based at the London School of Economics is an amazing resource for books and documents related to all waves of the feminist movement including London Suffragettes. The library is running a variety of exhibitions, talks and events to celebrate the centenary, called Suffrage 18. As an academic library, it is aimed at adults, but there are child-friendly events planned for May half-term. Check out their website for more details.

The Women’s Library began its life in a converted pub in Marsham Street, Westminster, as The Library of the London Society for Women’s Service in 1926. It had two aims: to preserve the history of the women’s movement, and to provide a resource for newly enfranchised women to enter public life.

The Library was renamed the Fawcett Library in 1957 and the Women’s Library in 2002. The collection has had many homes and it moved to LSE in 2013 when it became custodians of the collection.  

Most of the material highlighted here is stored in closed access and must be consulted in The Women’s Library Reading Room

(9) Dagenham

the origin of London feminism 

http://feministing.com/2011/02/09/made-in-dagenham-a-feminist-review/

Made in Dagenham is a dramatization of the 1968 strike at the Ford Dagenham car plant. The film follows the women at the plant, led by Rita O’Grady (a character not based on any real-life person, but rather a creation of screenwriter William Ivory) as they strike, at first only demanding to be classified as partially-skilled laborers, rather than unskilled laborers. However, they quickly set their sights on bigger goals, demanding equal pay and holding out against pressure from the Ford Motor Company, the government, and their own union.

10. Landmark & Victoria Tower Gardens 

Suffragettes in London

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/united-kingdom/england/london/articles/Suffragette-celebrations-at-the-Landmark-London/

Spend a weekend in London contemplating the suffragette movement – stay at the Landmark, where members of the Women’s Social and Political Union attended a breakfast for Emmeline Pankhurst, who had been released the previous day from a spell in Holloway Prison.Be sure, too, to visit the Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst Memorial at the entrance to Victoria Tower Gardens, next to the Palace of Westminster.

11. Wartime heroes in London

As the haunting Monument to the Women of World War II in Whitehall reminds us, women workers in wartime are largely anonymous – but wars open up previously forbidden job opportunities on a broad scale. 

12. Waterloo Bridge, London

Around 350 women worked on the construction of Waterloo Bridge during the Second World War, but their story has been largely untold.No photographs exist of them working, but the Women’s Engineering Society has been campaigning to have a blue plaque to honour their contribution.

13. Edith Cavell statue, London

On October 12, 1915, the British nurse Edith Cavell was executed by a German firing squad in Brussels for helping hundreds of Allied soldiers escape occupied Belgium.Her grave is in France, and there is a statue honouring her outside St Martin-in-the-Fields, just above Trafalgar Square in London.

14. Bletchley Park

Women made up three-quarters of the workforce at the code-breaking HQ during the Second World War, though Bletchley is largely remembered as a male endeavour.But the extraordinary contribution of women to Britain’s wartime decryption unit is finally being explored.

15. Florence Nightingale

Visit museums honouring the world’s most famous nurse either in London or in Istanbul, where you can learn about her work in the military barracks allocated to the English Army during the Crimean War – the very site where she reduced the death rate among patients from 70 per cent to 5 per cent by introducing modern nursing practices.

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London Woman Guide Research_ themed map references

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London Woman Guide Research_ Tate Modern

date: 10th, Feb

artist: Guerrilla Girls 

https://www.guerrillagirls.com

“The Guerrilla Girls are feminist activist artists. Over 55 people have been members over the years, some for weeks, some for decades. Our anonymity keeps the focus on the issues, and away from who we might be. We wear gorilla masks in public and use facts, humor and outrageous visuals to expose gender and ethnic bias as well as corruption in politics, art, film, and pop culture. We undermine the idea of a mainstream narrative by revealing the understory, the subtext, the overlooked, and the downright unfair. We believe in an intersectional feminism that fights discrimination and supports human rights for all people and all genders.“ 

Guerrilla Girls is an anonymous group of feminist, female artists devoted to fighting sexism and racism within the art world. The group formed in New York City in 1985 with the mission of bringing gender and racial inequality into focus within the greater arts community. The group employs culture jamming in the form of posters, books, billboards, and public appearances to expose discrimination and corruption. To remain anonymous, members don gorilla masks and use pseudonyms that refer to deceased female artists. According to GG1, identities are concealed because issues matter more than individual identities, "[M]ainly, we wanted the focus to be on the issues, not on our personalities or our own work." ( Tate modern) 

http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/guerrilla-girls-6858

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London Woman Guide Research _ THE GAZE short exhibition about feminist zines

Time: 10th, Feb Location : London College of Communication Brief: This short exhibition brings together a feminist Zine collection with the aim of diversifying the way of understanding the movement, its research and perspectives, its social impact, its expression and group discussion when addressing its problems in the D.I.Y culture. Review: Good way to present idea of feminism without language barrier. I am inspired by different styles of zine.

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Film & Story boards & Experiments

https://youtu.be/_mILAo-pS7M

For my film, I did two versions of story board in total . The first one is a simple one, describes what’s happened before, now and the future; The second one is more in detail which is helpful for me to express my idea clearly , especially when I try to brief it to others.

First one:

Experiment :

test 1 

test 2 

Second one:

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Application Of Methods And Processes ：Graffiti Wall & Quantitative &Qualitative  Research

Graffiti Wall:

This Week, I did one more graffiti Wall. I asked one of my friends to help me place a graffiti wall in an Asian restaurant  she worked. I want to collect feedback from Asian clients about feminism/feminist, this Western item. Because her boss doesn’t permit her to stick paper on wall, so she had to place it on the reception desk. Luckily, I got several inspired feedbacks.

Here are words about feminist they wrote : 

equality(2), human right, gender, woman power, freedom, my body, women right, worthy, meaningful, independence, righteousness, discrimination, respect.

Quantitative & Qualitative (IDEO’s method) 

In this week’s workshop, I did a quantitative & qualitative research about feminist. I created an eye catching poster with cheer-leader style as the trigger to find out potential feminist or anyone who interested in feminism. I didn't write down ‘FEMINIST “ , but choose “ POWER GIRL” which been widely used as the slogan of feminism activities. I posted this poster on 3 different locations around campus and I recorded numbers of people who paid attention to this poster as a witness. 

Location 1 : The wall outside the Whitehead Building 

Total: 21 /number of watcher :  6  ( 4 boys, 2 girls)

Location 2 : Su cafe inside RHB Building 

Total: 55 /number of watcher :  8  ( 3 boys, 5 girls)

Location 3 : On the road of New Cross Road 

Total: 33 /number of watcher :  4  ( 4 girls, 1 long time )

After research, I was back to studio and create a map. 

Through this research, I found there are indeed some people who care about feminism & feminist ,this topic. And with surprise, more boys would pay attention to this poster beyond my imagination. 

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Application Of Methods And Processes  _Reflection & Graffiti Wall

My design project of Application of Methods And Process would focus on my interested topic : feminism & feminist. I care a lot about independence, equality and rights of women. I treated myself as a mild feminist. Thus, I hope for this project I can design an “item” for this group. It could be a garment、bag or zine & poster. 

Before we began this project, we had been required to find some related articles of this top. Here’s are 5 pieces I found and read through. Each of these articles picked different angle and industry which shows diverse attitudes toward feminism.

At Tuesday’s class , we learned basic knowledge of research methods based on previous project and also analyzed the context of topic:

Topic: Feminism & Feminist 

Who: feminist, strong( Radical) feminist,man, anti-feminist, traditional dependent women, unisex, transgender 

Where: everywhere, LGBT group, feminism group, London , Goldsmiths...

How: historical background, personal experience, social background, individualism, self-counciouness and others. All of these are pushed the progress of development of feminism & feminist. 

When: now 

Why: my question is about this. Why, especially why some of feminists are  strong ones?

What: protesting, meeting, gathering, sisterhood 

Graffiti Walls:

Among methods of research, my first method is Graffiti Wall.  Graffiti Wall provide a canvases / paper blank to with guide questions for anticipates to write down or draw their comments or answers. This method encourages interactions between designer and the public which left space and privacy to people who join the research. It is an effective way to capture informal and real opinions from targeted subjects. 

When using this method, some factors need to be considered in advance: 

WEATHER

“DWELL” COMFORT?

LIKELIHOOD OF VANDALISM? ( how to prevent being put out ?)

INHIBITION FACTORS

ACCESSIBILITY (HEIGHT) how high it should be put ?

EXPLANATION? how should they know? put a trigger ?

REWARD 

EASY TO CONTRIBUTE?  write key word

For my graffiti wall, I choose to write down guided requirement. My proposal is to ask people to choose 1-2 words to describe feminist in their opinion. I made two graffiti walls. For each, I choose bright colors for attracting people. 

For location,  I prepare to attach in open area to collect opinion of the public, and for another one , I want to stick it to MA of  gender study’s classroom in Goldsmiths to collect relatively professional points of view. After I observed and asked, I found there’s a color building in Deptford high street is very eye catching and people are allowed to stick posters freely on its walls. And I heard that MA of gender study’s students would have the module of introduction to feminist & culture theory on Thursday night. So I decided my locations.

(1) Firstly, I brought two colorful A1 paper and finish preparation at home. I used string and ribbon to hang pens. And use tape to fix them on papers. Also, write down my guide sentence. 

(2) Then, I stick them with blue tac to two locations:  Deptford high street and PSH 305 in Goldsmiths. My height is short, so I chose a place which is a little big higher than my normal writing position to create an accessible height. 

(3) I recheck the green on at noon and found it I had collected one word: equality. However, it was not clear because the people seems used their own pen. I collected it at night , unluckily, it was removed. Fortunately, the pink one is still there and I had collected interesting words:

WORDS ON MY GRAFFITI WALL: 

liberation, equality, hope, badass, future, bravery, courage, empowerment, solidarity, essential, and a visual comment : a triangle. 

Generally speaking, I feel happy for this result. All of these words inspired me and might be used in my design project later. However, the first one didn’t do well which was not been used effiectively. So I will reconsider the location and do another graffiti wall in other public location. Also, I will stick one at Asian restaurant to collect Asian people’s opinion about feminist , the word from Western culture context.