Gender trouble

Women's football has become a dangerous game. Many of the sport's brightest stars have suffered career-ruining injuries.¹ The culprit may be on their feet.

A recent survey of top players saw 82% call their boots uncomfortable. With only a limited number of boots designed specially for women, many use men's boots. Sports scientists now claim that wearing these boots significantly increases the risk of injury.

Football boots are the tip of the iceberg. The buildings we live in, the tools we use, the software we rely on - in many cases these have been designed by, for and with men.

As author Caroline Criado Perez wrote in her 2019 book Invisible Women: "The lives of men have been taken to represent those of humans overall."²

Hardhats are made in men's head sizes. Smartphones are largely designed with men's larger hands in mind, making them harder for women to use. Even the standard temperature in American offices is based on the needs of a 40-year old man - 5F (2.2C) colder than that comfortable for a woman of the same age.

This imbalance has deep roots. For centuries, many societies were dominated by men. Women were often uneducated and housebound. This has changed over the last century as more women work in the workplace. In Britain, the employment rate for women has increased from 24% in 1914 to 72% in 2023.³

Change is coming. There are now more female architectsAn architect is somebody who designs buildings. and designers than ever before. More women in Britain now study architecture than men. Women now have the chance to design things for their own needs.

But inequality remains.⁴ The people designing our cities, equipment and activities are still often men. In the United States, only 23% of currently employed architects are women. Women make up just 11% of software developersA person who designs and builds computer programs. .

Is the world still made for men?

Yes: Ending years of design for men is not easy. It might take centuries more, along with a vast amount of will and effort, to rebuild our cities and lives in a fairer way.

No: Becoming aware of the problem was the big step. Now that we know just how much of the world has been accidentally designed by men for men, we can adapt our societies piece by piece.

Or... The world is not made for all men, but a certain type of man - white, adult, able-bodied, often physically fit. Gender imbalance is just one of the issues that design needs to address.