Post by downtoearth on Sept 25, 2017 12:51:54 GMT -5
So I thought this was interesting. I haven't searched the hastag #homes, yet, but I plan to. I think it's interesting that there is a demographic that is more focused on perfect homes in their social media rather than themselves or current events. What do you guys think?
------------
Picture Perfect - #Homes is the Whitest, Most Bizarre Community on Instagram
In a certain section of the digital world, women are perfect. Their smiles are bright, hair is smooth, makeup is flawless. No matter what their current dress size is, they are always trying to lose weight. Their children are delightful. Their husband is adoring and adored. Their household furniture is exclusive and expensive, the artwork tastefully chosen, the flowers bright pops of color against whitewashed walls. The entire presentation—the women, the children, and the home—is superficially magnificent.
...That’s when I began noticing “the rules” for Instagram #homes.
The Rules •You must be married—to a man. •You must have at least one child. •You are white. •You are affluent. •If you work, you barely mention it, though… •… the majority of the time, you will be a stay-at-home Mom. •You only refer to your husband as “hubby”. Never his name. Never “the hubby”. •You don’t buy anything without hubby’s say-so. •You want to lose weight, regardless of necessity. •Your home is beautiful, and you will relentlessly photograph it from different angles and at different times of day. •You announce to Instagram—along with a photograph of your cleaning products—every time you’re cleaning. •Which you do a lot, by the way. A lot. •Politics and social issues are not to be discussed. •Oh, unless it’s a terrorist attack. Then, you are appropriately sad and praying for the unfortunate city. •You will post images celebrating follower milestones and thanking your loyal viewership.
... Sometimes, I judged the women of Instagram #homes because of their lack of focus on the world around them as the doomsday clock creeps ever closer to midnight. At other times, I envied them; not for their carefully curated images, but for their ignorantly blissful abandonment of the world outside of their own home. I see the attraction in such a narrow worldview, even if it’s not one I can subscribe to. ...
Post by thatgirl2478 on Sept 25, 2017 16:17:53 GMT -5
...maybe she just needs to find a different platform for her design/reno ideas? I mean, birds of a feather and all.
I get that it's weird, I'm not sure it's wrong unless they are actively keeping out WOC or alternate sexual orientations. Perhaps those groups of people have already figured out that this particular group of women is just weird and have self selected out (not that I blame them, that group sounds like a weird cliquey popularity contest).
So...design in the US (and maybe in other places, but I'm here) has a diversity problem. A huge diversity problem. POC know this, and some others acknowledge it. However, the majority doesn’t care—at least that has been my experience. I can’t speak to this particle piece directly, but I can speak to it indirectly on the basis that we have a problem in my industry.
Since we all love anecdotes on GBCN, let me share some with you.
The director of my former design program was charged with collecting and submitting internship applications for a job. She held back the applications of all but one POC and claimed there was no interest in the position.
A white student in my former design program said there is no such thing as a minority. None of the other students or professor would speak to that and told me in so many words to shut up when I did.
My colleagues have verbalized more than once that saying racists things and making racists jokes doesn’t make them racist.
My colleagues think it is work appropriate to share a video showing a news journalist saying made up Asian names that sound like mispronunciations of American phrases. (I feel it necessary to add the journalist was screwed over by a racist in the backroom.)
The owner of my company said the damage by the most recent hurricane in Puerto Rico is probably a good thing because she’s never much cared for PR.
People in my firm consistently throw out code words (ghetto, inner city, urban, etc.) in conversations about bad taste.
I was told by a coworker that the school to prison pipeline isn’t real and “those people” need to stop committing crimes.
There are several other things I’ve had to listen to, and, at the beginning, I called people out on their crap. I’m tired now. I’ve already started looking for jobs outside of design because I’m tired. I can only imagine how many other POC have moved into different industries because design is so toxic.
ETA: This is a second career for me, and I've never experienced racism of this magnitude out of design.
What I didn't even address in my post last night is that non-majority ideas are often shut down. Just like white designers, we come up with our ideas based on our experience and point of view and the client's need. There's no such thing as a single solution, but consistently hearing faculty, peers, coworkers, etc shut down ideas because they don't fit the majority mold is real.
And it's a shame because that's how design falls into cookie cutter staleness. That's why everyone gets blasted with paint everything white, don't use color, decorate with the blandest things ever. Color is bad. Patterns and objects are only acceptable if they've been appropriated--Grandin Road actually had a fucking NA headress on the cover of this fall's catalog and may even still be selling it.
Post by mrs.jacinthe on Sept 26, 2017 14:30:19 GMT -5
Thank you for sharing that, munkii. I didn't know that and I'm sure it's a sign of my privilege that it never remotely occurred to me until now. What can be done?
Thank you for sharing that, munkii . I didn't know that and I'm sure it's a sign of my privilege that it never remotely occurred to me until now. What can be done?
Probably a lot of the same things IT needs to do.
I just finished reading up this blog post. It's a good starting point if you're new to the conversation.