The Functional Feminist Manifesto
“The feminist movement as at present instituted is Inadequate. Women if you want to realize yourselves-you are on the eve of a devastating psychological upheaval-all your pet illusions must be unmasked—the lies of centuries have got to go—are you prepared for the Wrench—? There is no half-measure—NO scratching on the surface of the rubbish heap of tradition, will bring about Reform, the only method is Absolute Demolition. Cease to place your confidence in economic legislation, vice-crusades & uniform education-you are glossing over Reality. Professional & commercial careers are opening up for you—Is that all you want? And if you honestly desire to find your level without prejudice—be Brave & deny at the outset—that pathetic clap-trap war cry Woman is the equal of man—for She is NOT! (Mina Loy, 1914)”
Navigability
Design is a painful navigation between the new and the old. It is a thread, a connection, and a perspective. If we go on to ask, "What is good design?" we are faced with several seemingly irrelevant follow-up questions: what is current, and what is historical? Who holds opinions on what? Where do we go from here?
Conformity
Design is a living, breathing person with thoughts, personality, and values: ever-changing and ever-growing. Similar to how we have guidelines based on which we judge if people are good or bad and accordingly put them in jail, design practices must also conform to established guidelines. A bad designer must be captured and put in design prison.
Originality
We must accept that nothing is truly original; we are a sum of all things we experience. However, we will not tap into vain trends for the industry and capital. When we design, we will design with purpose and reject beautiful art that is pleasurable to the eye alone. We reject the male gaze.
Fluidity
We understand, think, write, and design through language. We cannot ignore the binary implications of language. To make sense (if we even want to), we must constantly define, eliminate, constrain, and clarify. As a designer, we must accept fluidity and never expect meaning to lie in one narrative or the other; for it to flow back and forth. (However, rivers flowing through body texts will always be "ew").
Functionality
"Form over function." Maybe Sullivan got that right. However, it does not need to be constrained within product design or architecture. We do not need more minimal, brutal, and phallic-shaped artefacts. We want the functionality to be embodied in co-design and transformative design practices, making things for the community, for the oppressed, and for the minorities. Can good design be as cathartic to the masses, our proverbial audience, as art can?
Sincerity
The 21st-century designer can no longer be ignorant, minimal, and useless. The job is not to create a product. It is to think of placement, ecosystem, material, and sustainability. We will no longer accept excuses and capitalistic ideals and think that selfishness and success have a correlation. As designers, no matter the circumstance, we will never stop caring. Caring for the people, the community, and the planet.
Femininity
We will embrace multiplicity, incorporate the multi-sensory, and create works that embody femininity. We will not use male logic to explain our work or escape ambiguity. Our designs will challenge society’s expectations of femininity, and will be loud and unapologetic, filled with feminine wrath and brutality.
Audacity
What we do not have the skill for, we will compensate for with sheer audacity. We won’t wait to feel capable or ready to take on this responsibility decreed upon us. However, we will simply do our best for however long we can.