188 words is ending on ‘man’ and 16 words is ending on ‘woman’ in the danish dictionary.
The historically inequality between genders is still evident in our language today, despite that our perception of what the genders are able to has changed over time. Gender discrimination in our language is a problem that is not only important to be aware of but also something we must try to change. The words we use are shaping our understanding of the world. To address this problem, I have created ‘Ord gør forskel’ (English: ‘Words make a difference’). A book that in an easily accessible way introduces the most important aspects of language inequality - and both communicatively and visually addresses a broad target group.
Year: 2022
Services: Book design, concept, photography, web design & SoMe
A sponsored ad designed to catch the eye, spread the message and promote the book. The symbol featured in the ad summarizes the project in the simplest way: Linguistic equality.
In the middle of the book you will find a dictionary that lists gender-neutral alternatives to gendered words. For instance, instead of using ‘målmand’, you can use ‘målvogter’. Additionally, you will find a collection of gender-discriminatory expressions, such as ‘tøsedreng’, ‘vatpik’ or ‘pigefnidder’, that perpetuate outdated stereotypes and reinforce discrimination.
As part of the project, I have created three statement t-shirts that subtly address the issue of linguistic inequality while also raising awareness for the book. The first t-shirt has a general message about linguistic equality, while the other two feature a visual representation of gendered words plus their gender-neutral alternatives.
Throughout the project I have used photos as a visual aid. The motif in the images is always a gender-neutral element from a gendered word, such as a carrot symbolising the word ‘snowman’. The goal is to provoke thought in the viewer and questioning the reasoning behind why an abstract shaped figure composed of snow and a carrot is referred to as a "man". These pictures are used to create a diverse selection of outdoors posters to be hung in the streetscape. Their purpose is to captivate attention and inspire the viewers to start reflecting upon how our language is shaped.
