Hooking Day Brochure and Hi-Fi Prototype

I decided there would certainly be no printed materials distributed in the year 2150, so I have been woking on this information page that 11-year-old boys would read before their Hooking Days.

I want this page to feel safe yet disturbing. Trying to do that with the new Matriarchy State of America seal at the bottom. I’m second guessing the top image.

What I don’t know is how to package this and the letter together…. should there be a hidden message/link to the letter embedded on this page?

Hi-Fi Prototype

The Matriarchy Message Update

Who is sending the message back?

A husband/father whose Hook has malfunctioned is coming out of the fog about his reality. His Hook’s output is normal and appears to be functioning, so as far as his wife can tell, his mood is stable and his testosterone levels are in balance. Without the effects of the mood-stabilizing injections to moderate his feelings, he becomes overwhelmed with sorrow and fear for his 10-year-old son who is preparing for his Hooking Day.

How does he send the message back?

The protagonist’s wife is a brilliant scientist. She and her team have built a time machine. The wife is a member of the Radical Misandrists Party, a political association that believes in the extermination of men. She and her team intend to use the time machine go back in time and eradicate men all together.

The day before his son’s Hooking Day, he sneaks into her laboratory and sends a message back to 2017 in hopes of changing his son’s future.

Who does he address the message to?

The man writes a letter to US Congress in 2017. He includes evidence from his time – a Hooking Day brochure and a photograph of the hook. He writes a plea to the congressmen to support the needs and rights of their female citizens. By creating equality between the sexes, they can prevent the rise of female extremists that led the United States down this dark path of oppression.

Actual Message:

Dear Congressmen of 2017,

How did you feel the first time you held your newborn son? Did unconditional love spill out of your heart, mixing with a feeling of immense pride that you made this new person? Did you think how you’ll do anything to help your son succeed, how you’ll defend him until the end of your days?

What if I told you that in the near future, none of that would be possible, and that your son would suffer without any control over his actions, career, or even his emotions?

After World War III ends in 2025, men will be identified as the country’s biggest threat because of their aggressiveness and proclivity to make rash decisions based solely on their testosterone-induced rage. An extreme feminist named Ms. Ann Dree will be elected president. She will use the public’s growing disillusionment with men to transform the United States of America into the Matriarchy State of America.

In the years that follow, men will begin to lose their civil liberties. But most disturbingly, a tracking device collar called the Hook will be developed and distributed to all men over the age 11. The Hook tracks our location, our testosterone levels, our fertility, and our emotions through a plug in the back of your neck. It is uncomfortable, but the device will shock you if you try to remove it. Mood stabilizers and hormone-balancing chemicals are injected into your bloodstream via the Hook. You are now under the control of your wife, your mother, or if you are unmarried, your all-female, totalitarian government leaders. Men are only used for labor, for housekeeping, and for reproduction and child-rearing. The traditional gender roles you are accustomed to are completely flipped.

What is more unbelievable to you, that men have to wear tracking devices in the future, or that women succeeded in dismantling the patriarchy?

In eight years, our war-ravished country will turn its back on President Trump and other male politicians. The National Feminist Party will take office under Ms. Ann Dree after a landslide election.

In twelve years, congress will be majority women. Men will need a female guardian to travel in public areas. The first prototype of the Hook will be developed.

In twenty years, the Hook will be on the market. Men will no longer be able to own property, vote in public elections, consume alcohol, or carry weapons.

In fifty years, all men wear the Hook. Women have control over the lives of their husbands and male offspring. Unmarried men live in dormitories under the surveillance of female police officers.

In one hundred years, your grandsons and granddaughters will know no other way of life.

Women are powerful and persuasive. Their rights, ideas, and voices matter. Without equality for women in our workplace, our government, and our homes, our society’s future is bleak. If we push them aside, if we write laws that work against them and their bodies, we are developing a country that is oppressive and regressive.

Tomorrow is my 11-year-old son’s Hooking Day. I beg of you, for the sake of his future, and for the future of your own loved ones, open your eyes. Equality for women is equality for all. It is your body; it is your choice.

 

 

Discovery Log: Design Personas

My department has decided to take over the NYU UX Group’s blog that has been a work in progress for several years.

We had a great kick-off meeting last week, and decided to first embark on defining our blog’s design persona. Here’s a link to our assigned reading for the week:

Crafting a Design Persona

by Meg Dickey-Kurdziolek

Key Takeaways:

A design persona characterizes how your product should communicate and ultimately build rapport with your users.

A design persona helps you understand how your product can build a relationship with your users.

To help imagine the personality of your product, imagine the product at a party. How would it react when asked questions? Would it mingle? Would it stand in the corner silently? These observations should guide your definition of the brand’s traits and establish its voice.

Use a “This, not That” formula to define brand traits. (ex: Fun, but not childish.)

Use a personality map to establish a brand’s tone for specific scenarios and user interactions.

Record and summarize decisions and examples with your whole team. Ex: fun posters!

 

Discovery Log: Kathrine Switzer

Just some feel good news to read about:

First Woman to Run in Boston Marathon Is Doing It Again — 50 Years Later

Kathrine Switzer was the first woman to run the Boston marathon in 1967. Today, she ran the marathon again at age 70.

In 1967, she registered under the name “K.V. Switzer” to hide her gender. Shortly after the start of the marathon, a race official tried to take her off the course because she was a woman, but he was blocked from doing so by Switzer’s boyfriend and she continued.

Women were not allowed to enter the Boston Marathon until 1972. They were considered “too fragile” to run it before then.

She wrote in the New York Times, “…on a basic level, running empowers women and raises their self-esteem while promoting physical fitness easily and inexpensively.” On the surface, one’s physical fitness seems so personal and out of control of others. Yet, access and acceptance is everything, whether it is access to equipment, support from a community, or the ability to compete against other athletes. It is ridiculous to think that a society would discourage women from an activity such as running. My mind is moving over to female runners who are threatened by sexual predators on a regular basis… like, can’t women do ANYTHING without being harassed and victimized?

It has only been 45 years since women were allowed to participate in the Boston Marathon. My parents were teenagers then. It terrifies me to think that in my lifetime the decisions our political leaders are making today could reverse the progression we’ve already overcome in terms of women’s rights and gender equality.

The Matriarchy – Feminist Dystopia

View Text Storyboards

Visual Inspiration 

I have a few medium ideas…

1: Propaganda video
2: Series of propaganda posters
3: History Textbook (# pages?)

At first I thought the video idea might be the strongest, but I’m unsure what kind of footage to use or how to shoot content. I thought up 3 different propaganda poster topics, finally thinking I ought to do a series of 3 that will highlight the main pillars of society.

Potential phrases for message(s):

Don’t let your man off the Hook!
-Tracks testosterone, stress and location-

“I’ve found the job where I fit best!”
Business is women’s work – find your role in industry and agriculture!

Never forget who could be a threat. [School children propaganda – emphasizes the inherent threat of men to society]

He looks cute now, but…
Give him what he needs!
[pro-conditioning for mothers of boys]

History

A chain reaction of events follows Brexit and Trump’s election. The EU is strained after more countries follow Britain’s lead to leave. Seeing opportunity, Russia invades neighboring Eastern European countries in order to distract from its own socioeconomic struggles. WWIII begins. Millions of lives are lost as men (and women) are drafted into the US military. For the first time, fighting occurs on US soil.

The war continues throughout Trump’s presidency. The US and Europe have been ravaged by war. Eventually all warring parties negotiate an armistice due to the lack of resources, money and troops on both sides. The survivors struggle to put the country back together. In the next US presidential election, the people are ready for serious change. Again. A new, strong, female politician steps up to the plate and is elected first woman president of the United States. Her name is Ms. Ann Dree. Change does not stop there, though, and the US government “drains the swamp” of (surviving) career politicians and elects a majority of women to congress, partially because so many male lives were lost during the war.

The Current Fem State

The year is 2150

I assumed the average lifespan = 80 yrs and that total societal change would take about 3 generations.

Timeline sketch

Political scientists have studied WWIII and determined that testosterone is the biggest threat to human peace and therefore must be quelled. Men are banned from holding certain positions in office as they are incapable of making rational decisions for the greater good.

Women, while inherently more emotional, are also more empathetic to the plights of those around them and make decisions based on the entire situation/what’s best for the group as a whole. Men are a danger to themselves and are monitored and used by society for what they’re useful for (labor, reproduction, etc.).

Society Rules

No men are allowed to carry weapons because of their aggressiveness and proclivity to make rash decisions based solely on their testosterone-induced rage.

Men are not allowed to consume drugs or alcohol.

Men cannot vote in public elections.

Men must reside in government-run dormitories until they are married. Unmarried men are not permitted to own or rent property.

Men must be escorted by a female guardian, such as a wife, supervisor, or security personnel, while on public grounds.

As many religions are grounded in patriarchal beliefs, society is overwhelmingly Atheist.

Q: What about transpeople? Would women think a trans-woman was trying to escape oppression? Would a woman give up her birth rights by having sexual reassignment surgery to be a man?

A: Transpeople would suffer in this dystopia. There is potential for some black market sex reassignment surgery, and potential for self-injection of female hormones via the Hook’s injection site, but it would be hard for men to transition and escape as they are under constant surveillance. A trans-man would have less incentive to forfeit their rights as a female.

Relationships

Men do not have to marry, but marrying a woman provides them more personal liberties.

Marriages are often arranged between families, but only at the request of the daughter(s).

It is perfectly acceptable for a woman to remain unmarried.

Same-sex relationships are acceptable, but male-male relationships do not result in additional rights toward home-ownership or occupation.

A woman has control over her husband and male offspring. Heterosexual married men assume all housekeeping duties and child-rearing responsibilities.

Child Care and Education

A woman is assigned a mid-wife to assist in pregnancy and child birth. Once a child is born, a woman can take as long as she needs off of work to recover and care for her newborn.

Children up to age 11 receive the same basic education at boarding schools. Girls are encouraged to pursue secondary and post-secondary education until they enter their occupation of choice. Boys are moved to conditioning schools to groom behavior and sharpen labor skills.

After completing conditioning school, young men can either return home to contribute to their mother’s household, or live in the government-run dormitories under strict surveillance. Men who live in dormitories contribute a portion of their salaries toward civic projects.

Q: What is the incentive to have male offspring? Would there be an increase in male infanticide because males are seen as a threat and therefore not worth the risk to raise?

The Object: THE HOOK!

The Hook is a C-shaped collar worn around the neck. All men and boys aged 11+ must wear it. The Hook monitors their testosterone and stress levels. It also works as a tracking device to alert authorities when a man has entered a restricted zone. It connects via a chip implanted in the back of the man’s neck.

An injection site in the Hook allows for easy adjustments of testosterone levels and/or mood stabilizers.

Monitoring stress, mood and testosterone allows for easy identification of high-risk behavior. Major threats undergo heavier surveillance.

give someone the hook
(verb phrase) To dismiss, silence, or otherwise reject someone, especially suddenly : The teacher gave him the hook (1940s+ Show business)

hook/hooking
(transitive) To ensnare someone, as if with a hook.
(verb, intransitive, slang) To engage in prostitution.

Lo-fi Prototype

 

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Discovery Log: The Broad

This weekend I went to LA for the first time!

I was very excited to see Yayoi Kusama’s ‘Mirrored Room’. Unfortunately it was a FIVE AND A HALF HOUR WAIT! for one minute inside the room. We put our name in the queue and went around downtown, but ultimately left before it was our turn. Major bummer.

The Broad is very small but has an amazing collection of modern and contemporary work! A lot of Jeff Koons, Andy Warhol, and Roy Lichtenstein. They also had a Chuck Close portrait!

These youths looked like the people in the work on display ha!

 

Smartwatch Infographic

I decided to research wearable technology, narrowing my focus down to the smartwatch.

My object in the future will be a wearable device for men that will monitor their location, testosterone levels, and emotions and stress. It utilizes Bluetooth and technology developed in 2010’s.

Click the image below to open the PDF:

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Improving Equality in the Workplace

Why does equality in the workplace need to be improved?

Women on average are paid less than men for the same jobs.

Why are women paid less than men?

Women have historically held jobs that pay less than the jobs held by men. Gender integration into high-paying fields (such as STEM jobs) has been slow, with some occupations remaining dominated by men.

Why are women not expanding into other occupations?

Stereotypes about the kinds of people in STEM areas as well as what a STEM job looks like can influence a girl’s choice to show interest or pursue rigorous coursework. Barriers exist in established, male-dominated academic and scientific communities, which results in poor recruitment and retention.

Why do barriers exist in these communities?

Studies show that implicit biases exist in our society that associates women more with less educationally rigorous careers and skills, rather than with math and science. Due to traditional gender-role stereotypes, women are also burdened with child-rearing and family caring responsibilities that reduce their economic and educational opportunities.

Why do child-rearing responsibilities reduce economic opportunity for women?

Women who do not have access to sexual health and reproductive education and family-planning information are more likely to have unwanted pregnancies and reduced workforce and education opportunities. Women with children may not be able to work a full-time schedule due to their childcare duties.

 

In an ideal world, our governing bodies would eliminate all discrimination on the basis of gender, expand access to contraceptives and family-planning information, and provide equal pay for equal work. Girls would be encouraged to pursue rigorous coursework by establishing role models and celebrating the achievements of women in STEM fields. The idea of the “boy’s club” would cease to exist, and women would be warmly invited to collaborate, research, and work in male-dominated fields as they wish. Education of young girls and women is key: if they know the possibilities, they can achieve more.

In my feminist dystopia, I am choosing to flip around our current workplace biases, shifting power to the women over men rather than portraying a world where this problem is solved. The women in my society will hold leadership positions. Women will decide when/if they want to have children. Childcare is not a concern because children will be kept in sanctuaries until a certain age. Mothers can visit their children at any time. Male and female children are provided with basic, fundamental education and an understanding with how society works. Once leaving the sanctuary, the girls continue their secondary schooling. Pubescent boys are conditioned to function without impulse, rage, or violence, and then moved to separate housing facilities where they will select from a limited career pathway.

Utopia/Dystopia Brain Dump

This is a work in progress post where I will free-write several potential dystopian/utopian scenarios.

First I started with just brainstorming all dystopian/utopian examples and details I could think of:


The World is a Dumpster Dystopia:

2117: World leaders broadcast an SOS out into the universe after Earth turns into a huge garbage heap due to mismanaged urbanization that resulted in incurable pollution. Natural ecosystems collapsed due to the destruction of the natural environment. Humans must wear self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) in order to survive outdoors. Homes are equipped with larger ventilation systems that reflow oxygen.

After receiving earth’s call for help, a race of humanoid aliens takes pity on us because they really liked earth-plants and wanted to grow them on their own planet which is void of greenery. Since their technology is more advanced, they have the ability to time-travel. They agree to send a message back to 2017 in hopes of changing the future.

The message will be about environmentalism. Something along the lines of “you better stop doing what you’re doing because you’re going to destroy everything that’s lovely”.

“Two storms — environmental and economic — are on a collision course for total world destruction.”

As for my object… I thought of like a breathing apparatus because there wouldn’t be enough oxygen on earth anymore. I’ve been looking into rebreathers (mostly for underwater but also in cases of mines and fire-fighting) and am just wondering is it so crazy to try to prototype some kind of space-age rebreather? There is a lot of science and engineering that I don’t understand!!

Feminist Dystopia:

After researching and thinking more about the topic above, I decided I want to construct a world where women have power – political and societal. I’m inspired by the short story “The Matter of Seggri” by Ursula K. Le Guin. In Seggri, there is a 12:1 birthrate of women to men. Women have power and are responsible for keeping society afloat, via food production, child-bearing, child-rearing, and politics. Men are only useful for reproduction, and spend their days locked away from women to focus only on their physical appearance and strength.

I am also interested in The Handmaiden’s Tale.  The setting is a totalitarian theocracy, and society is set up in castes. Wives of the ruling men are at the top of the female caste system. Handmaids are fertile women who serve men by carrying their children, all personal liberties restricted.

I like this quote from a Guardian article: “Feminist – or let’s say gender-questioning – science fiction asks insistently, through careful construction of different societies, how much of what we think now, today, in generic western culture about men and women is innate in the human species and how much is just invented. And if we’ve invented it then could we, for better or worse, invent it differently?”

Storyline:

A chain reaction of events follows Brexit and Trump’s election. The EU is strained after more countries follow Britain’s lead to leave. Seeing opportunity, Russia invades neighboring Eastern European countries in order to distract from its own socioeconomic struggles. WWIII begins. Millions of lives are lost as men (and women) are drafted into the US military. For the first time, fighting occurs on US soil.

The war continues throughout Trump’s presidency. The US and Europe have been ravaged by war. Eventually all warring parties negotiate an armistice due to the lack of resources, money and troops on both sides. The survivors struggle to put the country back together. In the next US presidential election, the people are ready for serious change. Again. A new, strong, female politician steps up to the plate and is elected first woman president of the United States. Her name is Ms. Ann Dree. Change does not stop there, though, and the US government “drains the swamp” of (surviving) career politicians and elects a majority of women to congress, partially because so many male lives were lost during the war.

200 years go by.

The year is 2225. Political scientists have studied WWIII and determined that testosterone is the biggest threat to human peace and therefore must be quelled. Men are banned from holding certain positions in office as they are incapable of making rational decisions for the greater good.

Women, while inherently more emotional, are also more empathetic to the plights of those around them and make decisions based on the entire situation/what’s best for the group as a whole.

No men are allowed to carry weapons because of their aggressiveness and proclivity to make rash decisions based solely on their testosterone-induced rage. Men are a danger to themselves and are monitored and used by society for what they’re useful for (labor, reproduction, etc.). Men remain in their approved work and living spaces, otherwise they must be escorted by a female guardian at all times.