For Women Only: How product design reflects the social role of women
What do Tupperware, the Ladyshave and the Satisfyer have in common? They are products designed specifically for women. But what do these products symbolise? And what does it actually mean to design for women?
On 19 July, the exhibition For Women Only opened at the Van Eesteren Museum. The exhibition explores the power of design and how products influence women’s social expectations and roles. This exhibition challenges visitors to think about the meaning of everyday utensils and their influence on women’s identity and social position.
For Women Only is the third exhibition in the theme year ‘Jakoba Mulder’s Soulmates’, which focuses on the role of women in architecture, urban planning and design. With loans from the NEMO Science Museum (Peter de Weijer collection), the Henri Baudet Institute (TU Delft) and designs by Nienke Helder and Anna Aagaard Jensen, the exhibition shows how product design of the time reflected societal expectations about women and explores how this is now.
For Women Only uses the museum’s collection of interior objects from the 1950s and 1960s and the Good Living tradition as a starting point. During this period, marked by the rise of consumer society, product designers translated social ideals into everyday utilitarian objects. In this, the male perspective dominated, resulting in products that reflected male assumptions about women. In the 1950s, the Good Living Foundation saw a clear place for women as caring homemakers. This ideal is inextricably linked to the product design of that era. But also in the decades since, women have assumed different roles that are reflected in the objects in the exhibition.
For Women Only is on display from 19 July to 29 September and is open Thursday to Sunday from 12:00 to 17:00. Curated by Lisa Hardon, Mijke Tonnon and Asuka Kondo. Museum director Jorn Konijn.
Photography: Almicheal Fraay
