Hi, how are you? my name is Ly, and I am writing as I have difficulty completeing an essay on the feminist critique of design. I have researched quite a fair bit into this topic, but was wondering if you would be able to assist me in explaining what is meant by: "gender is a cultural construct arising from interpretations of sexual difference" and how does this manifest itslf in representations of the "feminine"? Also what type of design practices subvert this stereotypical notion of the femininty as well as those which perpetuate such notions. I would appreciate your assistance in helping me with this area of the feminist topic. Thank you for your time.

Thanks for your note to FEMINIST.COM--and I'll say from the get-go, that I hate academic language. Essentially, what is meant by "gender is a cultural construct arising from interpretations of sexual difference" is that every individual male and female has the same potential. Differences set-in when people label certain qualities male and certain qualities female. In reality, these should just be considered "qualities" since every individual is capable of possessing them regardless of their real gender. How this plays out is that then things get stereotyped as male and female--i.e. pink and blue, dolls and trucks, etc... As for how to subvert this, we have to just be honest--that not every girl loves pink and not every boy wants to be a high powered attorney.
—Amy