Proceedings of the 9th International Conference Senses and Sensibility 2017, Funchal, Madeira 24-27 October 2017 1 Genders of Products: Creating Genderless Design Irem Cakiroglu ab a Department of Industrial Design Istanbul Commerce University, Istanbul, Turkey gicakiroglu@ticaret.edu.tr b Graduate School of Science Engineering and Technology Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey cakiroglug@itu.edu.tr ABSTRACT Gender identities are defined based on social constructions. Today, not only women but also all constructed identities, should be treated equally as human-beings. For an equal world, designers have a significant role for shaping culture and the society. Thus, the designers’ role is to use their material to design products that are independent from all constructed bias and to point to the importance of genderless design for the society. The aim of this paper is to investigate how masculine and feminine stereotyped characters have been imposed on products, the importance of genderless product, and how it can be designed. First, feminist theory, queer theo- ry, and cyborg manifesto are explained so as to understand the necessity of gender-neutral communities, then, gender elements on products are examined, and finally, how genderless product can be designed according to the analysis is discussed. This research is an initial study to understand gender parameters in product design to contribute to future studies. Keywords: genderless design, product, queer theory, feminism INTRODUCTION Gender issues in society have had a place in many fields such as philosophy, sociology, and psychology. After the 1980s, gender issues also have been discussed in design studies. Design researchers especially mentioned male domination in design (Buckley, 1986; Attfield, 1989; Clark, 2009; Kirkham, 1996). Buckley (1986) pointed out the necessity of women’s “presence” in design practice and also in design theory. In addition, designers are encouraged to examine women’s role in design and to express the notions of “feminine, gender, woman, and subjectivity” again (Buckley, 1986). Attfield (1989) stated “other” in the patriarchal design community, who is lesser superior such as women. Diversity in design has been accepted with postmodernism, however, this caused a reconstruction of superior gender and has emphasized other more than before (Buckley, 2009; Kirk- ham, 1996). Unfortunately, design researchers have focused on the woman’s side in gender issues and gender- neutral perspective has been ignored. So, how can design contribute to movement beyond that perception? Design is an interactive profession that transmits ideas and products can be considered a tool for the de- signer to communicate with the user (Schroeder, 2010). Not only in design theory but also in design practice, thinking beyond borders can have a significant impact on change of the perception of gender. Unfortunately, feminist designers have not focused on representation of product in a gender-neutral way. Some feminist de- sign research (Ehrnberger & Rasanen & Ilstedt, 2012; Bardzell, 2010) are examined through women and men gender types by conversion of gender ingredients to contrast gender-identified products. This shows also ac- ceptance of social gender norms and if gender is considered as a “performance”, which is an act demanded by the society while sex is given by nature (Butler, 1990), that cannot be seen as a feminist approach to design. This could only be a patriarchal perspective on feminist design practice. Today's design approach tries to emphasize un-equality by examining women instead of removing gen- der discrimination. Thus, this study examines how designers can reach to genderless design to eliminate gen- der discrimination in products as much as in society. So, how can design practice contribute to feminism? How