Even as we move further into the 21st Century, it seems as though gender roles in society are extremely difficult to dismantle. Although there are great strides in gender equality, it still stands that women of different racial backgrounds earn significantly less than each white man does. Further still, the current craze with gender roles marks everything in society–jobs, toys, activities, and even colors–as gendered, male or female. I wanted to create a Unity program that would highlight the need to dismantle these harmful gender roles and stereotypes in society that ultimately restrict even children at a young age.
Brainstorming/Ideas/Inspiration
The final project is a networked Virtual Reality Simulation, meaning that two people are involved in the simulation at once. The two participants start off at opposite ends of the virtual reality space, with one half of the room lined with pink furniture and stuffed animals (stereotypically “feminine”) and the other half of the room is lined with blue furniture and toy trucks (stereotypically “masculine”). The two participants are free to move about in their respective spaces around the room, but are not able to enter into the other participant’s space. This is because the participants are divided by a translucent wall that they can see through by not pass through.
Final Project Recordings
After a brief period of time, the participants are surrounded by white orbs that fall down and surround each of the participants. As the orbs start to interact with certain objects around the room, they turn into the respective pink/blue of the room. As time continues to pass, the orbs start morphing into the respective toys (stuffed animal/toy truck) of the room, increasingly filling the participant’s mind with these gender stereotypes.
However, as time passes, the participants begin to fully acknowledge the presence of the other room that they can see but not enter, creating a “waving through the window” effect. When the participants activate a secret mechanism, the wall between the two sides of the room are brought down (coded to be at the same time for each room) and. they could move about the entire room as they please. The organic shapes of the toy trucks and stuffed animals move about the room, creating a chaotic blend of blue and pink, toys and teddies. This is a representation of the chaotic bliss that accompanies the destruction of gender stereotypes.
