This master’s thesis investigates how patriarchal structures and gender stereotypes are embedded in everyday products, spatial environments, and professional design processes. Combining feminist theory, sociological concepts such as Doing Gender, and contemporary design research, the project analyzes historical genealogies of gendered form, materiality, and usability while grounding these perspectives in an empirical user survey. The study positions design not as a neutral practice, but as a cultural force that reproduces—or can actively challenge—social power relations.
At the center of the research is an experimental cartographic instrument: the Wahrnehmungsatlas (Perception Atlas). Drawing on survey data, literature review, and qualitative observation, this large-scale visual map translates cultural patterns of gender attribution into a speculative geography. Territories of masculinity, femininity, neutrality, and queer expression are arranged as a fictional landscape, intersected by symbolic “weather systems” that trace shifts, appropriations, and historical reversals in gender coding. The atlas does not claim objectivity; instead, it functions as a reflexive research device that makes cultural assumptions visible and debatable.
Conceived as both analytical model and participatory tool, the map is designed for use in workshops, studios, and educational contexts, where viewers can annotate, rearrange, and contest its elements. In this way, the project demonstrates how mapping can operate as a form of cultural cartography within design research—transforming abstract theory and empirical findings into spatial knowledge, and opening new pathways for more inclusive, critically informed design practices.
Isabelle Wydra: The Male Gaze: Patriarchale Strukturen in Lebenswelten und Gestaltungsprozessen mit Bezug auf Produktdesign
Master’s Thesis Project 2025
Supervised by: Prof. Dr. Sabine Foraita, Prof. Konstantin Haensch
