Gender and Material Culture: the Political Dimension of Daily Artefacts

In this essay, I discuss the politcal implications of material culture in the light of gender relations. I criticaly inquiry how the values objectified in everyday life artefacts contribute to the naturalization of diferences involved in social inequalities. When artefacts are implied in gender binarisms, they can serve as material resourses for the constitution of bodies that conform with the notions of “feminine-women” and “masculine-man”. Therefore, I reinforce that the hegemonic visions pass through the reconfiguration of the relations we have with the materialities we live by, both in terms of the naturalized character of the gender divide, as well as of the heterosexuality as the dominant order of desire.

Keywords:
Material culture; gender relations; heteronormativity, design; artefacts