Enhancing the representation of female sexual pleasure

Abstract

Female sexuality remains a taboo in our modern society. Women feel shame and social pressure when vocalising their sexual needs and are judged when they express themselves too freely sexually. As our societal view is influenced by the visual design of products and the underlying message they uphold, appropriate visual design can positively influence the public attitude towards female sexual pleasure. Currently, in products and services for female sexual pleasure and sexual wellbeing, there is a persistent attempt to distance sexual products from the representation of sex as ‘dirty’. Sexual expressions are submerged in a posh/designer style, a feminine/innocent look or a clinical appearance. Thereby, an opportunity is missed to visually communicate female sexual pleasure to the consumer and to normalise the subject. When female sexual pleasure is visualised, it lacks a sense of nuance, diversity and inclusiveness. This results in a lack of resonance between product and consumer and creates a unilateral perception of female sexual pleasure. This thesis investigates how women would visually express their personal feelings of sexual pleasure. We propose a new visual language that portrays a variety of personal visual expressions of female sexual pleasure. This visual language is developed into a visual guide, ‘The Pleasure Gallery’, which inspires and guides graphic and product designers through the design process of visually communicating a realistic message from the perspective of women regarding their sexual pleasure. The Pleasure Gallery provides the user with visual stimuli that evoke a new way of looking and thereby create a ‘change in perception’ in the current visual communication design. When The Pleasure Gallery is spread among brands in the field of products for female sexual pleasure and sexual wellbeing, the aim is to trigger a discussion concerning the current visual communication design, leading to innovative designs that communicate a message that enhances female sexual pleasure. When designers start to work from the perspective of women regarding their sexual pleasure, firstly the sense of relatedness and attraction between product and consumer will be increased. Secondly, if female sexual pleasure is more frequently and positively portrayed, women will be positively addressed on their feelings of sexual pleasure and society as a whole will obtain a more open and inclusive view on female sexual pleasure. Eventually, this will contribute to the normalisation of female sexual pleasure and thereby create more freedom for women to express themselves sexually.