Abstract

Cross-Examined by Jon Cates & Rebecca Cummins

For years the discussion of the numerous constraints imposed by software has remained within a technical context, tucked safely away within a language of technological limitation. The “revolution” in technology has occurred in the daily dissolution of technical boundaries that only yesterday seemed insurmountable. Unfortunately this revolution has far fewer implications than a battle that places these boundaries within a historical and cultural context focusing on gender and race.
<Grrl Codes> offers a critical reading of hidden constraints found in “preference”, “default”, and “library” palettes in animation and rendering software. It aims to reveal the subtle ways in which stereotypes of gender and race are reinforced, re-enacted, and distributed within multiple contexts including video games and educational applications. Knowledge of this thesis comes firsthand. During a collaboration with choreographer Yacov Sharir in the design of cyberhuman dancers (dance figures modelled and animated digitally)
I discovered that despite a “revolution-ary” approach to the materials and metaphors used to represent the body, the language of representation coded into the animation software in the form of libraries of human figures, animation sets, and poses was less than revolution-ary. It was, in fact, highly historical, rooted in a long tradition of stereotype and cliche. When the “ideal female” or “ideal male” (selected from libraries of pre-built figures) have as default settings pale pink skin and large breasts, or heroic upper body measurements and optional genitalia, gender and racial stereotypes are built into (and reinforced) by the very architecture of the software.

• Katie Salen, US, is an Assistant Professor of Design at the University of Texas at Austin and the editor and designer of the journal Zed. Her research focuses on utilizing a broad design practice to investigate ideas about the dynamic relationship between cultural identities and their expression through visual language. Recent work has centered on issues of typographic “voice” in sites of electronic orality and she continues a collaborative relationship with choreographer Yacov Sharir in the design of virtual bodies and spaces for perform-ance. As a designer/writer she has had articles published nationally and internationally, has presented work at SIGGRAPH ’97 and ISEA97, and is the force behind Shy.Grrl.Flux, an interdisciplinary research collective committed to addressing connections between design, women, and culture.
• Jon Cates, US
• Rebecca Cummins, US/AU