Cultural objects are designed by humans and used in everyday life. We understand what they mean and represent because we were grew up in an environment that used them. A circle for one bathroom and a triangle for another is all we need to see to understand which room we are welcomed to use. California, specifically, has a regulation that requires these symbols to note gender based restrooms (Here’s a link to the regulation: http://www.compliancesigns.com/media/resource-bulletins/CRB-CA-Title-24.pdf), which of course is a circle for women’s and triangle for men’s. Unisex bathrooms are required to use both the triangle and circle. You can argue that circles are linked with femininity because of pregnancy. You could also say that triangles are masculine because it represents stability. The triangle has a flat edge on the bottom which creates a stable image as opposed to being inverted and balancing on an edge. These symbols could be based on generalizations of roles of gender since the traditional American family consisted of a stay-at-home mom and a dad that brings the food to the table.
How do you think these geometric shapes represent gender? Can you think of other universal shapes that represent a group of people?
If these shapes were chosen because of gender roles then they don’t have the same symbolism as they used to. Men aren’t the only ones making money and not all relationships are male and female, however we still understand what these symbols mean. We understand what they represent because we are taught to do so. We are taught that circle means women’s restroom and triangle means men’s. Although we are not directly told that men are masculine and are represented as triangle, having these symbolic shapes could contribute to not-always-accurate representations.
Can cultural objects out date themselves? If so, can you think of other examples?
AMS 10 Wednesday sections blog Fall 2014 
It’s really interesting for me because I didn’t care and recognize this signs at all. And there are still so many cultural outdated objects which represent a kind of stereotypes of gender or race. The colors can be the example like doctor’s saying to the parents “You should decorate the baby’s room in blue,＂or ＂Prepare pink clothes.”. We take it for granted that pink showing femininity is for girls and blue like brave or energetic images is for boys.
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Cultural objects can become outdated, just like the male stability triangle you had mentioned. Like you said, both male and female have the ablity to maintain stability, therefor I do believe that these geometric symbols provide a false illusion. Another example of a cultural object that has been outdated while simultaneously distinguishing genders is the corset. Corsets were used in the 19th century by women to compliment their busts and help them look slender. In modern day America, both men and women use a new type of corset that tightens the stomach area while burning fat. This contemporary transfiguration of the original corset is now called a belly burner. With that being said it is apparent that items like the corset and restroom shapes do lose cultural significance as a product of evolution in time.
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