Experts – Yadi Wang

Update on Progress of Contact with Experts and Charity Organisations

Unfortunately, I have not yet received any responses from charity organisations about collaborate. But I did get a reply from feminist jewellery designer Sarah Day!

I had a short telephone interview with her. She focuses more on feminist concepts in her designs rather than on the delicacy of the final product. For example, in her jewellery collection ‘when you have NO WORDS’ she puts swear words in her jewellery, as she believes swearing is a feminist issue. She argues that I can also think less about the detailing of the product and more about the idea of the communication. She has worked with eight charities and suggested that if I want to collaborate I should produce more jewellery designs first instead of just sending them plans. She would be happy to help me consult with the charities when all my collection is finished.

Evidence of expert contact and interview

Contact with New Experts and Charity Organisations

To find out more about what stakeholders actually need, I contacted the following experts/organisations for more information and advice.

1.Experts

（1）Sarah Day www.wearandresist.com sarah@wearandresist.com

Wear and Resist was started by Sarah Day, in early 2017. Wear and Resist supports a range of women’s charities giving £2 from each design associated with them. I have already emailed her and look forward to her reply. I plan to be able to discuss with her donation type jewellery designs and help influence.

（2）Heather Thomas heather.thomas@thelightbox.org.uk

Head of Learning and Engagement at LightBox, The Lightbox or to take part in a group artist-led session for adults affected by mental health issues. I would like to have the opportunity to work together to organize workshops and try to combine art and counselling.

2. Charities/Organisations

(1) ANAWIM centre for women in Birmingham www.anawim.co.uk

Anawim brings people together from a range of communities and backgrounds to help women understand the impact of their trauma, and to begin the healing process by overcoming obstacles and learning how to move forward to a brighter future for themselves and their families.

(2) Being Woman UK www.being-woman.org.uk

“Prejudice and discrimination harms individuals, communities and society. BEING WOMAN is a charitable incorporated organisation based in Northumberland, United Kingdom. They are committed to empowering women with the knowledge, skills and confidence to challenge all forms of prejudice and discrimination in society.

（3）Rights of Women www.rightsofwomen.org.uk

T heir vision is to achieve equality, justice and safety in the law for all women.

Interview with Qian Tao, Professor of Psychology, Jinan University

I contacted Dr. Qian Tao, a psychologist from the Department of Mental Health at Jinan University, as my expert. I wanted to learn more about the impact of the male gaze on the objectification of women in various aspects of psychology, individuality, etc. I prepared the following four questions for the interview.

Social media is flooded with visual products of the male gaze, do you think this is usurping women’s cognitive resources?
Do you think there is an impact on women such as in shaping their individuality? For example, now that the popularity of electronics has led to an increasingly younger age group using social media, does the invisible male gaze in social media affect them in terms of their own individuality, talents and abilities?
How do you think can help women improve their image to reduce their self-objectification?
Do you think there are any effective ways to reduce the impact of the male gaze on women?

I have recorded and translated Professor Qian Tao’s interview responses in the following.

A1: Yes, there is no doubt about it. But I think the greatest appropriation of women’s cognitive resources comes from the reality. When women get to higher education, the influence of the male gaze I think diminishes as well.

A2: I think there are influences, especially on children who are most susceptible. I don’t support children using electronics too early, there is too much cluttered information online and it has a very strong impact on the quality of the children’s individuality. Secondly, I think the most vulnerable group is young women who have just graduated from high school and are entering university.

A3: I think the most important point is to give women the freedom to be themselves. Admittedly, I am sometimes influenced by other people’s vision to choose external images that suit me but are not my cup of tea. In the larger social system, the right to be yourself is difficult and it is hard for you not to be influenced by what other people see. This influence also happens to men. But in comparison, the sexualisation of women leads to the self-objectification, whereas men are not so affected in this respect.

A4: Education. Periodic educational activities or talks on the subject, especially for women at school. In my opinion, this is the most effective way to reduce the impact of male gaze.