Mishra, Bidya, Bansal, Chirag and Gangrade, Kopal (2021) Casually Cursed: Vocalizing experiences around casual discrimination amongst teenagers. In: Proceedings of Relating Systems Thinking and Design (RSD10) 2021 Symposium, 2-6 Nov 2021, Delft, The Netherlands.

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Abstract

Systemic design is a delicate balance of pull forces from multiple directions, just enough to stretch it to its full potential. This dynamic balance is in itself a form of play, rich with permeable constraints of societal functioning. Complexes of superiority and inferiority incite hierarchical perceptions. Prejudice and Stereotypes build and break identities. The tension between societal conditioning and a free-thinking human mind defines an individual’s privileges or handicaps.

Our key focus is on teenage students who face discrimination in the form of name-calling, jokes and bullying. Casual discrimination almost always ends with the statement, “It was just a joke.”

These jokes rise from normalized stereotypes that become synonymous with a tool of communication. Subsequently, their social well-being gets affected and can potentially turn them into delinquents or victims of suicide in extreme cases. Frequent use of disparagement humour can affect a person psychologically and bring about a drastic change in their self-image and confidence. The roles of stakeholders are often intertwined such that turning into a perpetrator becomes a survival strategy for the victims. Teenagers are often unaware and only become reflective of their actions when they grow up into adults.

Reading casual discrimination amongst teenagers
The visual metaphor of the circus is used to convey the data and insights in order to appeal to our primary stakeholders, who are young teenage students.

The map is divided into three major sections: The central part talks about the interrelation of various stakeholders and shifting power dynamics. The left section is populated with primary and secondary research that supported our systems’ mapping. The right section talks about our Insights and Design Directions.

Flow of each section is from left to right.

Each heading denotes a separate module that can be read independently.

Item Type:	Conference/Workshop Item (Poster)
Divisions:	Faculty of Design
Date Deposited:	22 Jun 2022 18:35
Last Modified:	22 Jun 2022 18:45
URI:	https://openresearch.ocadu.ca/id/eprint/3891

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