Real Women Have Hair

The lengths women go to meet social expectation

DATE

2013

CONTEXT

Created in the Winter 2013 Game Design Class (DESMA 157), taught Eddo Stern

MEDIUM

Plexi, paper, paint

PEOPLE

Noorin Dorosti  :  Game Design

Real Women Have Hair is a game which responds to the pressure for women to be virtually smooth and hairless. A nude woman, stylistically rendered and covered head to toe in hair follicles, serves as the game board. Set up consists of players implanting wiry hairs into open follicles. Once that’s done, players get to choose from various hair removal options such as waxing, tweezing, threading or using a laser. With each option, players must manage the cost, pain and effectiveness of achieving a certain standard of femininity.

Real Women Have Hair makes a pointed statement about the costly extremes women endure when pressured to conceal a natural bodily feature. While players awkwardly pluck and zap their way to glory, some may wonder if it’s really worth the trouble.