Mapping Bodies, Designing Feminist Icons

Bodies are nuanced, fluid, and political—often combining forms of intersecting and experiential identities. Nevertheless, bodies are frequently missing from maps altogether or, when they are included on maps, they are reduced to points, lines, and polygons. Focusing on iconography, I explore the depiction of bodies in map symbolization through a feminist lens. I apply a feminist semiotic analysis to thirty-eight Maki icons to problematize the ways in which bodies are depicted, abstracted, or erased. I analyze icon symbolization, particularly the presence/absence of bodily forms, the presence/absence of an embodied object, and the icons’ iconicity. My feminist analysis reveals the underlying silences, defaults, and power dynamics within the Maki icon set. I call mapmakers to rethink the depictions of bodies in icons—and the role of “universal” icon sets, more broadly—through a feminist lens. I offer design opportunities as a starting point for such an endeavor.