Data Visualization Critique

Keyword: Gender

"Gender Roles" by Markus Winker via Unsplash

My chosen visualization depicts a Venn diagram and word cloud hybrid that compares the gender split between celebrity charitable causes. The visualization was created in 2015 by David McCandless, founder of Information Is Beautiful, an information-graphics website. The dataset used, was repurposed from the “Look to the Stars” platform, which analyzed close to 3,800 celebrities and the humanitarian causes they supported.

Methodological details were not present within the visualization itself, so additional research was required to establish what dataset was used to create it and whether its creator, David McCandless is educated on the topic he is visualizing. From an information design perspective, McCandless is most definitely an expert, but he is not a research professional in gender studies by any means. In fact, his work typically does not thoroughly explore particular research questions. In the Textual Structures chapter of Isabelle Meirelles Design for information, she discusses how word clouds generally are not used for analysis that require a high degree of data literacy, but an artistic and imaginative way to present relationships. With this in mind, the visualization’s low data-to-ink ratio aligns with the conventions of this textual structure and does not diminish its ability to convey information.

 Upon first glance, I could immediately infer the intended audience, not so much those interested in humanitarian issues themselves or celebrity culture, but rather those interested in examining commonly societal expectations based on assigned sex. The charitable causes shown in larger font sizes reveal what men and women appear to prioritize in their lives. For instance, female celebrities' support for animal welfare and family-related causes reflects societal expectations around women’s emotional labor, while men tend to prioritize strength and leadership, as seen by male celebrities' support of the military and civil rights.  Celebrities are simply used as a proxy to provoke discussion about the persistence of gendered expectations,

I have always understood gender as a social construct, shaped by generations of learned behaviors. What I took away from the visualization is that social and cultural expectations of gender are deeply embedded in everyday life. In this case, even in decisions that appear altruistic. Society assigns distinct roles and responsibilities to each gender, and provides a framework for the behaviours that men and women feel should be displayed publicly.

Works Cited

Dunne, C. (2015). Gender differences in celebrity charity causes, visualized. Fast Company. https://www.fastcompany.com/3040935/gender-differences-in-celebrity-charity-causes-visualized 

McCandless, D. (2020). Cause célèbre – gender split behind Celebrity Charitable Giving & causes. Information is Beautiful. https://informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/cause-celebre-gender-split-behind-celebrity-charitable-giving-causes/

Meirelles, I. (2013). Design for information : an introduction to the histories, theories, and best practices behind effective information visualizations (1st edition). Rockport Publishers.

Figure 1: 

Gender Differences in Celebrity Charity Causes

Word cloud visualization of celebrity charitable causes. Information is Beautiful.