My area of interest explores topics regarding the social definition of masculinity within New Zealand, how it has developed over time and how it affects contemporary society. Theories suggest that hyper-masculine gender stereotype is exaggerated within New Zealand culture as a result of our pioneer heritage; further developed throughout the early 20th century through the idealisation of the New Zealand soldier. Today, these male stereotypes severely limit what is considered “ideal” and socially acceptable within New Zealand culture.

Having learnt that New Zealand’s social definition of masculinity has such a negative impact on our youth (specifically between the ages of 20-24), I began exploring ways in which I could communicate this information effectively towards this specific age group. I decided that designing a website was the ideal format for the targeted audience. This forced me to push myself out of my comfort zone, greatly challenging my knowledge of digital design and development from learning multiple types of code.

The title, Seditious Utterance was a term dissected from one of the newspaper clippings from the early 1990s that I was researching throughout this project. With seditious meaning an act of rebellion against established order and utterance being a remark or expression, it is an expression of my opinion of the effects that these gender stereotypes carry, such as the societal pressures to contain specific personal comments and statements of self expression.