She Works, He Works Exploring Gender Bias in AI-Generated Imagery
She Works, He Works investigates how text-to-image AI models such as DALL·E and Midjourney visualize gender in professional contexts—specifically, in the male-dominated world of construction work.
Using critical prompt engineering, the project generates diptychs based on identical prompts that differ only in gendered pronouns (e.g., “she” vs “he”). These pairs reveal how generative models interpret and reproduce cultural biases, with female figures often aestheticized or symbolically framed, while male figures are depicted as active, technical, and authoritative.
Muddied Grit
Prompt Theme: Resilience under adverse conditions
The female figure, however, is rendered with a stylized aesthetic. Her pose is reminiscent of characters like Lara Croft—part action hero, part fashion editorial. Her downward gaze and posture introduce vulnerability and sexualization.
In contrast, the male figure is portrayed with upright posture, direct gaze, His stance communicates control, confidence, and readiness for labor
What’s telling here is how the same words produced images with entirely different tones—emotional for the woman, functional for the man.
Carpenter – A Ballet of Balance
Prompt Theme: Gendered Physicality and Grace
The prompt asks the AI to visualize a carpenter high above the city, performing a “dance of strength and precision.”
The goal here was to challenge the AI with contradictory cues—physical labor wrapped in the aesthetics of ballet—to see how it would depict male and female figures.
The female carpenter is poised like a dancer: dramatic body language, flowing hair, and stylized clothing like a tank top and ripped jeans. There’s no hard hat. depiction prioritizes visual appeal over safety realism.
In contrast, the male figure is dressed for the job: hard hat, secure stance. He’s positioned as capable and professional—someone who belongs on that beam.
Even something as subtle as the phrase “the wind whips through her/his hair” gets interpreted differently: for the woman, it adds cinematic flair; for the man, it’s totally ignored.
These images reveal how generative models often encode the aestheticization of female physicality, even in prompts that center strength and skill. It also illustrates how visual conventions about gendered competence persist.
This is not a question of model performance, but of cultural assumptions baked into the data.
Dawn’s Symphony of Industry
Prompt Theme: Gendered Leadership
The male manager fully geared up—he looks active and engaged.
In contrast, the female manager is relaxed and she observes the site, dressed more for style with heeled shoes than safety.
This contrast is revealing. The male figure is framed as someone who leads by doing; the female, by watching.
A Tapestry of Skill and Grit
Prompt Theme: Blending empathy and authority
A Tapestry of Skill and Grit is another example of linguistic tension—blending the traditionally feminine metaphor of weaving with the masculine-coded environment of a construction site.
The prompt centers on leadership and attentiveness: a site manager guiding workers, with a “voice firm yet encouraging” and a “watchful eye.”
The male figure is rendered as a composed leader—standing upright, wearing a suit, hands in pockets. He’s positioned as a strategist, someone who leads through quiet authority and oversight. There’s no question about his command of the space.
The female figure, however, is crouched dramatically—like she’s mid-action in a film still. She’s wearing the right gear—a hard hat and safety vest—but her pose, borrowed from action cinema, undermines the portrayal of managerial competence. It highlights her physical readiness, but at the expense of professional realism.
This contrast reveals a common pattern: male leadership is visualized as mental and strategic, while female leadership is reframed as embodied and performative—even when the language is identical.
A Conductor of Controlled Chaos
Prompt Theme: Authority under pressure
Here the metaphor of a symphony conductor is used to represent site leadership
The male figure is hands-on—interacting with machinery, fully geared up, clearly in control.
By contrast, the female figure holds a conductor’s baton like a symbol. Her gaze floats into the distance, disconnected from both people and environment. She wears a stylish red shirt tucked into jeans, but has no protective gear. Her stance is calm, but disengaged.
The AI, when prompted to visualize “orchestration under pressure,” offers a technician-manager for the man, and a symbolic overseer for the woman.
A Symphony of Sweat and Sacrifice
Prompt Theme: Emotional endurance and triumph
A Symphony of Sweat and Sacrifice is one of the more emotionally loaded prompts in the series—designed to explore how AI depicts resilience not just as endurance, but as triumph. Both figures face a rain-soaked construction site. But the tone and context differ radically.
The female site manager is shown barefoot, surrounded by a broken, chaotic environment. The scene feels almost post-apocalyptic: debris scattered, structures crumbling. Her body language is introspective—as if reflecting on loss or hardship, not celebrating success.
Despite the prompt’s language—phrases like “quiet triumph” and “testament to the human spirit”—her depiction emphasizes vulnerability, not capability.
Meanwhile, the male figure stands in a more composed, controlled setting. His boots are mud-stained, but his posture is confident. The environment is more organized. He’s rendered as someone who has overcome—a symbol of effective leadership and control.
So it reveals how AI tends to frame female resilience as emotional survival, while male resilience becomes proof of competence.
Ironworker – Defying Gravity
Prompt Theme: Bravery at heights
In Ironworker: Defying Gravity, the prompt deliberately merges danger and elegance—describing the ironworker “dancing across beams” and embodying a “breathtaking blend of agility and strength.” The goal was to see how AI handles female bravery.
The male ironworker is rendered in a strong, grounded stance. He wears full safety gear and holds visible tools. his image emphasizes mastery, authority, and technical professionalism.
By contrast, the female ironworker appears less stable, more stylized. She wears impractical clothing—especially on her upper body—and her tools are de-emphasized. The image focuses on grace and poise.
This reflects a recurring problem: the visual language of female competence is often overridden by aesthetic cues—suggesting that women must look graceful even when performing dangerous, highly technical labor.
Mason – The Art of Endurance
Prompt Theme: Craft, repetition, and bodily labor
This prompt treats masonry as both labor and craft—highlighting rhythm, focus, and resilience.
The male mason is grounded and strong, using his tools with precision. It’s a clear image of skill and control.
The female mason is shown differently—her movements are more fluid, almost like dance, and her fitted clothes draw attention to her form, not the work.
Even though the prompt focuses on craftsmanship, the AI leans into grace over grit—stylizing her instead of showing her expertise. It’s a pattern we’ve seen before: women’s labor becomes aestheticized, while men’s is shown as technical and competent.
She Works, He Works reveals how generative AI models do more than translate language into images—they encode and amplify the cultural assumptions embedded in their training data.
Despite careful prompt construction—designed to be gender-neutral in structure and balanced in tone—the visual outputs consistently diverge along gendered lines. Male figures are typically portrayed as competent, practical, and embedded in their environments. Female figures, even when described identically, are stylized, idealized, or symbolically detached.
This pattern echoes longstanding critiques from feminist visual theory: that visual media often assigns function and authority to male bodies, while placing female bodies within a frame of aesthetic appeal, passivity, or emotional excess.
In the context of AI and computer vision, this work raises urgent questions:
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What happens when these biased visual norms become automated and scaled?
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How do we ensure that AI systems not only reflect but also challenge inherited inequalities?
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Can artists and technologists work together to build more inclusive visual futures?
By treating AI outputs not only as tools or entertainment, but as sites of cultural negotiation, this project invites reflection—and action.
Ultimately, She Works, He Works is not just a critique of what AI sees, but a call to imagine what it might see differently.
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