To facilitate the life of lady customers, a Chinese shopping mall decided to reserve several 30 centimetres wider parking lots marked in pink with the indication: “Respectfully reserved for women”. The city hall of Seoul launched a similar enterprise – the initiative is a part of a more global project to make the South Korean capital more accessible to women who, perched on high heels, will not have to suffer too long a distance to reach her favourite stores or workplace.
Gallantry or sexism? A British study demonstrates that the women are better than men at parking correctly. The study states that 39% of women park in reverse, very carefully – as recommended by driving schools – as opposed to only 28% of men. Adding insult to male egos, 52% of women are exact parkers putting their vehicles in the centre of the indicated space while only a quarter of men do so. The result is irrefutable. Still, clichés and myths seem to have substantial longevity.
Damned men drivers!
In Switzerland most of the parking spots reserved for women discreetly disappeared during the last years. However, some are left over in cities like Lausanne or Geneva. The parity between men and women is safeguarded in Swiss law, however, it is not necessarily applied. Professions are still often divided into typical female and male professions. Women earn on an average 20 percent less than men; and it is estimated that in 40 percent of cases this differential is groundless and discriminatory.
Mao Zedong once famously stated: “Women carry half of the sky.” Well, it is about time that women are fully rewarded for doing the same thing here in Switzerland (and preferably in China and Korea as well).
