In what sounds like a scenario that must surely be a joke but then isn’t so you have to try really hard to see how this could be a real thing, the mayor of a town in Germany has designated certain parking spots for women that are easier to park in. We all know the presumption that is in use here, but the mayor swears he’s not being sexist. He’s just being considerate!
The town is in the Black Forest region of the country, and is the proud home of new parking spots with male and female symbols. So you know where to go, depending on your sex. Get it?
The spaces for women are wider and well lit, while the men get the fun challenge of parking next to concrete pillars in spots that can only be reversed into. The mayor says this was an easy decision to make because men are better at parking than women.
“In the new car park we found that two place were not rectangular, at an angle to the road and placed between walls and pillars; that makes parking difficult so we decided to allocate them to men,” he told Germany’s Spiegel magazine, via The Telegraph.
He did concede that some women weren’t awful at driving, and that women are totally allowed to try and park in the manly men spaces. He pointed out how generous he was to the fairer sex because there are 10 spots demarcated for women specifically and only two for men.
‘Easy’ parking spots for women introduced by German mayor [The Telegraph]
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Do Asian women get to use two parking spots at once?
I hate like buttons, but this post is in dire need of one.
If you’re an elderly asian woman, not only does the government bubble-wrap your car for free, but you get a designated parking spot everywhere you go…in 100′x100′ squares.
I lolled.
The spaces for women are wider and well lit….
And closer to the kitchen? *rimshot*
Volvo’s logo is a male symbol… so if a woman is driving a Volvo, which space should she park in?
Obviously, the politically correct thing to do here is to then designate spaces for the ‘Lady GaGas’ of the world.
The women’s spots should be pink and have flower scents, otherwise men will park in them.
“the mayor swears he’s not being sexist. He’s just being considerate!”
Sometimes being considerate is also being sexist.
It’s astonishing how many people don’t get that.
- http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/2011/08/women_drivers_crash_men.php
- http://www.mid-day.com/relationships/2011/jul/080711-Confirmed-Women-are-worse-drivers.htm
- http://autos.aol.com/article/women-worse-drivers/
How is it sexist? I’m not saying that there are no male offenders, but when I look at the idiot who just caused me to slam on my brakes or shifts lanes a few inches in front of me, it’s a woman the majority of the time.
I’ve seen someone be called exist because he was considerate enough to hold the door for a lady.
Bullshit.
I have been given dirty looks and had women refuse to go through a door that I was holding open for them. The only conclusion I can draw is that they are mad at me because of my penis. I would have held it open for an old man too, so I don’t get it
Because you were following too close?
Actually, out where I live, the worst drivers are needle-dicked truck drivers and sexually confused men in minivans trying to compensate on the road for what they lack in their pants and personal lives.
where I live, all bad drivers are “People on Cellphones”. i no longer see any kind of ethnic or sexual differentiation among them.. just the phone in the ear, or worse.. the phone in front of them, as they type, type, type their way across three lanes of traffic.
I’m totally with you there. I think they are worse than drunk drivers because there are so many of them.
All three of your links reference the same University of Michigan study. Is each one supposed to be reinforcement for the one before?
Observation bias. Pure and simple.
………what? I’ve heard of pregnant women getting special parking spots, but never just women in general. Wouldn’t it be more prudent to teach women to be better at parking? (This is going on the assumption that women really are worse at parking then men are in this specific town.)
Better to educate than to just pat them on the head and go “Oh you women, you just never learn!” o_0
Sounds like the local Shopko parking lot, handicapped parking, senior citizen parking, pregnant woman/parent with infant child parking…
In a business parking lot the only designation I respect is the handicapped space. And not everyone with a placard needs one.
“Only women can park here”
“Why?”
“Because fuck you. That’s why.”
Or they could just revoke the licenses of those who are unable to park safely.
So where does Renee Richards park?
You may not be aware, but you’re sort of a jackass.
Maybe in the spots reserved for ophthalmologists.
+10
My wife is much better at parking than I am.
Maybe if you ask nicely they’ll let you use the spots designated for women.
…I have to agree. My next door neighbor has put dents in cars for at least five years parking in spaces you don’t even have to back into.
That’s just your neighbor then. I’m a woman and I’m awesome at parking.
Unfortunately, video proof is required. I’ve known several women who called themselves “great” and “awesome” at driving/parking. They really weren’t.
Exactly.
I’ve been fooled before with this line when it comes to driving, cooking, and sex. I’m on a strictly try before I buy stand now.
Yep, my wife thinks she’s awesome at parking, and at driving in general but considering she’s hit two posts while parking, and 3 deer in 4 years (yes anyone can hit a deer, but most people manage to avoid them most of the time at least) so the facts say differently.
I am disappointed the “easy” designation refers to the parking space instead of the woman parking in it. So much for that little shortcut on who I should try to talk up.
If you read some other articles on the issue, the mayor located all the good spaces to women and left all the bad spaces to men. The women-only spaces are not only wider, but also closer to the exits and are better-lit. I think that it is a good idea to reserve parking spaces for women that are not only “easier” to get into, but are closer to the exits and brighter—if only to let women avoid walking through a dark parking lot to get to and from their cars.
So basically she’s saying women are handicapped?
Personally, I think they’re just saying the women of Germany are fat lazy pigs who are too stupid to find their cars without a spotlight on them.
I wonder if it will become a matter of macho pride for men to park in the “difficult” spots.
Perhaps they could base a reality show on “extreme parking.”
Xtreme!
I hope Dan Cortez hosts
It’s science.
This isn’t actually a weird thing in Germany. In most parking garages, the spaces on the ground floor are reserved for women. This is to provide a safer place for them if they happen to be coming or going at night or alone. Let’s face it, women are easier targets for thieves and other criminals, it’s not a sexism thing, just a fact.
The spaces on the first floor are usually marked “frauen” and there is also usually an attendant at all times that will walk women (or maybe even men, too) to their cars in case they don’t feel safe.
Why bother? In the future, cars will drive themselves and robot wives will become affordable.
You know, we could adopt something like this in the states. Give republicans “easy” jobs since they’re republicans. You know, like spinning your coked-up head around in a swivel chair while you hire some poor bastard to “find them weapons on mass destruction”…or taking 40 billion in bailouts while you rape the earth with oil fields.
Shit, never mind. We already do that.
at first, i really could see a good intention at work here.. it wasn’t to make up for bad parking ability, but about addressing a level of safety, so women didn’t have to park in badly lit, far away or otherwise ‘unsafe’ spots.
but you can’t guarantee their safety (or use of the spot) so it just seems unnecessary.
Sure. And at the same time we can find some “Hard” jobs for Democraps that involve things like spending lots of money we don’t have and acting like we have an endless credit card that never has to be paid.
Troll.
Damn login for doesn’t post to the Reply on redirect. This was pointed to 180CS above.
They should do the opposite and designate the small spaces for “expert parkers.” Then all the macho guys would insist that they’re experts and fight over those spots to prove their manly manliness.