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Mayor designates parking spaces for men
Published: 7 Jul 12 13:10 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/society/20120707-43617.html
Calling himself a proponent of equal rights, the mayor of a small town in the Black Forest has designated special parking spaces in the municipal garage for men - because they're harder to get into.
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Unlike the 12 spaces set aside for women, which are wider, well-lit, and closer to the exit, the men’s spaces require the driver to pull in at an angle, and avoid hitting cement pillars. They are an “attraction” for any ambitious driver, Strobel told the daily Süddeutsche Zeitung.
“But men are, as a rule, a little better at such challenges,” he told the paper.
Strobel, 58, who says he has parked in the spaces three times, admitted that “of course, there are also great women drivers!” He told the paper that when he came to the idea, he knew it would challenge “political correctness.” But he says he has received mostly positive feedback from his stunt.
Strobel said that the move was good advertising for his town, and that one man emailed him saying he would travel there just to test himself at parking.
Women, too, he says have put themselves to the challenge. “They are, of course, most welcome!” he told the paper.
The Local/mbw
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Your comments about this article:
Everybody demands equality for men and women, and for the most part rightly so.
It thus seems unfair that men should have to go through more trouble pulling into a parking space, while women's parking spaces are - in this case - wider, better lit, and closer to the exit. If we're all equal, then where is the justification for that?
Especially since it appears that men and women have turned out to be about equal in their parking space maneuvering capabilties.
Correct me if I'm wrong, I thought the well-lit/near the exit spaces were for safety reasons because women are sometimes assaulted in parking garages. If that is the case, then this guy is a douchebag. If not, then whatever. Carry-on wasting time like politicians like to do.
I think it's little different than the idea that some manufacturers have etched targets or even images of flies into the porcelain of the urinals they make. Those might be considered "inappropriate" by some men, but they're pretty much harmless fun and, according to some janitors, really do make a difference.
As long as anyone can park in the spaces...which it seems they can...it's all good. Life's too short, and we can all use some fun and silliness now and then. Even (from what I hear from the stereotype sellers) those unfunny Germans!
wa
>I thought the well-lit/near the exit spaces were for safety reasons because women are sometimes assaulted in parking garages.
Do you have any statistics to back that up, or is that just another truism that gets floated around with no basis in actual fact?
And besides, IF we accept that parking spaces that are well lit and watched reduce the likelihood of crime, why should they only be for women? Shouldn't men have the same right to not be attacked inside a parking garage? After all, men are in fact many times more likely than women to become victims of violent crime.
because men and women are not equal. The point of the parking spaces for women is to make up for the inequality that women suffer far more from physcial attacks from men than the reverse. They are better lit and placed closer to entry/exit to make them safer for women and they are made wider because it is usually women transporting little kids around and they need to open doors wide to gain better access to put them in or take them out of the car.
>The point of the parking spaces for women is to make up for the inequality that women suffer far more from physcial attacks from men than the reverse.
sorry but that's hogwash. If somebody points a knife (or, less commonly in Germany, a gun) at you and attacks you, it makes little difference if you are a man or a woman. And again, as a man, you are many times more likely to fall victim to a violent crime. If anybody REALLY needs protection, it's us men.
And if somebody really gets physical, unless you just happen to have more muscle (and guts) than your attacker, again you're little less vulnerable than any woman.
It's just another cliché perpetuated by feminists, which they have managed to brainwash the public into believing. Including you.
>because it is usually women transporting little kids around and they need to open doors wide to gain better access to put them in or take them out of the car.
again, nonsense. Unless you're really chauffeuring toddlers around, if anything, little kids need less space to get into a car than adults. And it's not just women driving their kids around - at least in this country, dads do it just the same whenever they have time.
I'm all for equality between men and women. But let's not pretend there's inequality where there just isn't. Women aren't universally victims. And if "inequality" can really be solved by affording women wider and better lit parking spaces, then surely the state of gender inequality in this country can't be very dire.
Mr. Strobel, take my warning: your male parking places are not suitable for elderly men (who drive worse than a woman will ever do). The first grandpa who hits the pillar will sue you.
He proves a great sense of humour and gets free attention for his little village - which is a nice place anyway.
But on the comments on ladies' parking spaces:
I know women who dislike them - because they INCREASE the risk.
On mixed carparks/parking decks, the chances for a rapist are 50/50.
But if there is a row of "women only" lots (university of Bielefeld closed one whole parking ground to men and made it "women only"), his chances that a woman passes by when he's hiding behind the cars increases to 100% - and there is also less risk for men passing by as they have no reason to be there.
So one ot the other "woman only" places can be good, but a whole lot of them works detrimental. But this just as a "besides...".
The Mayor had a good idea and gets free media-coverage - good for the city!
TheWonderer