skirtcafe.org

I found this story on the BBC web site. It's about a Spanish town which is replacing some of its roadsigns depicting figures in trousers with figures in skirts. The object is to achieve gender equality - great if most of the women wear skirts, but does this reinforce the gender stereotype?. Could the roadsigns be interpreted to represent men in skirts?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6206084.stm

Charlie

Charlie wrote:I found [a] story on the BBC web site. It's about a Spanish town which is replacing some of its roadsigns depicting figures in trousers with figures in skirts. The object is to achieve gender equality - great if most of the women wear skirts, but does this reinforce the gender stereotype?. Could the roadsigns be interpreted to represent men in skirts?

Well, I guess it would depend on how many blokes in the vicinity wear skirted garments.

I think the sign shown in the article is cute, but the short high ponytail on the figure definitely suggests "woman" (or "girl") as high ponies are not commonly worn by men. Not that skirts are, either, mind you...

It looks to me that the "head" on the stick figure represents the feminine symbol Venus, but it could be a ponytail.

binx

On the streets of Fuenlabrada, there are mixed opinions.

Some say they never thought of the stick figures as necessarily being male. Others do not like stereotyping women as wearing dresses.

But it's OK to stereotype men as wearing trousers!

<sigh . . >

I think the whole thing is a good idea as a step further toward gender equality - i.e. reducing a little bit more the dominance of the male model of human-ness. But it doesn't do anything to remove the gender stereotyping - in fact it makes it worse.

<sigh again . . >

In the meantime . . . .

I've just got a broadband internet connection at home now. It's great. Shall I put "go faster" stripes on my skirts?

Changing the road signs may just encourage a few more women to wear skirts instead of jeans... but somehow I doubt it. Quite frankly I doubt whether changing the signs will have any effect on attitudes to gender either but at least it keeps the sign makers employed.

Have fun,


Ian.

binx wrote:It looks to me that the "head" on the stick figure represents the feminine symbol Venus, but it could be a ponytail.

I believe you got me on that one. I need to get my eyes checked. (That, or reduce the resolution on the screen I use.)

It's a ponytail - or, at least, that's what it is supposed to look like.

A Spanish town council is to fight machismo on the streets by decreeing that half of all road signs and traffic signals show silhouettes with feminine attributes, such as a skirt, ribbon and ponytail, instead of just the striding man.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/spain/article ... 64,00.html

Maybe it's supposed to also represent the feminine sign of Venus as well - although it is the wrong orientation for that.

Perhaps they'll also replace half the 'trousered' symbols on the doors of public toilets ... or is that going too far?

Charlie