By Christine Arnefors.
When someone says “gender equality in traffic,” what do you think of? Male underwear models on the billboards? Buying a blue car to your 16-year old daughter? In Sweden they take things one step further. Instead of the usual pedestrian crossing sign of a walking man, the Swedish government is to give its decision this fall on introducing a sign with a female-looking figure.
Designed by the Swedish equivalent to The National Road Administration, the sign is, if accepted, to be used parallel to the male sign from the beginning of next year. While some politicians seem to think this is the next step after the 2008 introduction of a bonus given to parents who share the parental leave equal, most people see it as a waste of government money and a misguided action towards more gender equality.
The female version is namely quite normative and represents an out-dated view of a woman: a person with long hair, skirt, and more curves. For a society composed of different religions and sexual orientations that is kind of a politically incorrect picture, especially for a sign that is invented to embody the opposite.
Anyway, while the Swedish population and I hold our breath for the outcome of the government’s decision, I will, in the spirit of increasing the awareness of gender inequality, change my mailbox on the door to a femailbox.
