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Kitty's Corner

Female crosswalk signals

Wednesday, 29. April 2009, 04:14:36

, ,

Copenhagen will not install crosswalk signals showing a dress-clad female figure after all.

Despite the idea reportedly having a majority behind it last May, the proposal was quashed this week by city council as being an unnecessary waste of resources.

The idea for female crosswalk signals was originally proposed – and is still supported – by the Social Liberals. The party expressed its disappointment at the decision.

‘The deep-rooted idea that men and women are not equal is already presented to us from when we’re children,’ argued the Social Liberal’s Manu Sareen. ‘We can take a small step forward on that issue by children seeing both sexes on the crosswalk signals.’

Although the proposal will remain on the party’s agenda, there is still uncertainty as to whether the idea can be implemented according to traffic regulations.

Meanwhile Viborg (a town in Jutland) recently decided to introduce the female figures to traffic lights in the area.


If we really want to do something for equality between men and women I suggest that we start by paying men and women equal wages for equal jobs - and to stop choosing men over women at job interviews because of the "danger" to risk that the women will get pregnant and go on maternity leave. :irked:

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Comments

Dacotah 29. April 2009, 04:19

:up:

Zaphira 29. April 2009, 04:22

Hahahaha Carol, that's so cute! :D

Dacotah 29. April 2009, 04:25

:D Thanks Zaphira. :lol:

flamingo-rinse 29. April 2009, 04:32

Society should be a Matriarchy. If it was, there wouldn't be the conflict there is now, equality would be more satisfactorily balanced, Education and National Health would just be light years ahead and everybody would be happier. I honestly believe that and am not intending to start contoversy or an argument (thank you guys) it's just my opinion. :smile: And traffic lights would be cooler :up:

glenno 29. April 2009, 04:34

Its the traffic lights tha are being oppressed, when do they get their say?

Aqualion 29. April 2009, 04:38

What is 'traffic lights'?

glenno 29. April 2009, 04:52

oops, I meant crossing signal lights (crosswalk??)... Homer: Doh!

flamingo-rinse 29. April 2009, 04:59

\\edit my comment above to read <and crossing signals would be cooler> :up:

glenno 29. April 2009, 05:02

Yes, traffic lights don't translate to well by the looks of it...
crosswalk signals :up:
traffic lights :down:

Aqualion 29. April 2009, 05:02

I was trying to be funny! I know what traffic lights are, but I was pretending not to, because I must confess, I sometimes forget they are there. I'm a pedestrian, and pedestrians are the rebels of urban traffic, you know.

glenno 29. April 2009, 05:06

So its urban rebels against traffic lights eh? More oppression! :lol:

Dacotah 29. April 2009, 05:09

glenno 29. April 2009, 05:11

By the time you have read all that the lights have changed 5 times already :lol:

Dacotah 29. April 2009, 05:13

How about one like this?

Aqualion 29. April 2009, 05:16

Where I live pedestrians are not at all oppressed. Ask the cardrivers and the bikers about traffic and they will go on and on about what a nightmare it is to get through city, finding a parking space, not getting your car molested or your bike stolen, but pedestrians have no problem. We just smooth our way along and across, in and out, between and among. Bilogically humans are designed to walk and run, it's what we do best. I can get through town (not the largest town in the World of course, but even so) in about one hour by just walking. It will take about 45 minutes longer in a car. Once in Copenhagen I impressed a friend who usually brag about his skills as an urban cyclist by beating him with 35 minutes in a race from A to B. Didn't even jump a bus.

glenno 29. April 2009, 05:16

A bit ambiguous... :smile:

Zaphira 29. April 2009, 05:19

@ Mr. Rinse ~ I think you're right. In the companies I've worked in where I had female bosses, the "softer values" have been taken more seriously. Women tend to understand the "whole human being" better, at least the bosses I've worked under.

@ Glenno ~ To me, the little figure doesn't matter, even though it would be fun with a little variety in that area too. Red means stop and green means go, no matter what little person is on the sign. :D

@ Lion ~ I've always thought of bicyclists to be the traffic rebels. :left:

Zaphira 29. April 2009, 05:20

I got squirreled a gazillion times because I made tea in between. :lol:

glenno 29. April 2009, 05:22

I heard that the average traffic speed in London is now so slow that it is quicker to walk, I see a time in the future when the only way to traval by car is to sell your car then buy the car in front, it will be a bit like buying a house :lol:

Aqualion 29. April 2009, 05:27

Don't opress the figures on the... erm... cross walk signals... by calling them 'little people'. They hate that name.

The signal figures have come a long way in their struggle against opression - nobody calls them 'little coloured people' anymore. Next step is equal rights, of course. For the time being, the green cross walk signal figures are the most popular, but the red fraction of the cross walk signal figure's equal rights movement is working real hard.

Problem is, the red signal figures don't seem to really get anywhere... (Was that joke too subtle?)

glenno 29. April 2009, 05:31

I hadnt even thought of the colour issue, the red ones can never progress, theres just no way forward for them, this could lead to civil war :yikes:

ricewood 29. April 2009, 08:38

No matter what you do, someone is oppressed. The above "Walk", "Don't Walk" signals are oppressing the illiterates.

Besides, the old signals, the ones without the dresses, are unisex. Not males. Every (both, if you will) sexes wear pants.

Furie 29. April 2009, 10:30

Sod the illiterates (if they complain I'd love to know how they know what I said), the Walk/Don't Walk signs would be used by someone in a wheelchair as grounds to sue the city for discrimination.

You got my vote on your crazy liberal ideas to promote equality, kitty. They wont go for it though unless it's a crazy gimmick that's almost completely impractical.

Spaggyj 29. April 2009, 10:31

Girl traffic lights would actually be pretty cool... But I agree it's a waste of money. Better, actually important things should be done, like you said.

b_laudanum 29. April 2009, 11:55

I agree with the equal salaries!! :yes:

Javaen 29. April 2009, 13:36

I believe equal salaries for equal work. If one person can do more than another, they should be paid accordingly, regardless of age, sex or other petty factors.

I'm a pretty tough chick I guess, and always strive to work just as hard, or harder than the boys. Ahhh, pride. Can be a wonderful thing. :yes:

Zaphira 29. April 2009, 13:52

Argh, so many comments! :left::yes:

Anyway, my point of view on equality between the genders should be pretty obvious. I am glad to live in a country where at least education is the same for boys and girls. But there's still some way to go before we're there, to say that men and women are equal.

I've worked a place where I was picked to be in the committee that picked the employee we were about to hire, along with my boss and one more. And I heard my boss say that he thought we should ditch one of the applicants because "she's 25 and probably ready to get some kids soon!"
I said to him that he should be glad that some women chose to have babies, because otherwise there wont be anybody to pay his pension.
The girl was invited to a job interview. :yes:

ellinidata 29. April 2009, 16:40

"If we really want to do something for equality between men and women I suggest that we start by paying men and women equal wages for equal jobs - and to stop choosing men over women at job interviews because of the "danger" to risk that the women will get pregnant and go on maternity leave"


I couldn't agree more!
Society needs :idea: lights into
the way of thinking ,handling and seeing things
to be fixed first!

the picture above of the traffic lights
that Carol added,
it shows how our light look like in the US,
still women in America are not treated as men are
and we are way far from how women treated in Europe.

Three weeks of Maternity Leave is not enought for the stiches to heal on a womans body ....

Zaphira 29. April 2009, 17:05

It's fun to compare how different the countries work with the rules for for instance maternity leave. Here they women get many weeks both before and after the birth, but I believe they get even more in Sweden.

Now that I think of it I think I've seen a female crossing sign here in Copenhagen. I will check next time I am in that part of town. :up:

jonpar 29. April 2009, 18:21

here women get 2 (two) years maternity leave (or vacation)
and they still are not content :right:

Zaphira 29. April 2009, 18:57

2 years!? :faint:

The rules are a bit complicated here, but I think most women here get almost half a year off after birth. And one or two months before. I think it depends on where you work.

jonpar 29. April 2009, 19:08

i have a friend with a drug-store
...and one of the girls working there has made 2 children, one after the other..4 years off. The state pays, but the employer has some work to do too (don't ask me exactly, i don't remember). He was SO unhappy :lol:

Zaphira 29. April 2009, 19:09

Yes I bet he was. But still, every country needs its population to at least reproduce itself, right. :smile:

Aqualion 29. April 2009, 19:22

In most modern western countries it is in fact possible to live on only one steady full time salery, if you are a bit creative with the taxes and perhaps cut down on the consume. What I am saying is, you don't need to take maternity leave and get benefits from the state. Most employers would rather you take ordinary leave for longer than eight months, so that they might employ a substitute on a more regular basis while you are away.

wickedlizard 29. April 2009, 19:46

Cute!

jekav 30. April 2009, 11:35

These figures are Ampelmädchen the female variation on the Ampelmännchen. Eastern Germany symbols for the traffic lights. After the fall of the wall they were disappearing. Not everyone agreed on that and now they are appearing again in Berlin, and are very much appreciated by people.

I think they are much more cheerful than they plain light symbols, so that would be a great reason to change the lights for me! Having females on the lights would be a nice variation :smile:

Zaphira 30. April 2009, 14:16

I like that there's variation, but changing the symbols to symbols with skirts to improve equality between the genders is just not enough in my book. :smile:

And hey - I saw those Ampelmännchen when I was in Berlin. :up:

rose-marie 6. May 2009, 14:32

Ampelmann! awww :love:
I even saw some in the former western parts. I always thought they were eastern...

Anyway, I agree with you - equal pay before female crosswalk signals!

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