What might be seen as discriminatory in some parts of the world can be seen as accommodating in another.
Enter Shanghai’s new pink parking spaces, recently created at an underground facility at a commercial building in Shanghai. The building painted four extra-large, pink parking spots reserved for women only. The goal? Give them a bit more room to park properly.
The pink parking spaces are three by six meters in size, and are conveniently located next to the elevator. An emergency two-way radio is installed next to the pink parking spots, too, just in case they run into trouble.
The management for the garage said the pink parking spaces are absolutely not discriminatory, adding they exist simply to make things more convenient for the Estrogen-fueled sex. In fact, the management said the idea for pink parking spaces came from abroad, although they didn’t say where.
Chinese people weren’t too thrilled with the idea, at least based on comments posted online. “This sums up the state of gender equality. So disappointing,” one person wrote, while another asked, “Is this some kind of indication of the way women drive cars?”
One netizen went so far as to ask what other kind of special treatment will be expected for Chinese women. “In the future will they have exclusive women-only sidewalks? Women-only waiting areas? Women-only traffic lights? Traffic laws for women only?”
Pink parking spaces began appearing at malls throughout China last year.
Last June, Dalian became one of China’s first cities to offer pink parking spaces exclusively for women drivers, a move that attracted mixed reactions. The exclusive women-only parking spots then appeared in Chongqing at another shopping mall last October.
That’s when netizens noticed that the pink parking spaces weren’t just for any old women, but rich women. Photographs showed the pink spots were mostly used by women driving high-end luxury cars.
Related:
