Australia is trying to combat sexism by making its traffic lights more progressive.
Officials from Down Under announced the change on International Women’s Day,
stating that it was an attempt at combating “unconscious bias.”
What
have they done? They’ve installed pedestrian traffic lights exhibiting female
figures rather than the old, fuddy-duddy male ones, in an attempt to redress a
social “stereotype that we may have about certain groups of people, which we
don’t even realize we hold,” according to Fox News.
The
land of emus and outbacks hopes to achieve an equal number of “male” and
“female” traffic lights, but I, for one, think they’ve gone about it in a
hopelessly conservative- if not reactionary- way. These female figures are
depicted in a dress. The Patriarchy
always wants to place women in dresses or skirts in order to objectify them.
How about portraying them in a nice pantsuit for once, alá Hillary Clinton?! Nobody, even her husband Bill,
objectifies her. And, speaking of
Hillary, what about lesbians and the gender-fluid? Can’t they be portrayed on
these traffic lights with strap-ons or with the half-dress, half-pants
transgendered symbol?
I mean,
technology is such that we should easily be able to clearly depict symbols for
other traditionally under-represented groups like the poly-amorous, pedophiles,
and those into bestiality…just for
starters. We haven’t even scratched the surface of tolerance and
inclusivity as it pertains to traffic lights. Certainly the “Walk,” and “Don’t
Walk” directional verbiage on semaphores could be broader, more inclusive and
more exciting. Perhaps commands like “Prance,” “Don’t Prance,” and “Pedestrians
Choice” would be more fun and inclusive!
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