Seoul, South Korea, is taking the phrase “ladies first” very seriously, with a new campaign aimed at making the city more “women friendly” which includes pink-colored priority parking spaces for women.
Parking is not the only aspect of the Women Friendly Seoul project, but from a parking perspective, the goal of the program is to create safer and more convenient parking options specifically for women. The project started over the summer and almost 5,000 public and private parking spots across the city are being painted pink.
Pink parking spaces with cute little pink dresses painted on them seems a bit trivial, and consequently this has been subject to some derision in the media. Getting past the superficiality of the parking space colors, however, the women-friendly spots are also designed to be wider, with brighter lights and CCTVs. In addition, the spaces are positioned closer to building entrances, which can also be a safety factor, especially late at night. Seoul may actually be on to something here.
The concept behind the program is that women have a disadvantage in Korean society and these efforts are meant to even up the playing field.
Reports coming out of Seoul seem to indicate that many Korean men are unhappy about the new parking arrangement.
James Turnbull, a writer and consultant on Korean gender issues and advertising whose blog appears at http://thegrandnarrative.wordpress.com, provides some insight as to why this might be the case.
“As for ‘ladies first,’ there is nothing like that in Korea, not surprising considering that Neo-Confucianism – which Korean is notorious for, even more so than its birth country of China – explicitly places women in a lower position than men,” says Turnbull.
“Probably more helpful to understanding any negativity though, is that being 99% ethnically homogenous (literally), then most Koreans are relatively unfamiliar with affirmative-action programs and/or preferential treatment for any kinds of minorities,” he adds. “So not being able to park because of empty pink parking space for women may seriously be the first time many Korean men have experienced being excluded like this.”
If the men of Seoul are against priority parking for women, however, this may be the best evidence in support of the program.
Comments