Sexist or helpful? Chinese women drivers get big, pink parking spaces

It's 2014. We should be well beyond the "women can't drive" sexism. But at one Chinese shopping mall, this clearly isn't the case.

At the Dashijiedaduhui — or "World Metropolis" — centre in the northern port city of Dalian, there are now parking spaces designated for women outside its main entrance.

Marked in pink and about 30 cm wider than the average parking spots, signs above them read: "Respectfully reserved for women."

"We just wanted to make things easier for women, who make up most of our customers," said mall manager Yang Hongjun, a woman herself.

"It's not an insult to women at all," she added. "If their parking spaces are larger, it's only for practical reasons. It doesn't mean that women drive less well than men."

Not everyone agrees with Hongjun.

"This is supposed to respect women, but actually it's an insult," said one angry commenter on Chinese social media.

Despite officially embracing gender equality, China's sexism is still rampant.

According to the AFP, one online poster on the Dalian car park said: "The two most dangerous things in the world are men who cook and women who drive."

Last summer, Beijing police offered better-driving tips to women on a microblog, including gems like don't wear high heels when driving, and don't panic if you suddenly realize you're going the wrong way.

"Some women drivers lack a sense of direction, and while driving a car, they often hesitate and are indecisive about which road they should take," read one of the entries.

These aren't the first female-only spots to pop up in China.

According to the Wall Street Journal, "Dalian isn’t the first city in China to dedicate parking spots to women only. At the Wonder Mall in Hebei, one of three underground parking garages was reserved for females in 2010. Spaces inside were designed to be about 80 centimeters bigger than regular parking spaces, with its walls painted with 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac so that female drivers could remember a pattern instead of a parking space number. As though that weren’t not enough, there were also dancing parking lot attendants installed to help women park their cars."

South Korea also has marked-in-pink parking spaces for women, but despite earlier reports, they are not wider than regular spots. Instead, they were designed to make the city more female-friendly.

"They are located near the entrances for to offer easy access for women and children," Lauren Suk, a spokesperson for the Seoul Metropolitan Government, told Mashable. "However, the size of the parking space is not typically large or expanded; it’s the same size as regular parking spaces."

A German mayor made headlines when he set aside spaces in a municipal parking garage for female drivers. These spaces were wider, well-lit and closer to the exit. The men's spaces required drivers to pull it an angle and avoid hitting cement pillars.

"But men are, as a rule, a little better at such challenges," Gallus Strobel told the daily Süddeutsche Zeitung.

But are they? According to a recent World Health Organization estimate, men are more likely to be involved in accidents than females. More than three-quarters of all road traffic deaths occur among men.

Sometimes, however, greater safety for the driver is an issue worth exploring.

In 2012, officials in Fredericton, New Brunswick, considered adding female-only parking spots to ensure women would have somewhere safe and well-lit to park at night. This proposal came after the city saw record numbers of sexual assaults in one year.

What do you think? Are female-only parking spots a good idea? Or just plain sexist?

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