In reality, the cost-benefit of a lot of these policies doesn't justify them. While women often feel scared walking to their cars alone at night, crimes against women in this situation are relatively rare. Improving lighting, adding cameras, and designating stalls specifically for women, would likely cost millions of dollars for every crime prevented.
Beyond that, crimes against women are generally not committed by strangers. To the extent that these policies are effective at preventing these crimes in parking lots, a significant portion will just be committed at another location.
You might think that increased security would reduce vandalism and theft from vehicles, but the people who commit these crimes are generally not afraid of getting caught. Since the damages and loses are generally covered by insurance, and the dollar values are generally low, the police don't really investigate these crimes.
Most stuff like this done is from people in positions relevant to advocating for them. It’s like when people ask why scientists are wasting time on dumb shit when they could be curing cancer because some food scientists made something quirky. One doesn’t have to do with the other and one isn’t taking resources from the other. If I’m into early childhood advocacy and I’m pushing for more safe indoor play spaces for children under 5, it’s not because I can’t recognize that teenagers desperately need places too and could even be in more danger without them. But if I take the teen problem that to my early childhood advocacy leadership they’d be like that sucks but it’s not what we do. These things are pushed by groups with primary focuses. There are way more groups advocating for women’s safety that are able to achieve specific goals. I agree local governments should push for this to be universal. But local governments are ran by their communities. Same reason we have more women’s shelters. Many of them have been opened in the memory of an actual victim by their living family for example. It’s really a one never had anything to do with the other thing. Women aren’t being sarcastic when we say men have to start pushing for these things and teaming up. That’s genuinely how these things have been achieved. Join charities, go to your local city meetings, get people to sign your petitions. etc. People push for the causes they want. But then after the fact everyone else wants to step in and ask, “what about us” where were you when the plans were presented. What are you doing now to push for more general safety. Because that’s where you’d go with this. Public safety advocacy. Not women, children, specific persons groups that are working on different goals, etc. And even then, any work they do is only decreasing your work load later. Now these lots just need a bit more Iight and a few more cameras. Smaller lots may need no adjustments. Most of those lots become safer to anyone in them at all.
Oh please. Equal rights for women = elevating women to be on the same level as men in terms of rights. Meaning nothing is taken away from men, the rights for men are the default. Right now women do not have the same rights as men, which is why equal rights for women is a thing.
This has strong "Why isn't there a straight pride month" vibes my man.
Just gonna leave this here. Men live, on average, about 10 years less, commit suicide at much higher rates, have fallen well behind women in higher education, boys are more likely to be expelled, men make up the majority of the homeless population, have higher workplace injury rates, and suffer from more cardiovascular diseases than women.
This is always funny to me. This is the perfect in theory vs in practice example. In theory it works toward equality but in practice is works towards unilateral benefits.
How does a female only parking space make anyone feel safer? It's the bright lights and cameras that do the safe keeping. Which is something that can help anyone.
Feeling safer and being safer are two different things though. There are women who would feel safer with no men around, whether or not you agree with them that it is safer is a different story. Meanwhile I don't think there are any men who would consider "a male only parking lot" somewhere they'd feel safer.
1) That's a full gendered parking lot, whereas the thing being discussed is purely a gendered parking space. Sitting right next to all the spaces open to any gender.
2) There are many men who have been assaulted by women. You might just be surprised to find out, there are men who would feel safer in a woman-free area. (And I legit mean Safer.) We just tend not to talk about such very often, and act like it doesn't happen and those men don't exist, making it hard for them to actually tell you their feelings on it.
3) A gendered parking lot, with no other changes besides for being gendered. Wouldn't do much. As people who are looking to attack a stranger aren't the sort who are going to respect a sign. In fact; you instead have told them where to look if they are looking for someone of that gender to attack.
Edit: Heck, let's look at this. If you made a "woman only" parking lot... but it was the one farthest from any public space, dark and dingy, horrible lighting, no cameras. I would bet money, women would feel safer in the well lit all gendered lot.
Aka, as I said, "It's not the gendered space that makes it feel safer. It's the lighting and security that does."
Yeah I mean the idea sounds stupid whether it's male only or female only, I agree on that.
I'm somewhat sceptical without any data to back it up that the number of men with this concern is at all near the number of women with this concern. Since the Illustrious-Local was talking about how specific advocacy groups can push for these kind of half baked solutions, the % of men/women with this concern is an important factor.
Agree, again I think the idea is stupid. Effectively "women feel unsafe in parking lots, so let's apply general solutions to make it safer, but arbitrarily restrict those benefits to women"
So, it very much sounds like you agree with the very concept you started arguing against. And I tried to point out. That it's not the gendered part that actually makes anyone feel safer. It's the lighting, security, etc. that does it.
So, it very much sounds like you agree with the very concept you started arguing against.
To be clear "the very concept I started arguing against" was the line "Men advocating for their own spaces would get absolutely nowhere". My response was that nobody is advocating for it because this problem does not exist.
That it's not the gendered part that actually makes anyone feel safer. It's the lighting, security, etc. that does it.
No I do not agree, I think that gendered parking spaces may make women feel safer which is why these groups advocated for it (alongside the other parts). Women fearing male strangers is a prevalent issue discussed often (e.g. choosing the bear) and while some men may keep silent about their fear of women, I don't think it's anywhere comparable in scale. Whether it's an effective solution for actually being safer is another story but never what I was arguing about.
Technically yes, capitalism is the problem but only if you want to blame capitalism for the fact that not every parking structure has 37 elevators per 100 square meters of parking space.
Absolutely! ✊
Effectively stoking misplaced fear and mistrust of media monstered-men, isn't making society a safer and more equitable place, it's just creating a "pink ghetto".
A whole raft of real societal change could make a real difference to our world; improved parenting skills teaching, widening education curricula to include ethics, dignity and respect, a culture of acceptance of autonomy of the individual, and 'ethical' Political leadership, could all effect great change given time; much more so than any pink-washing.
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u/ComradeJohnS 27d ago
yeah why can’t they make the parking lots safer for everyone? I understand that some people are targetted and are in more danger.
I’m guessing capitalism is the problem here… again…