Creating A Women-friendly Seoul

[Guest]

......and now for something completely different.

Creating a women-friendly Seoul

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/south-k...ink-lines-women

Laura

[Guest Donna Jean]

That's interesting......

Sometimes when change doesn't come naturally as it should, you've got to take it by the horns and force it!

Good for them!

BEEP BEEP

Donna Jean

[Guest nova]

High heel friendly sidewalks! I love it!!

[Guest Eth]

Personally I think this is ridiculous. Gender equality is important, but it's kind of like... Okay, so there's a scale, and we put a stack of bricks symbolizing rights/privileges on each side of the scale. There are 10 bricks on the male side, and 7 bricks on the female side. It would be appropriate to add 3 bricks to the female side to make things equal. Instead, it's like we're tossing five bricks on the female side and taking 1 brick from the men 'just because'.

One of the biggest problems I have with feminism is that it supports equal rights for women. Now don't get me wrong- I think women and men should have equal rights, but the point is, we're focusing on equal rights for women. If we want true gender equality, than why do we focus so intently on women's rights but never men's? I honestly think that feminism needs to be done away with and instead we should all be working on equality regardless of gender. It is complete bull to declare that females are the only ones facing inequality. Men have more privileges in many areas, and women have more privileges in others. We should really just flat out say "no one can be discriminated against based on gender, and they cannot be held to certain standards just because of their gender or anatomical sex. We should also not enforce gender-specific roles, and should allow everyone to do what they feel is comfortable regardless of their gender". Instead we run around trying to look at every issue individually, and end up over or under compensating and multiple parties end up feeling slighted, abused or ignored.

As for all of the things addressed in that article...

1. The sidewalks.

If the sidewalks needed to be redone anyway, then yeah, it would be nice to consider high heels when making them and try to keep the cracks from being too big. But should all the sidewalks be pulled up and redone just because high heels exist? I don't think so. If you are going to wear high heels, be aware of the cracks and such and avoid them. It should be up to the individual to take care of one's self, and the government should not have to watch out for you if you choose to wear shoes with heels. Tax dollars simply should not be spent on this sort of thing.

2. The parking lots.

Utterly ridiculous. What's next? Are men going to be made to sit in the backs of busses so that it is more convenient (and supposedly safer) for women? This really is just outright discrimination. Nobody should be made to park further back in a lot just because of their gender.

3. Jobs.

I'm not entirely sure with this one. If they decided to leave their jobs when they got married, or decided to stay at home for their kids, then they should be held responsible for quitting. I don't see why it should be made easier for them to get a new job after marriage/child care. What about men who decide to stay home to take care of their children? Will it also be made easier for them to get jobs afterwords? If it's going to work one way, then it should work both ways.

4. Public restrooms.

I've never been to Seoul let alone into one of their public women's restrooms, but I'm not so sure that women needed a renovation of their bathrooms. If they were being taken care of less than the men's rooms, then yeah it needed done and should be treated equally, but if it's just to "look nicer" so that the women "feel better", then I have a problem with that. If you're going to renovate the public restrooms, do it for both parties. Don't favor one group over the other just because of their gender.

5. Nursery schools.

Cool. I don't disagree with this at all. This helps everyone, doesn't it?

6. The coffee thing.

Alright, if women are being made to do coffee runs and such just because they are women, then that is wrong. However, by bringing this to attention and making it highly frowned upon + possibly ILLEGAL, isn't that kind of just asking for it to be turned around and used on men? I can just see this situation arising:

Boss: Susan, could you run to Starbucks and grab some coffee for all of us?

Susan: WHAT?! BECAUSE I'M A WOMAN?!?!?

Boss: Um... No... Because we want coffee...

Susan: YOU SHOULD HAVE A MAN DO IT!!

And from then on, the boss now has to ask only men to do coffee runs. Wait, what? Wasn't the issue in the first place that people were being made to fill specific roles based upon their gender? Changing the roles from "women must do this" to "men must do this" does not create gender equality. Both women and men alike are capable of doing coffee runs and such. If a boss is clearly asking only women to do a specific duty, then that is a problem, just like if they were asking only men. Know what I find interesting, though? If the boss were a woman and asked only women to do coffee runs, do you think anyone would say she's discriminating against women?

We need to have no more of this "women need this" and "women need that". Instead we should look at everything that does not treat the different genders equally, and we should try to make it so that it works for everybody. I think somewhere along the line "women need to be equal!" jumped to "women need to be better!" and everyone who opposed this movement got labeled "sexist", "chauvenist", etc. It is not fair to give special treatment to any party based upon political views, religion (or lack thereof), race/ethnicity, personal style/expression of self, anatomical sex, or gender. If everyone is focusing on equal rights for women, who will stand up for the men when their rights get trumped by the very laws that were meant to make the sexes equal? Let's step back for a moment and look at the big picture, and try to make things equal for everyone.

As a woman, I want to be equal to- not better than- men and every other gender identity. Everyone deserves equality.

[Guest Leigh]

lol...i'll have to ask my Korean friends about this one...

peace&love

leigh

[Guest]

I believe in equal rights for everyone. Sometimes something sounds like a good idea but once implemented only then do you notice other problems you didn't think about. OK they should have lighted spaces but so should everyone. Men get robbed and assaulted too. A handful of spaces won't work as women are 50% of the population. So what do you do move the men to another level in the parking garage? So an attack happens and there are NO men around to stop it. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot.

Laura

[Guest Leigh]

I believe in equal rights for everyone. Sometimes something sounds like a good idea but once implemented only then do you notice other problems you didn't think about. OK they should have lighted spaces but so should everyone. Men get robbed and assaulted too. A handful of spaces won't work as women are 50% of the population. So what do you do move the men to another level in the parking garage? So an attack happens and there are NO men around to stop it. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot.

Laura

i see what you mean about everyone needing lighted spaces, etc...

but in many Eastern cultures, it's almost more acceptable to ignore it if you see someone being attacked than it is to do something.

i know that my Korean friends might want to do something, but they'd be just as likely to walk by and be glad it wasn't them...and that may be the case in some US cities as well.

it is a strange way to try and fix the problem though...and high-heel safe sidewalks..?? lol...that's just weird.

peace&love

leigh

[Guest Okapi]

I think South Korea has gone a little to far with equal women rights. Soon men in S. Korea will protest and wan't their own special spaces. In the end it will be just like before but with colouerd parking lots.