# Extra wide, pink parking spots for women in China

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extra-wide-pink-parking-spots-for-women-in-china/756168>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [May 31, 2016, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extra-wide-pink-parking-spots-for-women-in-china/756168 "2016-05-31T15:49:54Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2016, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extra-wide-pink-parking-spots-for-women-in-china/756168/21 "2016-06-03T17:21:57Z")

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The article mentions this is a big controversy in China. So it’s not a case of China being sexist; it’s a case of _someone in China_ being sexist, while the rest of China is reacting to it the same way we are.

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**Author:** ![TheFaerie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c57346/32.png) [@TheFaerie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheFaerie)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2016, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extra-wide-pink-parking-spots-for-women-in-china/756168/22 "2016-06-03T19:12:57Z")

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In general I drive if we are taking my car (which is rare) and he drives if we are taking his car (because his is nicer and I like to ride in it). We will be driving to SD for our vacation this year, so we will probably share driving time.

When we are out of town I prefer to drive because traffic (i.e. other people using his road) and unfamiliar locations get him all stressed out and I don’t want to hear it. 🙂 Plus, I really like driving his car; it’s sweeeetttt.

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**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\
**Post date:** [June 4, 2016, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extra-wide-pink-parking-spots-for-women-in-china/756168/23 "2016-06-04T03:46:15Z")

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> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#):
>
> But isn’t the word “female” in that sentence irrelevant?
> 
> The only reason I can think of why a woman might need or want a wider parking space that wouldn’t apply equally to men is if she’s heavily pregnant; but for that, you could just designate parking spaces for expectant mothers.
> 
> But that’s here in the U.S. I don’t know China well enough, but it may well be that there are cultural reasons why women there are, in general, less skilled drivers.

Right. I’ve heard the idea of pink parking spaces tossed around for pregnant woman for a while now. Are we sure the Chinese implementation isn’t misrepresented here?

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**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\
**Post date:** [June 4, 2016, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extra-wide-pink-parking-spots-for-women-in-china/756168/24 "2016-06-04T04:55:02Z")

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> [@spamforbrains](#):
>
> I frequently edit Chinese to English translated documents and you’ve nailed it.

I did a little more research and supposedly there data showing that damage to nearby cars is twice as high when there’s a woman driver. But it also suggested that this is because women drive kids around and the kids tend to cause damage.

So the reality of the case would seem to be that sexists are taking the raw data and using it to be sexist rather than being not-sexist and making family-only slots.

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