# Parking spaces reserved for women in car parks - universal in industrialized countries? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 25, 2009, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-spaces-reserved-for-women-in-car-parks-universal-in-industrialized-countries/500970 "2009-06-25T18:08:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-spaces-reserved-for-women-in-car-parks-universal-in-industrialized-countries/500970/1 "2009-06-25T18:08:31Z")
I remember when in the 1980s the provision of a parking area near the entrance in multi-storey or underground car parks, for the exclusive use of female drivers, was an urgent feminist agenda issue in Germany. The claim was that women needed the feeling of safety afforded by being able to park near the entrance. It was almost universally implemented within a few years and is a public nonissue nowadays ([A cartoonist’s take on using discretion in the enforcement of this rule](http://www.maennerrat.de/frauenparkplatz.jpg)). Is the provision of parking spaces for women, near the entrance, also an universal in other countries that have a lot of multi-storey and/or underground car parks? ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-spaces-reserved-for-women-in-car-parks-universal-in-industrialized-countries/500970/2 "2009-06-25T18:16:28Z")
> [@tschild](#): > > I remember when in the 1980s the provision of a parking area near the entrance in multi-storey or underground car parks, for the exclusive use of female drivers, was an urgent feminist agenda issue in Germany. The claim was that women needed the feeling of safety afforded by being able to park near the entrance. It was almost universally implemented within a few years and is a public nonissue nowadays ([A cartoonist’s take on using discretion in the enforcement of this rule](http://www.maennerrat.de/frauenparkplatz.jpg)). > > Is the provision of parking spaces for women, near the entrance, also an universal in other countries that have a lot of multi-storey and/or underground car parks? in the US, no. There are occasional ‘pregnant or women with small children’ spots, and regular handicapped spots, but nothing specific for women. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-spaces-reserved-for-women-in-car-parks-universal-in-industrialized-countries/500970/3 "2009-06-25T18:19:56Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > in the US, no. There are occasional ‘pregnant or women with small children’ spots, and regular handicapped spots, but nothing specific for women. Ditto for the UK, and it would probably fall foul of equality laws. ---
**Author:** ![Spectralist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Spectralist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectralist)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-spaces-reserved-for-women-in-car-parks-universal-in-industrialized-countries/500970/4 "2009-06-25T18:21:43Z")
Never seen it in Canada, though i can’t even recall the last time i was at an indoor parking lot. Probably at least a decade ago. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-spaces-reserved-for-women-in-car-parks-universal-in-industrialized-countries/500970/5 "2009-06-25T18:21:50Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > in the US, no. There are occasional ‘pregnant or women with small children’ spots, and regular handicapped spots, but nothing specific for women. It’s the same in Canada. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-spaces-reserved-for-women-in-car-parks-universal-in-industrialized-countries/500970/6 "2009-06-25T18:22:27Z")
I’ve never seen it in Canada either. Some grocery stores have spaces designated for pregnant women or women with strollers. Those are right beside the handicapped parking spots. ETA: Similar to the sign [on the right.](http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/deeboldrick/deeboldrick0811/deeboldrick081100014/3851697.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-spaces-reserved-for-women-in-car-parks-universal-in-industrialized-countries/500970/7 "2009-06-25T18:27:46Z")
Can you translate the cartoon to English? ---
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-spaces-reserved-for-women-in-car-parks-universal-in-industrialized-countries/500970/8 "2009-06-25T18:43:51Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Can you translate the cartoon to English? The notice says “Women’s parking spaces” and the parking warden says “Well, I’ll accept that as qualifying.” ---
**Author:** ![BMax](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bmax/32/4267_2.png) [@BMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMax)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-spaces-reserved-for-women-in-car-parks-universal-in-industrialized-countries/500970/9 "2009-06-25T18:50:41Z")
> [@tschild](#): > > The notice says “Women’s parking spaces” and the parking warden says “Well, I’ll accept that as qualifying.” That makes a lot more sense than what Babelfish gave me. ---
**Author:** ![JonathanTheRed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8491ac/32.png) [@JonathanTheRed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JonathanTheRed)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-spaces-reserved-for-women-in-car-parks-universal-in-industrialized-countries/500970/10 "2009-06-25T19:00:29Z")
> [@tschild](#): > > The claim was that women needed the feeling of safety afforded by being able to park near the entrance. This was a _feminist_ agendum?? It’s one of the most sexist sentiments I can recall hearing. ---
**Author:** ![Sofis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Sofis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofis)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-spaces-reserved-for-women-in-car-parks-universal-in-industrialized-countries/500970/11 "2009-06-25T19:03:26Z")
Certainly doesn’t exist in Sweden. > [@JonathanTheRed](#): > > This was a _feminist_ agendum?? It’s one of the most sexist sentiments I can recall hearing. Those two things aren’t really in conflict. ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-spaces-reserved-for-women-in-car-parks-universal-in-industrialized-countries/500970/12 "2009-06-25T19:04:10Z")
I don’t think there are women’s parking spaces in Ireland. ---
**Author:** ![Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimmy_Gibbler)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-spaces-reserved-for-women-in-car-parks-universal-in-industrialized-countries/500970/13 "2009-06-25T19:12:28Z")
Withdrawn [as more suitable for Great Debates] ---
**Author:** ![The\_Lurker\_Above](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@The\_Lurker\_Above](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Lurker_Above)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-spaces-reserved-for-women-in-car-parks-universal-in-industrialized-countries/500970/14 "2009-06-25T19:18:48Z")
> [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](#): > > I’ve never seen it in Canada either. Some grocery stores have spaces designated for pregnant women or women with strollers. Those are right beside the handicapped parking spots. > > ETA: Similar to the sign [on the right.](http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/deeboldrick/deeboldrick0811/deeboldrick081100014/3851697.jpg) I’ve always seen those signs with the writing ‘parents with small children’, which is a little less sexist. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-spaces-reserved-for-women-in-car-parks-universal-in-industrialized-countries/500970/15 "2009-06-25T19:31:02Z")
> [@tschild](#): > > Is the provision of parking spaces for women, near the entrance, also an universal in other countries that have a lot of multi-storey and/or underground car parks? Another vote for “I’ve never seen this in America.” I don’t recall ever seeing it in Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, or Japan, but I wasn’t particularly looking for it in those countries, either (especially not in Japan, where I was in a car all of two or three times). > [@Sofis](#): > > Those two things aren’t really in conflict. Yes, because all feminists believe in preferential treatment for women, just like all Jews are bankers and all Mexicans wear sombreros. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-spaces-reserved-for-women-in-car-parks-universal-in-industrialized-countries/500970/16 "2009-06-25T19:35:10Z")
> [@The\_Lurker\_Above](#): > > I’ve always seen those signs with the writing ‘parents with small children’, which is a little less sexist. This is true, I’ve seen them as “parent” or simply with the stroller graphic only and no text. Although… I think maybe Loblaws (grocery store) may have the graphic include a pregnant woman pushing the stroller. I’ll have to look again, next time I bike to the grocery store. Something [like this](http://carolband.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/chetty-001.jpg). (Looks like “shopping for babies.”) ---
**Author:** ![Sofis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Sofis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofis)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-spaces-reserved-for-women-in-car-parks-universal-in-industrialized-countries/500970/17 "2009-06-25T19:45:29Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Yes, because all feminists believe in preferential treatment for women, just like all Jews are bankers and all Mexicans wear sombreros. :rolleyes: Right, because that bears any resemblance whatsoever to what I wrote. All I wrote is that a policy being both sexist and feminist is not a contradiction. In other words, that one can be both a feminist and a sexist. This contradicts the way feminists usually like to characterize themselves, but of course only members of a given political grouping actually believe that that group’s selfcharacterization is literally true. Imagine if I had said that a policy being both conservative and fiscally irresponsible was not a contradiction, and some conservative responded with “Oh my God, you racist!”. Because that’s exactly what you just did. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-spaces-reserved-for-women-in-car-parks-universal-in-industrialized-countries/500970/18 "2009-06-25T22:01:42Z")
If I saw a “Women’s Parking Only” sign, it would be one of those foreign things that’s sufficiently weird that you take a picture of it to show the people back home. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-spaces-reserved-for-women-in-car-parks-universal-in-industrialized-countries/500970/19 "2009-06-26T00:56:58Z")
Haven’t seen anything like that in Australia. We have disabled parking and parents parking (well the sign is of a woman with a stroller, but I interpret it as a generic parent with a stroller.) ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-spaces-reserved-for-women-in-car-parks-universal-in-industrialized-countries/500970/20 "2009-06-26T02:11:51Z")
[quote=“1920s Style “Death Ray”, post:19, topic:500970”] Haven’t seen anything like that in Australia. We have disabled parking and parents parking (well the sign is of a woman with a stroller, but I interpret it as a generic parent with a stroller.) [/QUOTE] Ditto New Zealand, though I think the “parents with stroller” signs I’ve seen here have generally just had a picture of a stroller, or a completely generic stick-figure type parent. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-spaces-reserved-for-women-in-car-parks-universal-in-industrialized-countries/500970.md?page=2)