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Original poster

Seatbelts aren't supposed to touch your neck and other stories

145 replies

KenAdams · 26/10/2023 16:24

I've just found out seatbelts aren't supposed to touch your neck. I'm quite short and they always have. Apparently they were designed with a taller man in mind. Even though mine moves down slightly its still not low enough.

It got me wondering what else is designed for men that I've never noticed. Maybe number of toilets (I always feel that there should be more womens toilets in a venue than mens).

OP posts:
CesareBorgia · 26/10/2023 18:15

Seatbelts always touch my neck and I am 5'4 - the average height of women in the UK.

marshmallowfinder · 26/10/2023 18:26

MrsCarson · 26/10/2023 18:10

I had a car once that you could adjust the height of the seat belt to lower it away from my neck I can't remember if it was a Ford or Chevrolet we had both at the same time Every time I buckle myself into my Hyundai I miss that adjustable one.
I find pram handles are too high but I'm short. Costco has the tallest trolleys, I hate how high the handle is, I remember having a baby in the seat and not able to see at all!
Edited to add it was a Ford Taurus with adjustable height seatbelt, I bloody loved it.

Edited

Many cars have adjustable seatbelt height sliders. Still too high on the lowest setting.

BlueEyedPeanut · 26/10/2023 18:33

I'm pretty sure modern mobile phones are designed for big man-hands. I can't use mine safely with one hand because my fingers have to stretch around it awkwardly. Never had that problem with the Nokia 3210!

Tools are definitely man-hand-sized.

TheSpikySpinosaurus · 26/10/2023 18:39

shockwaze · 26/10/2023 16:28

Read invisible women

This! It's fascinating and rage-inducing and horrifying all at once.

BattleofBeamfleot · 26/10/2023 19:03

And once you see it, you can't STOP seeing it.

Stayed in a posh hotel for one night recently and I noticed that the magnifying mirror on the wall was positioned so high that I had to stand on tiptoes to look in it to do my makeup - and I'm 5 foot 6, which isn't short for a woman. (The folding arm only came out and not down.)

Obviously installed by a man. They just don't think of the practical need to access it or that "head height" means you need to aim much lower than your own 5 foot 10, because it's easier for a tall person to bend down than it is for a shorter woman to get your face up there.

TheClitterati · 26/10/2023 19:03

I'm 5'9" and seatbelts touch my neck too - so its not just a height issue.

LollipopViolet · 26/10/2023 19:09

I saw the title of this thread and my first two thoughts were, "Oh yes, me too" and "read Invisible Women".

Such a good book. Rage inducing, but good.

mathanxiety · 26/10/2023 19:15

This obviously completely defeats the purpose of safety features. Maddening.

Also, why not put two sets of seat belts in the back seats of vehicles that are designed for family use? Instead we have to buy boosters for older children.

StaySpicy · 26/10/2023 19:17

Supermarket trolleys. Not only are the handles quite high above my waist (I'm 5'1) but if I have something loose in the bottom of the trolley I struggle inelegantly to lean over and get it out. I only shop with bags now and scan and shop so I don't have to try and get everything out to put on the conveyor.

RampantIvy · 26/10/2023 19:18

CaptainBarnaclesandthevegemals · 26/10/2023 16:40

The only exceptions to this are baby related gadgets. Prams with non adjustable handles are made for the height of an average woman, not man for once. Yes, it’s just more shit sexism but it was nice buying something clearly made to fit me for once.

I am tall, so the choice for me was quite limited as most were designed for women 5'4" and under.

mathanxiety · 26/10/2023 19:18

YYY to kitchen cupboards hung too high, and also counters so high that you can't use a hand mixer easily on them, or get all your weight into kneading bread.

SisterMichaelsHabit · 26/10/2023 19:20

Doors. If you think about average door widths in Victorian houses, then think about the size of crinolines, you suddenly realise a lot of women were potentially either trapped at home, confined to certain rooms in the house, or barred from entering buildings just by their clothing (imposed on them by the unrealistic idea of what men thought a woman should look like and designed by men with no thought to comfort or usefulness).

SisterMichaelsHabit · 26/10/2023 19:23

Also tension on anything with a screw mechanism. It holds things closed due to a valve or washer, and the thickness of these determines the force required to turn the screw thread, but they are designed to be operated with average force by an average man, and unachievable force by an average woman. So jars, bottle lids and taps would be perfectly openable if they were designed to be.
Really pisses me off.
Also the size of steering wheels. Honest to God with power steering there is NO need for steering wheels on big vehicles to be comfortably operable by a man and uncomfortable to keep your arms in the right position for a woman.

StaySpicy · 26/10/2023 19:25

And yes to builders. I moved into a new build flat and the letting agent was all "There's a lovely big mirror in the bathroom" so I went and stood in front of it and could only see my forehead. When we bought our place and were having the bathroom redone, I made sure to tell them exactly where I wanted the mirror!

The front seat belts in my car go up and down but on the lowest setting they are on my neck. I've been known to tuck a jumper or something underneath on a long journey as it can get uncomfortable.

Petrol pump handles! I need two hands.

We don't have kitchen cupboards because only the lowest shelves are easily accessible to me and we've no room for a footstool.

Seats on public transport. Many are just uncomfortable on a longer journey as my feet don't touch the floor except on tiptoe. My legs want to slope down so I can put my feet flat but then I'd be sitting on the edge of the seat. I can't sit back properly and have comfortable legs.

DuranNotSpandeau · 26/10/2023 19:34

Yep petrol pumps. It's actually painful on my wrists to fill the car up as it's so clunky and awkward.

Sofas, not a safety issue but I went shopping for one a couple of weeks ago. It was a retail park with about eight shops within walking distance. The only shop with sofas where I was comfortable AND my feet reached the floor was HSL.😂 Next was the worst, you'd have to be a giant to be comfy on theirs.

KirstenBlest · 26/10/2023 19:36

Kitchen counters are designed for women, or so I was told.
Mirrors are often put up too high for the average or shorter women.

Tangled123 · 26/10/2023 19:39

Office desk chairs. I’m short so standard desk chairs aren’t comfortable for me. Even the ergonomic back supports aren’t designed with people like me in mind. They’re way too big.

HideousKinky · 26/10/2023 19:50

As other's have said, Caroline Criado Perez's book "Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men" is a real eye-opener

Stokey · 26/10/2023 19:55

Invisible Women is brilliant and rage inducing.

Also in cars, the flaps that are meant to block the sun are never low enough to work for me (5ft3) but are fine for DH (6ft2).

I think she says in Invisible Women that everything is designed for a 5ft10 man - which also racially discriminates against a lot of the world!

Macaroni46 · 26/10/2023 19:59

mathanxiety · 26/10/2023 19:18

YYY to kitchen cupboards hung too high, and also counters so high that you can't use a hand mixer easily on them, or get all your weight into kneading bread.

This! I really short so end up standing on one of those little booster stools to do kneading!

Boomboom22 · 26/10/2023 20:06

It's annoying the other way too, like kitchen counters sinks and prams being so low they give perfectly normally sized 5 8 women back pain. And make it harder for men to do the cooking, washing up and childcare.
Considering about 30% of my year 10 up so 14+ girls are taller than me that will need to change or we will have a generation of stooping mothers. There should be a range of counter height/ pram or lawnmower handle heights that are not specialist.

Topsyturvy78 · 26/10/2023 20:13

You can get a seatbelt adjuster plus there's usually only one sit down toilet in the men's toilets. The rest are urinals.

2023shady · 26/10/2023 20:14

I'm 5ft 10 and seatbelts rub my neck because boobs - they don't sort of go in between my boobs but slip over them so it ends up on my neck

gazpachosoupday · 26/10/2023 20:14

air conditioning in offices are designed for a man, I think it was a 40 year old man and a certain weight

One that was drawn to my attention recently is women statues - Designed so men can admire the female body. Put a mobile phone in her hand to take a selfie and suddenly its vanity