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

[KenAdams]

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).

I'll swap, mine seem to have been set at average woman height, they hit somewhere low down on my stomach so I end up hunched over chopping stuff! My dad says it's because I'm tall, and I guess that's it - I would want them 6 inches higher so they seem to be set for someone around 5ft 4

I'm 5'4 " so average for a woman.

My fridge - can't see the top shelf.

My kitchen cupboards? Need a ladder to reach the top shelf. Thank God for deep shelves.

The kitchen counters ? As a pp said - too high to comfortably knead dough or mix in a tall bowl.

Even a lot of beds are too high - I stayed at a hotel recently where I had to take a running jump at it to get on.

My husband is 6'4" and moans how things are too dinky for him.

Another exception is kitchen sinks - we'll have a raised sink in our new kitchen as 6 foot DH washes up.

I get rage though when it's my own DH perpetuating the inequality.
Adjustable height seatbelts - likes them set highest in all cars. See also car seat position.
Mirrors in our own house - will not countenance installing them at a usable height for me despite it being me who uses them, so I stand on tiptoe.
Kitchen cupboards - everything on high shelves which are deep and narrow so I can neither see nor reach, or worse, up on the tops, so even with the step stool I'm taking my life into my own hands.

I'm not short, I'm 5'6!!

The medical ones are so dangerous though. Even things like signs of a heart attack are taught as the male version.

BMI was created for white males.

So every time a GP checks your height and weight against a BMI it’s pretty pointless unless you are a white man.

You would think that they would have done a separate one for women by now.

Another person who came on here to say read Invisible Women. Such a good book but I’ve been beaten to it!

Although I know that many things are designed with men in mind, I do think some of these replies are a bit distorted.

The average height of a man in the UK is 5’9” whilst the average height of a woman is 5’4”.

So if you’re 5’1” and your DH is 6’5” then there’s going to be a big difference in experiences.

If there is only 5inches between you then it’s not going to be as massively different.

Oh dont get me started-im only five foot so dosnt help anyway-but my husband at 6 foot keeps putting things on the top shelf-i cant bloody reach them

then huffs when i ask him to get something down-dont fuckng put it up there then

There should be a range of counter height/ pram or lawnmower handle heights that are not specialist.

Lawnmower handle heights are adjustable and have been for decades.

The lavatories in John Lewis' ladies' loos (in Liverpool, haven't tried them all) are rather high. When I sit on one my feet dangle above the floor like a little girl. I've no idea why as other loos are not so high, including the ones in our house.

Our fridge freezer is tall but the shelves are glass. I write the dates that tubs were opened on the bottom of the tub, so I can see it from below without having to get it out.

I'm going to diverge from the crowd saying read Invisible Women... but only to say listen to the Visible Women podcast, also by Caroline Criado Perez. This episode starts with the story of a woman who sustained serious internal injuries in a car accident due to her seatbelt not restraining her pelvis like the males in the car. Utterly rage inducing.
https://www.tortoisemedia.com/audio/visible-women-caroline-criado-perez-episode-4-a-deadly-injustice-why-cars-arent-safe-for-women/

My good friend (male) teaches workplace first aid - he is ex-ambulance service, and does teach the differences between male and female heart attack presentation. The organisation he works for do not like this. He tells them to stuff it, it could save a woman's life.

It was for the average countryman of 1890s. So not only not relevant for women but only relevant for a particular subset of men of several centuries ago.

Oh wow I didn’t know that it was so outdated!

I see someone has already mentioned the book I cam3 on to recommend. Crash test dummies was eye opening for me, very scary. That and huge man hand size mobile phones.

cars should have automatic indicators, local roundabout quite a number dont indicate if going round the roundabout

Be careful with Invisible Women, especially if you have high blood pressure. I can only take it in small doses because it is rage inducing. I’m still working my way through it.

Mobile phones. Unless you have giant hands and don't favour a smaller one

PlayStation controllers are too big, I really struggle with the thumb stick and it ends up really hurting how much you have to stretch. I've always said they should make them in different sizes but it's obviously cheaper for them to so a one size fits all (Ie. For larger, male hands).

Arggghhhh to almost everything said so far!

Mobile phones I can't use with one hand
Train seats
Car headrests
DIY tools and powertools

But...

My office recently got electric sit stand desks. And i found they also go lower than a standard desk. OMG my feet touch the floor and the nagging neck and back discomfort has stopped after 20 years!!

The heart attack symptoms is a really good point everyone should be aware of.

My every day one is, like others, toilet cubicles too small for the sani bin.

My first world problems one to add to the list is SUN LOUNGERS! I went to quite a fancy spa in June and 95% of the guests were female. They had some lovely shaped sun loungers (as in not just flat with an adjustable end panel, but body contour shaped so there was a rise under the knees. However, the torso and upper leg length was too long for everyone there. If you were an average height female, like me, if your knees were in the correct place then your middle was too low and is wasn't comfortable. The only way to keep upper body in the right place was to brace one's feet on the lounger with knees up. Really annoying. Everyone was doing it.

Which reminds me of another one HEAD RESTS on trains and planes. Even on the lowest setting they are behind my head not neck and tip my head uncomfortably downwards.

I am less than five feet tall, so know all about height problems.

In my long life so far, there has only been two cars I've driven safely, without the seat belt able to decapitate me, or the blind not work in low sun. Both of these cars are Mercedes.

I have a stepladder for my kitchen cupboards, I should really have had the worktops lower, but, meh.

I can't read Invisible Women, or I might have to kill all men, and as I quite love my DH, I can't do that...

I'm on a train right now and I've been uncomfortable and fidgeting for 3 hours 😥 my feet don't quite touch the floor properly so they are tucked back and resting on my toes, my head is pushed forward by the headrest and my lower back is rounded because my bum isn't at the back of the seat.

Argh!!!!

Unless i want to shop in the very limited petite range, most women's clothing, designed FOR WOMEN is too long for me. And I'm 5 ft 3 so only 1 inch shorter than average height for women apparently.

Almost all hotel rooms.

The desk where you sit and do your make up has a tv above it instead of a mirror. If it does have a mirror there's no light so you do your make up in the dark. The actual mirror is nowhere near a socket so you can't dry your hair or use straighteners while you're looking at it. The only full length mirror is a foot away from the opposite wall so you can't actually stand back and check your full outfit.

That's exactly why a large number of U.S states have for decades had "potty parity" legislation mandating enougb provision for women to guarantee equal wait times. Too bad yiue dad didn't market it there, they'd have eaten out of his hand!

Yes, very badly designed for people with beards.