AIBU to feel f****d off with a world built for men?

[DarjeelingDarllng]

I read** this article with increasing horror.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/feb/23/truth-world-built-for-men-car-crashes?CMP=ShareiOSAppp_Other

Many parts I recognise; the phone for example, I have a better camera but the phone is larger so harder to actually use.

I struggle to sit on most chairs easily as my feet don't touch the floor; this has caused some back issues.

I've known that most medical research has always been done on white men aged around 25.

The 'gender neutral' toilet thing is just obvious.

This quote, below, pissed me off the most, not least that there was once an AIBU where a pregnant woman was querying at what point did everyone stop driving as she was really struggling. 70% of people (roughly) said, just get on with it. The rest agreed it was challenging.

I very sadly know of a woman who was involved in a minor crash a week before her due date; the baby died.

The situation is even worse for pregnant women. Although a pregnant crash-test dummy was created back in 1996, testing with it is still not government-mandated either in the US or in the EU. In fact, even though car crashes are the No 1 cause of foetal death related to maternal trauma, we haven’t yet developed a seatbelt that works for pregnant women. Research from 2004 suggests that pregnant women should use the standard seatbelt; but 62% of third-trimester pregnant women don’t fit that design.

Therefore the default setting is the car everybody could use

But they can’t can they? Not safely. Hence higher rate of injuries to women and unborn infant deaths due to car crashes.

Yeah, maybe if less women did their makeup when driving they wouldn’t need to worry about crashing.. just saying lol

I think you need to change your username to VoiceOfStereotypicalClichés - what a load of bollocks. Women are less likely to be involved in crashes than men.

And if a woman were doing their make up, vs a man distracted by something else, they’d be more likely to die or be injured.

There’s hundreds of brands and models of car. There’s no reason that cars of different sizes couldn’t be available, with safety information for different sexes / heights / body types.

The only reason that’s not happening is that women’s safety is less important than profits, and you are so used to this that you’re actually defending it.

We aren't passive in much of this. I choose things that work for me.

You choose a car that’s safety tested for women to drive and travel in?
You choose tools that are designed to be used by women?
You chose a job where the work environment is designed around women working there?

Awesome, please let me know where you purchased those things (that don’t exist) and where you work.

Here is a thought....
Buy the standard car and swop the seats out yourself (or get your husband to do it if you can't turn a spanner).

Or design some girl friendly tools and make a mint at this non existent gap in the market

Speaking as a middle aged woman I appreciate a cooler temperature.

You're just speaking as you. I do not prefer a cooler temperature!

You choose tools that are designed to be used by women?

I've not find a tool I can't use as a woman. I don't have giant hands either.

Buy the standard car and swop the seats out yourself (or get your husband to do it if you can't turn a spanner).

Have you read the article? The size of the seats is not the issue (and swapping out one car’s seats for another is not safe either)

Stab vests are absolutely designed for woman, at my workplace they will happily adjust them to suit a female figure.

I really struggle with tools personally, but the point is that they are designed for larger hands. Phones is a real sticking point with me - spent lots of money on a phone I physically couldn’t use properly because of the size of the screen. Can’t take photos one handed, lots of things men can do easily, even my DH who is below average height.

It’s all very well saying we could just invent things ourself - I’m not an inventor, nor am I part of the enormous existing industry for bringing new products to market. The fact that the laws behind product development (such as not needing to make sure cars are safe for women) is just as much of an issue as inventor bias towards men.

buster adjust them to suit a female figure (and therefore come up shorter because of breasts), rather than design vests for women that are optimal?

My favourite is still Fitbit’s helpful period tracker that doesn’t allow a period to be longer than 11 days.

DSiL was in a nasty car crash fairly recently - it's eye-opening to think that her car might not have protected her as well as it could because of her size!

Here's one - in the U.K. at least, most horse riders are women. But general purpose saddles aren't made for us - they're based around traditional military saddles, which were of course designed for men. Our pelvises are different - so they make it harder for us to sit in the correct position. Can't remember where I read that, but it's stuck with me!

I think it is particularly interesting about such things as product design (including cars I guess). Women make the bulk of day to day purchasing decisions.

So it isn’t EVEN good business sense to disregard 51% of the population. It’s just If it followed the money, then a majority of stuff would be designed for women.

It isn’t even as deliberate as some kind of conspiracy (as some of those arguing against this suggest) it is just that they have never given it a seconds thought.

Exactly that. Like the way automatic soap dispensers often only work for white people - it’s not a conspiracy, it’s just the inbuilt bias of the person / people designing.

Stab vests are absolutely designed for woman

No, they're not. When a standard stab vest is adjusted to accommodate breasts it makes the whole vest sit higher up the torso leaving the lower portion unprotected and vulnerable to attack. If the vest is not adjusted then it is painful to wear and can cause damage to breast tissue due to prolonged compression.

Yeah, maybe if less women did their makeup when driving they wouldn’t need to worry about crashing.. just saying lol

Please cite a source showing the number of women involved in accidents due to doing their makeup while behind the wheel. If you're going to resort to using sexist tropes at least back them up with some facts.

Well, seems there's a massive gap in the market for stab vests, all these profit obsessed companies are missing a trick not to be able to sell more stuff to women and only chase after the men, especially as women control the dollar.

Or is it perhaps the 'standard' stab vests are sold in mind with the overwhelming majority of people who are likely to get stabbed. I don't see many 5ft 3 women officers leading baton charges, holding back crowds of protestors, breaking down doors etc...

What tools need to be redesigned? I think the only time I've struggled is using an adjustable wrench for something large but I suspect that was my fault for not using the right tool for the job.

I don't understand the phone thing either. Obviously I wouldn't go for one of the plus size phones but I've never struggled with iPhones and I don't have large hands.

It's interesting!

If they were to offer different tools they should be marketed as "small" rather than "for women" though. Unlike stab vests, the issue is simply size not shape.

longtimelurkerhelen

I wouldn't call it misogyny or sexist, it is just that it does not even enter the thought process. Even women don't think of these things as it is just the way it is and has always been.

Agreed, like the Katy Perry shoe thing recently. Not deliberately racist, just a sad indication that there were no black people in the room. Or any of the many rooms the shoes were in before they got to the shelves.

leading baton charges, holding back crowds of protestors, breaking down doors etc...

Yeah, because those are literally the only scenario where a police officer might get stabbed. No way would they get stabbed just on patrol or attending a burglary. 🙄

The tools/phones thing is news to me cause I have unusually large hands for a woman, particularly one if my height

Star another person who clearly didn’t read the article, which mentioned a female police officer who died after breaking down a door...

I have a normal size iPhone - for proper use you’re meant to be able to use it one handed and reach every part of the screen with your thumb. I often drop my phone by trying to reach for things I can’t quite, but mainly I use it two handed