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.

. I don't see many 5ft 3 women officers leading baton charges, holding back crowds of protestors, breaking down doors etc...

You don’t think a constant drip drip of things just not fitting you, Chanels many women into other roles within the police?

I’ve written before on here how well meaning unconscious bias eventually streamlined me out of the direct hands—on role I loved (in construction) and int a back office Function.

In addition to people assuming id be good at admin because I’m female, small things like there Never being any ppe for me that wasn’t a special order added up over the course of a decade. If you have never experienced this it’s hard to describe the cumulative effect it has. You end up feeling , well not unwelcome, but that this isn’t the place for you. Not malicious, not deliberate, just more like that realisation you get on holiday sometimes that you aren’t at home now, this isn’t your place.

sink I use a pop socket on my phone. Makes a huge difference on one handed operation.

Exactly that - it’s a huge reason women don’t feel able to work in certain industries (and men think they can’t), and it’s an entirely unconscious one.

In terms of tools, they sit better in DH’s hand, he can grip them more tightly because the shape of the handles is designed for larger hands - I can never tighten screws and bolts all the way because I can’t get the right pressure on the handles.

Thanks, I will try that!

Isn't that because you have a weaker grip though?

DS2 is my go-to "jar opener" for example because he does weight training and has stronger hands. If I were less lazy, I could do weight training too 😂 I may have to when he goes to University.

I found a bit about the car I mentioned upthread. It was co-designed by Seat and Cosmopolitan, and available in purple or white, not pink as I thought.

@Movingtoplanetclanger

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.

Yeah, same thing. To be fair those shoes were offensive whatever your ethnicity, they were awful and ugly as well as racist (so many ugly shoes now). Who ever thought they were a good design? The only explanation is they were thought up by AI.

Your right there

No, it’s not about grip - I have a strong grip, but took handles are shaped to fit in a hand for optimum pressure, it’s just that they’re designed to be used by mens hands.

Even just buying business wear can be a problem.
I can absolutely guarantee that a man would have been able to buy a white work shirt far more easily than I could buy the equivalent blouse.
Took me ages to find one which contained a mix of cotton and polyester, wasn't see through , was smart, fastened high enough and was a decent fit.
Yes women have more choice as in skirts/dresses etc but honestly, the amount of see through, sweat inducing, flowery tat offered as 'business wear' is astounding.

Not RTFT but there's a nice bar near me where the mirror in the ladies' toilet is so high that if I stand on tiptoe I can just see the top of my head. I'm 5'2".

As I recall that police officer took her best off. And speaking as a man who has sciatica and bruised hips from kit belts and a gut that hangs below his stab vest....this is not a female problem

My smallish hands must be man hands then.

As I recall that police officer took her vest off

Because she couldn't move properly in it. Read the article.

Emilybronte.....call me in July when you are wearing slingbacks and spaghetti straps and I'm still in brogues

Brogues are not the equivalent of poorly designed, see-through clothing or the equivalent of high heels.

And no company with a formal dress code allows spaghetti straps.

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?

The only tool I use is a screw driver - no problem.

My work environment? No idea who designed it. No problems with it that are to do with sex. What sorts of problems should I be looking out for?

It's interesting what people are saying about tools - I had a career in a technical subject which included quite a lot of handwork using tools, and I really liked it, and I had very few female colleagues. But I have hands like shovels. I compared them once with my 6 foot tall rugby playing flatmate and we had the same size hands. I wonder if it had an influence?

If you stay in hotels, it is clear that many mirrors are placed for someone around 6ft.

I regularly can't even see the top of my head.

weetabix if you can’t be bothered to read the article, why should I spend time telling you what it says?

And buster, I should have guessed you’re a man from your earlier comment. Imagine how much worse it would be if you had breasts and an entirely different body shape, FFS

So she took the vest off because it was uncomfortable and made her task harder.

Endless accidents have caused injury because PPE on the whole is uncomfortable to wear and people have ignored the risks and taken it off. One of the reasons PPE is at the very bottom of the Hierarchy of Control.

weetabix if you can’t be bothered to read the article, why should I spend time telling you what it says?

Err, I have read the article. I don't work on a building site, in a hazardous environment, with chemicals and I don't need PPE (all of the things mentioned in the article) so how is my work environment designed by men, for men?

Am a bit torn on this one, some I definitely agree with.

Some I think it comes down to cost efficiency and working to averages and short men are equally disadvantaged.

Am 5ft6 (at a push) I genuinely don't struggle at that height, I also have t-rex proportioned arms.

Because of the massive variation between not just men and women but just individuals in general I don't think its possible for everything to be suitable for everyone.

Unless it's made to measure which will sky rocket the cost (that will knock it out of availability for some)

The cement bag thing, I don't get being completely honest. I weight train and have zero issues lifting most things from a shelf to a trolley.

Even before when I would have trouble doing things like that I didn't see it as being a female issue as most brands can be bought at a weight under 5k.

I do however feel like adaptations for someone with a disability should be made as and when possible, but again that's not a female specific problem.

The only ones I take a huge issue with that can only be applied exclusively to females, is the viagra and heels as dress code.