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.

My husband wears PPE at work - he's bought his own because the work issued equipment doesn't fit or is too uncomfortable (especially the boots that have caused plantar fascitis). This is mote to do with not being enough variability in the design (so width fittings, different designs, arch support or no arch support, removable insoles to allow for custom orthotics). It's the difference between "off the peg" and custom made, not just the sex of the designers.

That officer died in 1997, in the more than twenty years since the police have gone through three redesigns of stab vest.
At the time nina was swinging a very manly tool an enforcer and I've seen many women swing that with their stab vest on.
Sad article relying on old material

I've never had a problem using any sort of hand tools and my hands are i would say smaller than average for a women. And even though i'm only 5 foot 4 I don't recognise any of the issues that people say are due to things being designed for taller men, like driving position and out of reach shelves. Tbh, women's clothing and shoes are the thing's most likely to not fit me, but I don't assume it's because they were designed for men, it's just I'm an unusual build.

Thank you Buster for telling women what does and doesn’t affect them, and that concerns about these issues are “sad”. Thank goodness we have men like you to tell us how we should feel about things.

Weetabix - obviously not very thoroughly when one of the first examples given in the article is of office temperature and the differences in metabolic rates between men and women working in offices. Then there’s the total absence of research into the health impacts of female-dominated workplaces (eg cleaning, nail salons, some factories) vs the research into male-dominated workplaces.

When I read this article I could I imagine how these things could be disputed, but get and some of you are trying anyway.

And even though i'm only 5 foot 4 I don't recognise any of the issues that people say are due to things being designed for taller men, like driving position and out of reach shelves.

Is it possible you are so used to it that you don’t see the issue? If you’re two inches taller than me then you must have the issue of shelves you can’t reach, or driving out of position, and the car you’re driving has not been safety tested for the impact of a crash on your body.

Weetabix - obviously not very thoroughly when one of the first examples given in the article is of office temperature and the differences in metabolic rates between men and women working in offices.
This might come as a surprise but not everyone works in an office. I read the article thoroughly. The examples are very specific so not convinced that much can be extrapolated.

If you’re two inches taller than me then you must have the issue of shelves you can’t reach,

But shelves are a way of using vertical height to increase storage. They aren't a conspiracy against women. What alternative would you suggest that favours women? I can't reach the tall shelves in my kitchen. I could not have them but then I won't have enough storage. What other options are there?

I didn’t say you worked in an office. I outlined the multiple issues relating to the workplace that are covered in the article.

I didn’t say that high shelves should be eradicated either - the pp said she had never had a problem accessing shelves, I pointed out that we are so used to working around these things that we stopped noticing.

This isn’t about whether we should maximise storage! Of course that’s not a conspiracy against women. But where there are single shelves, they are usually placed at the height most convenient for the average male. Same with mirrors, counters in banks and shops, distance from car to ticket machines at barriers etc. I hadn’t realised it until I read a similar article years ago and then watched men I know navigating the world. It’s quite fascinating.

And of course there are unusually tall women and short men who also struggle, but height is not the only factor (as is covered in the article)

A very mundane and far less important but still irritating example happened to me last year. My choir was going on a trip and a special t shirt was produced for the occasion.

Unlike the regular choir uniform t shirts, women’s fit ones were not available for this special version. Only “unisex”. Which of course actually means men’s fit.

I enquired why, and was told a decision had been made to only have one shape of t shirt to keep costs down. Fair enough. But about 90% of the choir membership is female. So if only one version was going to be produced, a women’s fit or a men’s fit, why on earth choose the men’s version?

People were actually going on Facebook explaining how to customise and adjust the t shirts to fit. Utterly astonishing.

I refused to buy one, and pointed out that if they’d done them in women’s fit, far more members would have bought them, thereby alleviating the cost pressures.

Thank you Buster for telling women what does and doesn’t affect them, and that concerns about these issues are “sad”. Thank goodness we have men like you to tell us how we should feel about things.

Several women: "Here are some examples of times women in general have been disadvantaged in day to day life due to being female in a male designed world as well as some specific examples of when it has happened to me as an individual."

Man: "No you were not disadvantaged and even if you were, so what. No let me list all the ways in which it's awful being a man because I happened to notice that this conversation was about women and issues pertaining specifically to women therefore I must make it all about me, a man."

I read that Guardian article earlier and found it very interesting.
One design that i really struggled with was a bicycle pump that my husband bought. It has 2 bits you put your feet on and then sort of pump up and down. Except when i did this my breasts got in the way. I couldn't use the fecking pump and nor could anyone with anything more than a 34b. It enraged me and now he always has to pump up my tires.

A track pump like this?

But where there are single shelves, they are usually placed at the height most convenient for the average male. Same with mirrors, counters in banks and shops, distance from car to ticket machines at barriers etc.

I honestly have never found this. I am 5'5. If anything I find counter tops too low. High shelves are too high and I have to stand on tip toe or use steps but I have never found single shelves or mirrors too high.

You might have an argument in regards to drug testing or even car safety (though I've not looked into it) but most of the other things mentioned on here? I think that it's down to the individual person as to why things aren't suitable. It stands to reason that if you are designing for an average then people on either side won't be catered for.

In Ikea restaurant the " counter" where they place the hot food is so high I struggle to lift a plate of food off safely, yes I'm unusually short but the get offended when I ask them to move the plate nearer to my side!!!

Oh yes the top oven at home, again too high to be really safe lifting hot items in and out, a precarious event when I use it!!!

At work (office) we have solid fire doors and a glass porthole to see if you are about to crash into someone to open the door. Our office is 80% female and only 2 women can see through the holes without going on tiptoe. If the holes weee lower, tall people eould still be able see fine with the added bonus of the rest of us also being able to see!

Definately agree about ticket barriers.
I've had to reverse out and drive back in again in order to reach the machine. Definately designed for men and not women.

I'm 5ft4. My 6ft builder put all our kitchen cupboards, including the one with the built-in microwave, at his height level. Now whenever I use the microwave I have to reach up, I can't see into it, and risk pouring hot soup or whateverover myself every time.

Buster I CAN'T wear either sling backs or spaghetti straps for work, that it the point.
I have a strict code of dress to adhere to.

You might have an argument in regards to drug testing or even car safety (though I've not looked into it) but most of the other things mentioned on here? I think that it's down to the individual person as to why things aren't suitable. It stands to reason that if you are designing for an average then people on either side won't be catered for.

I am 5 foot 4 - well within the normal range for women's height - but recognise all of these things. As some have said, they wouldn't be happy if everything was designed for a 5 foot 0 woman...so am I not allowed to be unhappy?

This thread has really hit a nerve with me. You should try being a female motorcyclist! Bikes are hugely tall now. None of my female biker friends can ride any of the currently fashionable adventure style bikes. And most bikes weigh upwards of 220kg. Try getting that up on its centre stand. And the terror of dropping the damn thing because there is no way in hell the average woman could lift that.

And don't get me started on the diameter of the grips, the distance to the levers and the positioning of the buttons. Yup! All designed for large male hands.

Female safety gear...forget it. Tiny amount available in poor size ranges and fit and certainly not as warm or armoured as the male clothing. Grrr!

Then there is the testosterone fuelled motorsport. I'm not even going to mention that one!

I was asked to do a talk about my experiences of a woman in the world of motorcycling. I had to decline because my talk would have been one long moan-fest.

I never thought of this but reading it, it's true. I'm 5'5, can't reach the top ofnkitchen cupboards, barely find gloves in my hand size (extra small) luckily I have a micra at the moment but the car I did my lessons in I still didn't feel close enough to the pedals even though the seat was all the way forward... I don't consider myself very short either, a little under average maybe?

All the auto doors that don't open for me as I'm too short, arguing with the plumber about the height of the shower rail because it didn't need to be up near the ceiling...

Toilets where my feet don't reach the floor properly, shops with size 3 shoes on the top self?

DH hung pictures at his eye height, they are far too close to the (low) ceiling!!!! Look shit.

I wasn't tall involve to lift my huge just 2 year old input of the shopping trolley, can't reach to shut the car boot if parked on a hill. Need a cushion on the drivers seat to make the car seat shallow enough that it doesn't dig into the back of my knees and to stop the shaped back rests pushing my shoulders forward and causing pain.

I detest being short

I still didn't feel close enough to the pedals even though the seat was all the way forward... I don't consider myself very short either, a little under average maybe?

I think the driving thing might be related to leg length rather than height on it's own. I've never driven a car where I've had to have the seat all the way forward but my legs are proportionally long for my height.

My hands aren't large enough to change gears on my bike without letting go of the handlebar, slightly better after getting the cable adjusted!

DH offers to pass things from high shelves in supermarkets to people as he's seen my struggles. On the labour ward the chairs were too high and deep for me - birthing ball made life less painful as my feet could actually go flat in the floor!! Gas and air thing was huge and heavy and made my wrist hurt...