must have been invented by a man

[Lottle]

AIBU to hate this phrase?

It wouldn't be acceptable to say "must have been invented by a woman" or "a [choose a different race to your own] person"

I'm sure lots of good stuff has been invented by men.

As you have to be completely stationary to put a car in reverse, I don’t see how it can make much difference really.

Very true. I was just thinking from a pov of knowing for sure that you'd engaged it - not really a safety matter, you're right. Maybe if you have great big shovel hands, you can do it from the top and also still be certain, though.

As you have to be completely stationary to put a car in reverse, I don’t see how it can make much difference really.

It's irritating though and a prime example of how most cars are designed for male dimensions. In my little MX-5 it's just a bit of downward pressure with the heel of my hand to engage reverse. Perfect whatever sized hand you might have. It's also much easier to push down than it is to pull up

@WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll

As you have to be completely stationary to put a car in reverse, I don’t see how it can make much difference really.

Very true. I was just thinking from a pov of knowing for sure that you'd engaged it - not really a safety matter, you're right. Maybe if you have great big shovel hands, you can do it from the top and also still be certain, though.

My teeny tiny lady hands can’t cope with using the gear stick the way it was intended. It’s not the only thing my hands are too small for.

This one may just be me but I frequently can’t touch the floor when sitting properly in chairs at a restaurant, cinema, etc. People already think I’m about 14 so swinging legs doesn’t help me look like an adult. I’m blaming men for only designing chairs with men’s legs in mind.

Yabu

You haven't come across my built in wardrobe. With its very high shelving and pokey dark corners

Yes, please, all women do read 'Invisible Women', and ensure your partners and DC read it. Every schoolchild should be tested on knowledge of the contents. This is serious. Leaving the majority of the population ignored matters. Leaving old people and disabled people ignored matters. All lives matter.

@StrawberrySquash

I think it's fair enough where the male designer hasn't bothered to think about how other people, not like him, will interact with the design. That's the job of a designer. And it's important that any designer considers a diverse set of people because otherwise you won't meet a wide range of needs. But I'm not keen when it's just used as a way to dismiss people. And I think it's counterproductive as it normalises the idea that it's okay to judge or dismiss a person because of a characteristic like sex or gender. And that's not a helpful way to work together. It just alienates people.

I think this summaries it best for me so thank you @StrawberrySquash

I think I had generally been hearing it used incorrectly or misunderstanding its use! I'd only seen it used in terms that had nothing to do with gender e.g. a friend saying "my car has broken down again, must have been designed by a man".

I've found this thread fascinating so thank you everyone

My teeny tiny lady hands can’t cope with using the gear stick the way it was intended. It’s not the only thing my hands are too small for.

This is exactly what you need - they have a lot of very helpful reviews

www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/B004FTF6H4/ref=acr_dpx_hist_5?filterByStar=five_star&reviewerType=all_reviews&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&ie=UTF8#reviews-filter-bar

@WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll

My teeny tiny lady hands can’t cope with using the gear stick the way it was intended. It’s not the only thing my hands are too small for.

This is exactly what you need - they have a lot of very helpful reviews

]]

The feminine colours will suit my teeny tiny lady hands perfectly.

One of my old work places had a under ground tunnel to the train station but it had other buildings feeding into the same tunnel.

When the security guard asked me why I left by the front door (they had to let us out) when working late and walked to the station in the pouring rain rather than using the quicker tunnel.
I told him it was like a kill shoot in Zombie movies.
Narrow, poorly lit with hidden corners and public access and literally every women’s nightmare.

I stayed in a hotel once where there was no mirror in reach of a hairdryer / straighteners. I remember saying “a man” designed this room as all he needs is a bathroom mirror. Does my head in.

The only time I have been able to use the spy hole you get in hotels / doors was when I was there when it was being installed in my old house.

I know they are put at average height but can't men bend down a couple of inches? Also my current property is supposedly wheelchair accessible, mostly it is, but not the spy hole.

@WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll

It does sometimes work the other way, with a lot of cars not designed for the headroom requirements of taller drivers - can be very unpleasant bashing your head when going over speed bumps, even very slowly, and having to remember to lean awkwardly to anticipate this.

I drive a Japanese make car (Subaru) and have this problem whenever I wear my toque with the big pom pom 😁

Lavatories. I love the one at the local hospital oncology ward where hygiene is all, hand wash, more hand wash, etc. Get to the Ladies and nowhere to hang your coat and bag, just chuck it down on the manky floor. Great. And the one in - Kew Gardens I think, could be wrong - where you can hang your coat and bag but only if you're a strapping six footer who can reach the hook. Hoovers that are mega heavy. Ironing boards. Countless kitchen and bathroom stuff. Pushchairs that want to be Range Rovers. Designed by men for use by women.

My old car was being serviced and I asked them to check the handbrake as I thought it needed tightening. Apparently it was fine but because I need to pull my seat forward to reach the pedals, that means I was unable to pull it to its maximum extension as I was effectively having to reach back to apply it. Problem solved now I have an automatic handbrake!

@DiscoMoo

My old car was being serviced and I asked them to check the handbrake as I thought it needed tightening. Apparently it was fine but because I need to pull my seat forward to reach the pedals, that means I was unable to pull it to its maximum extension as I was effectively having to reach back to apply it. Problem solved now I have an automatic handbrake!

Apparently sitting too close to the steering wheel is dangerous in an accident as you could collide with the steering column before the air bag goes off. Shame I, like you, can’t reach the pedals without being stupidly close.

I can’t fold my scooter, the mechanism is too stiff. Have to get DH to do it.

I’ve remembered something else my teeny tiny lady hands can’t do. To take our car seat off the adapters for the buggy frame, you have to push a button on either side whilst lifting it off. I can’t hold down the buttons and lift the seat because my hands can’t reach far enough. DH can do it. Luckily, we rarely use the car seat on the buggy frame but I would like to be able to use the travel system I paid for!

Fucking lawnmowers, too!

On my last one, the handle was so high it used and strained the muscles at the sides of my neck, rather than being an easy shoulder based push. Not only that, but the pull start strings of petrol mowers are so long it's very hard for woman to use; I got a bad shoulder from doing it.

I dumped the old mower and got one with an electric start (still petrol) and a drive motor, so it pulls itself forward. Bliss.

BTW I'm a broad shouldered 5'8" ... not short and petite, but a little shorter than the average man so not part of the design consideration

Here they are all fitted with this stupid automatic (obviously for safety) leaver on the handle bar bit which you have to have compress to keep the lawn mower going.
If you let it go it automatically shuts off the lawn mower but they are too big for small hands to keep held down in without hand cramps.

I'm currently a size 18, and went into a toilet cubicle the other day. The cubicle wasnt big enough to fit the sanitary bin in alongside the toilet so it was poking out quite a way. Not only would i have had it touching me while using the toilet, i couldn't physically get past it into the cubicle and close the door. Definitely designed by a man.

@Mypathtriedtokillme

Here they are all fitted with this stupid automatic (obviously for safety) leaver on the handle bar bit which you have to have compress to keep the lawn mower going. If you let it go it automatically shuts off the lawn mower but they are too big for small hands to keep held down in without hand cramps.

OMG yes! Had some like that before!

See also the handle on petrol/diesel pump nozzles... does any woman here not get an aching hand filling their car up?

I remember back years ago, I was a size 14 bum then (before children), and as I'm tall I was well within healthy BMI.

My arse didn't fit on a ride at a theme park. Nemesis at Alton towers. Fucking mortifying.

If it is used inappropriately or inaccurately, like other terms such as mansplaining or manspreading

Huh? In what sense is manspreading a misused term? It's not like women do it.

(not the point of the thread, I realise)

I can’t fold my scooter, the mechanism is too stiff. Have to get DH to do it.

Every time I see that advert on TV for the folding mobility scooter, they always go on about how light it is and how very easy to pop it in the boot of your car when folded. It weighs 20kg, which is indeed light for such a vehicle (I wonder how strong and durable it is) but that's over 3 stones - the same weight as 10 full-size bottles of Coke - quite a significant weight for a lot of smaller/lighter people to have to lift up and over into the boot of a car, especially considering that the people using the scooters are obviously very likely to be elderly, disabled and/or frail.

I'm guessing that a healthy, able-bodied 6ft 30-40yo man invented the scooter, folded it and did the 'lifting into the boot' test before declaring "Yep, very easy - no problems at all there".