With one announcement, a mall in Shijiazhuang, China, has managed to reaffirm two old stereotypes at once. Not only do they remind everyone that women drivers are traditionally not the best, they also manage to bring back stereotypical jokes about Asians being bad drivers thanks to their announcement of a women’s only parking lot at the Wanxiang Tiancheng shopping center.
At least they were efficient with their slander, right? The new women’s parking lot will have spaces 3 feet wider to accommodate the Hummer-driving Chinese soccer mom, extra lighting, and paid parking assistants to guide drivers into spaces. You know… I know it’s an awful stereotypical idea and blah blah blah, but it actually doesn’t sound too bad. Like, if I had the option of wider spaces? I’d probably take them assuming all other factors were equal, because I’m sick of those people who park across two spaces.
Despite being both white and male, I’m not the most confident of parkers. I’ve seen too many parking lot wrecks to be entirely comfortable around other people while they blindly back out of parking spots (my mother is famous for this one) or throw open their doors to leave dents on my ride, so I tend to stay back from the doors and pick fairly wide open spots. Given all the distractions inside a modern gadget-filled car, it’s probably a good idea.
Image: AFP
Tags: women drivers, stereotypes, Shijiazhuang, China, women-only parking lot, special parking lot for women, assisted parking, Wanxiang Tiancheng
