Do cities have to be so sexist?

[Nitefly]

It’s a really odd article because at its core it’s saying cities are not female-friendly in some ways. OK, there’s a discussion there at least.

Yet the way it’s been published seems to take joy in suggesting that buildings look like willies and this is bad / oppressive.

Strange. Overall, not very good.

 

[Theophany]

Dunno what you're on about...

Whoever signed this off is my hero.

 

[LOAM]

Here's an idea: why doesn't she try and persuade more women to go into architecture and construction, then they can design and build their own buildings... Yeah, we'll be waiting a while.

Architecture entry to university is around 44-46% women these days.

 

[Nasher]

Surly giant penis buildings are more aimed at women than men though anyway?

 

[Roar87]

The Guardian bringing itself into even more disrepute by publishing utter drivel like this. Buildings go upwards because that is where the space is.

 

[Dis86]

Architecture entry to university is around 44-46% women these days.

All the partners that I've dealt with were male. I generally found the architectural assistants to be female.
Never worked out why it was like that tbh.

 

[Theophany]

Surly giant penis buildings are more aimed at women than men though anyway?

Why are they grumpy?

 

[cheesyboy]

inb4 the economic realities of high land value is the real reason for tall buildings.....

Yeah, tough to find enough land to build tonnes of empty offices in Dubai

 

[LOAM]

All the partners that I've dealt with were male. I generally found the architectural assistants to be female.
Never worked out why it was like that tbh.

I imagine as usual it's glass ceilings. There's definitely an old boys club culture still, despite the volume of females in the discipline.

 

[adolf hamster]

Yeah, tough to find enough land to build tonnes of empty offices in Dubai

Or anywhere, last i checked it's a very short list of countries who dont have empty space somewhere to build on.

But people dont want buildings in the middle of nowhere, they want them conveniently located near various amenities.

 

[roadie]

Horror as article written to stimulate debate simulates debate.

 

[robgmun]

Dunno what you're on about...

proper lol, i wonder how the architect got away with it, or didn't anybody else just didn't notice?

 

[Roar87]

I imagine as usual it's glass ceilings. There's definitely an old boys club culture still, despite the volume of females in the discipline.

Really don't understand this, I've never seen such a thing, you realise men actually like women and enjoy spending time with them? I cannot at all imagine that men are deliberately keeping women out of any work place, I think men are actually more likely in a lot of cases to hire a woman because she's a woman than the opposite.

 

[Theophany]

Really don't understand this, I've never seen such a thing, you realise men actually like women and enjoy spending time with them? I cannot at all imagine that men are deliberately keeping women out of any work place, I think men are actually more likely in a lot of cases to hire a woman because she's a woman than the opposite.

This post is giving me a strong 'yikes' vibe.

 

[R.P.L]

Horror as article written to stimulate debate simulates debate.

Really? I thought it was written to draw ridicule, and by that measure I'd say it's a sterling effort.

 

[Ahleckz]

It's actually an a pretty interesting article, with some thought provoking points once you get into it and away from the clickbait headline of "buildings look like willies therefore bad".

I first started reading it, and was reminded of a study to do with AC temperatures where in a woman dominated office, the AC was often set by a man (be it facilities manager, building manager (jobs more likely to be done by men) etc) and the temperature they set was lower than ideal for women. This had a negative effect on their productivity. Sure, I don't think the manager is being overtly sexist but it does make you wonder if the end user has been thought about.
Again, I echo that with the bus designer. She mentions pram spaces are hard to find, I wonder how many times the male bus designer (I only know of one bus designer, and he is male - though I suspect the majority are indeed male) has thought about prams and the like - something which may be felt more acutely by a woman than a man. I suppose I'm suggesting that if we assume men and women have different needs (which I think that they often do) then it's important that at the design and implementation stage equal weighting is given. As a man without kids, and not wanting to have any, I certainly wouldn't ever consider the pram arrangements on a bus.

having to limit our movements, adjust our clothing, and travel in packs, avoiding dark alleys

This part probably resonated me the most. Isn't it awful that women are made to feel this way, and have to moderate their behaviour due to the way some men make them feel. Why shouldn't public areas, buildings, lobbies, etc be built with this in mind? To ensure there aren't blind corners, to ensure adequate lighting, to ensure that when walking up the stairs someone can't look up their skirt, etc.

Sure, there's some nonsense in the wording of the article but isn't it important that we consider the end user as much as possible in design? And if that can make 50% of the population happier, and more engaging with the product then wouldn't that be advantageous?

 

[LOAM]

Really don't understand this, I've never seen such a thing, you realise men actually like women and enjoy spending time with them? I cannot at all imagine that men are deliberately keeping women out of any work place, I think men are actually more likely in a lot of cases to hire a woman because she's a woman than the opposite.

I'm not entirely sure what your point is unless it's that sexism can't exist because men like women. As someone who works in the architecture industry I can absolutely attest to the existence of "old boys club". It's equally prevalent towards technical staff who are often got rid of in downturns, before architects, regardless of ability.

Women make excellent architects, that's not questionable. My post was in response to a previous comment that perhaps the author of the opinion piece should go and convince women to become architects and therefore reduce the amount of penis shaped interventions we have dotted around our cities and that most director / partners were men.

 

[Roar87]

I'm not entirely sure what your point is unless it's that sexism can't exist because men like women. As someone who works in the architecture industry I can absolutely attest to the existence of "old boys club". It's equally prevalent towards technical staff who are often got rid of in downturns, before architects, regardless of ability.

Women make excellent architects, that's not questionable. My post was in response to a previous comment that perhaps the author of the opinion piece should go and convince women to become architects and therefore reduce the amount of penis shaped interventions we have dotted around our cities and that most director / partners were men.

I think a lot of these accusations of "old boys clubs" are just people who see a lot of men in top jobs and assume they're discriminating. There's probably elitism, there's probably people protecting their friends, I don't think it's because they're men, it's because they're long standing colleagues. I bet in Architecture a lot of the people at the top are older men, when they started out there won't have been many female Architects, so 20 years on most of the top people making the decisions are men. That will change over time as more women are clearly joining the industry, it won't change in the 2 years people seem to expect it to. Women joining the industry won't become partners and directors over night.

This post is giving me a strong 'yikes' vibe.

Men who say "yikes" lol

 

[SPG]

Horror as article written to stimulate debate simulates debate.

Debate ? I read the headline i am only debating how crap the Guardian is now by allowing such utter tripe into the paper.


The author of said opinion needs to be dropped off in Wuhan for 3 months and report that... Actually that wouldnt be allowed... Next best thing checkout dolly (yes i know) as you can waffle your opinion constantly to people who do no care what you think.

 

[Diddums]

Here's an idea: why doesn't she try and persuade more women to go into architecture and construction, then they can design and build their own buildings... Yeah, we'll be waiting a while.

No no, don't be silly, we don't solve our problems in today's society, we use the media and social media to force others to accommodate us.