Female Pedestrian Signals Installed Down Under

From Cosmopolitan

Pedestrian traffic signals with figures sporting little green and red dresses have been popping up around Melbourne, Australia. A nonprofit group rolled out the new signs in an effort to “reduce unconscious bias,” according to The Guardian.

"The idea is to install traffic lights with female representation, as well as male representation, to help reduce unconscious bias ... We know that Melbourne is the world’s most liveable city and we would really like to see Melbourne also known as the world’s most equal city," Martine Letts, of Committee for Melbourne, the nonprofit group behind the move, told an Australian news outlet. She added that the goal is to eventually have one-to-one male to female representation in the traffic signals.

Taxpayer money did not go toward the 12-month trial for the new signals, according to the organization, because the program was funded by a local electrical company. For possible future rollouts, the group suggests coinciding the updates with scheduled replacements for old signals.

Still, some aren’t happy about the switch.

“I’m all for doing anything we can for gender equity, but really?” Melbourne Lord Mayor Robert Doyle told The Herald Sun. “Unfortunately, I think this sort of costly exercise is more likely to bring derision.” (Doyle did not explain why he felt the signs would become a punchline.)

And on social media, people complained both about the swap and the way in which genders are represented:

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