Shopping centre blasted as sexist for introducing women’s-only parking spaces with extra wide bays, pink tarmac and decorated with flowers
The specially-designed spaces come complete with a painted symbol of a woman, pot plants and pink paint
A shopping centre has been accused of sexism after introducing women-only parking spaces that are extra-wide, pink and surrounded by flowers.
The specially-designed spaces come complete with a female symbol like on toilets, pot plants and glossy pink tarmac.
Besides the "girly" design, the parking spaces are 1.5 times wider than ordinary ones, measuring 12 feet compared to the regular ones.
The pillars next to the parking spots also have a painted symbol of a woman and the concrete has been covered with floral prints.
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Chinese social media users blasted the new bays which some say suggests women are bad at parking.
But officials at the shopping centre in Xi’an, capital of north-western China’s Shaanxi Province, say are now 12 women-only parking spaces, which is a small portion of its total of over 2,000.
A spokesman said: "With 2,094 parking spaces, there are more than enough to satisfy the needs of our clients."
However, a lot of women said the new spaces are a great idea, saying that they have added to their overall shopping experience.
One woman driver was quoted as saying: "This is the first time in my many, many years that I’ve seen such a convenience.
"There are always a lot of parking spaces in underground car parks, and they’re usually very narrow, so unskilled drivers can only park after several attempts.
The parking is perfect for women, because now we don’t have to worry about clipping anything."
Another shopper, who also applauded the new convenience, added: "Women bring their kids with them when they shop, so they have lots of things to take care of.
"The new parking spaces make it easy to open doors without having to worry about damaging the car against a pillar or another parked vehicle."
The shopping centre said the new spaces are not a form of discrimination, but rather a form of care and consideration.