Geneva and Zurich Traffic Signs: Gender-Equitable Pictograms Spark Controversy

The party is bothered by male-dominated pictograms – and looks over the Röstigraben.

The city of Geneva has “diversified” its traffic signs. The SP also wants the same for Zurich.

Martial Trezzini / Keystone

The news made it to “Spiegel”. In Geneva, the mayor Sandrine Salerno “diversified” a total of 250 traffic signs in 2020: the man on the pedestrian crossing was replaced by a pregnant woman, a woman with an Afro look or a lesbian couple – or is it just two friends holding hands ?

In any case: Women are now in the foreground on half of all traffic signs.

Historically, public spaces were designed by men for men, Salerno told the media. Under the guise of neutrality, the signage is overwhelmingly male. The signs, said Salerno, should “reflect the diversity of Geneva’s international society.” The campaign cost 56,000 francs.

Diversity is also very popular at Röstigraben, in the red-green city of Zurich. Last summer, the city parliament decided that city planning should become more “gender-equitable”. But unlike in Geneva, the left is confronted with male symbols on traffic signs every day. That should now change: The SP is calling on the city council to examine how traffic signaling can be designed to be “gender-equitable and diversity-conscious” – similar to Geneva.

“We live in a society that is very much shaped by men and geared towards them,” says Rahel Habegger (SP), who submitted the proposal together with Leah Heuri and Marco Denoth. As a mother of small children, she always notices that many areas in the city were designed by men for men. Road safety, for example, was planned with the height of the man in mind, which is why shorter people are often exposed to danger. “Another point is the signaling, this man with a hat and a stick.”

Habegger hopes that more diverse traffic signs will lead to gender-equitable urban development, as was already observed elsewhere years ago. She deliberately didn’t want to make any concrete suggestions about what the pictograms should look like. That, says Habegger, is a matter for the administration. But she wants a creative approach – and one that avoids stereotypes if possible.

Co-signer Marco Denoth says that as a gay man, diversity is important to him. And when he goes to Munich, he is happy “when I see things like that.” It shows that you belong as a minority. And it is a sign that can be made low-threshold, says Denoth. “I have faith in the responsible city councilor that she will proceed subtly.”

The initiative has a good chance of success in the council, after all, the SP, AL and the Greens form a narrow majority.

However, the SP’s idea is poorly received by the commoners. FDP city parliamentarian Yasmine Bourgeois had to laugh when she found out about the proposal. “The SP demands at every opportunity that one should not use stereotypes. But that’s exactly what happens with traffic signs like this,” she says. “How do you want to portray a woman: with a skirt?” If anything, neutral stick figures should be shown on the signs, she thinks. However, she believes that replacing the pictograms is fundamentally unnecessary. “That just costs money and defeats the purpose.”

Incidentally, Geneva has not completely eradicated the male gender from diversified traffic signs. A man can also be seen on one of the adapted pictograms. He walks with a cane.

Or maybe it’s just a woman with short hair.

2024-01-18 20:04:25
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