It would replace half of the male-shaped lights ones featuring skirts.

Politicians in Dortmund, Germany, want to set a “gender quota” for crosswalk lights that would replace half of the city’s male-shaped signal lights with female-shaped ones to make sure the crosswalks aren’t sexist.

Some German cities already have such female lights. Berlin has decided not to install any, due to concerns that a symbol wearing a skirt and pigtails is a clichéd old-fashioned female stereotype, according to The Guardian.


Supporters defend the skirt choice, explaining that despite concerns over it perpetuating outdated gender roles or something, it’s really more about road safety — the skirt in the design emits more light,

The Dotrmund’s Social Democratic and Green parties insist it is an important feminist move for the city.

“Since we give equal treatment to men and women, it would be consistent to partially modify traffic-light men to traffic-light women,” the proposal calling for the crosswalk-light gender quota states, according to The Guardian.


The city would make the transition gradually, by replacing the male-shaped lights with female-shaped ones only when male-shaped ones were already broken, in order to keep costs down.

— Katherine Timpf is a reporter at National Review Online.