德国小镇停车位男女有别

德国黑森林地区特里堡小镇的一个新停车场为了方便女性停车，特意将宽敞、易停，且照明条件好的停车位划为女性专用；而将靠近停车场边墙和水泥柱、必须倒进去停车的位置划给男驾驶员。该镇镇长解释说，这样划分主要是因为男性的停车技术一般都比女性好。不过他也指出，如果有女性想要挑战自己的停车技术，也欢迎她们使用男性专用停车位。有批评人士称此举有性别歧视嫌疑，这位镇长予以否认，并且辩称女性专用停车位有十个，而划给男性的只有两个。他进一步解释说，此举同时也是一个营销策略，希望能够以此吸引更多游客到访这座以瀑布和自然景观著称的小镇。

A German mayor has courted controversy by allocating so-called easy parking spaces to women.

Spaces in a new car park in the Black Forest town of Triberg now come with male and female symbols. The spaces for women are wider and well lit, while those for men are close to concrete pillars and can only be reversed into.

Explaining the policy, Mayor Gallus Strobel said it was a natural decision because men are better at parking than women.

"In the new car park we found that two place were not rectangular, at an angle to the road and placed between walls and pillars; that makes parking difficult so we decided to allocate them to men," the 58 year-old mayor told Germany's Spiegel magazine.

But, he added, that there were great women drivers, and all women were welcome to try and park in the men-only spaces. Mr Strobel, who denies accusations of sexism, also pointed out that 10 spaces were reserved for women as opposed to just two for men.

So far the mayor says he has received mostly positive feedback despite expecting some "humourless reactions from the political correct" and being accused by one angry female critic of exhibiting "male pig-headedness. One man, the mayor reported, said he would travel to the town just to try the parking.

In an attempt to deflect any charges of sexism Mr Strobel also indicated that the whole affair may be a marketing ploy aimed at drumming up business for the small town of 5,000, more famed for its waterfalls and natural beauty than being a bastion of male chauvinism.

"I never expected this reaction," he said. "I've been on the phone all day, the TV will come. I am happy, and it looks like we've hit a raw nerve in society. It's been a great marketing gimmick.

"Women can come here and prove me wrong, and while they're at it they can see the town's attractions," he added.