女士特權：中國商場推出女用加寬型停車位

The parking spaces outside a Chinese shopping mall are distinctive: marked out in pink, signposted "Respectfully reserved for women", and around 30 centimetres wider than normal.

The slots at the Dashijiedaduhui -- or "World Metropolis" -- centre have sparked debate in China, which officially embraces gender equality but where old-fashioned sexism is rife in reality.

The mall, in the centre of the northern port city of Dalian, has little to distinguish itself from thousands of other retail complexes that have sprouted across the country as part of a vast urbanisation drive.

It boasts chain clothing stores, fast food franchises, glass lifts, a cinema and the inevitable Starbucks, a favourite hangout of China's new middle class.

Unusually, though, the 10 spaces outside the main entrance were provided after women had trouble parking in the standard basement slots, managers said.

"I think this is very convenient," said user Yong Mei. "Other parking spaces are too narrow."

"It's not gender biased," she told AFP. "It's just that women have a few issues with vision when parking."

But outraged commentators on Chinese social media accused the mall managers of sexism and cliched thinking.

"This is supposed to respect women, but actually it's an insult," said one.

The mall managers deny the allegation. "We just wanted to make things easier for women, who make up most of our customers," said Yang Hongjun, a woman herself.

"It's not an insult to women at all," she added. "If their parking spaces are larger, it's only for practical reasons. It doesn't mean that women drive less well than men."

'Men who cook and women who drive'

One online poster on the Dalian car park said: "The two most dangerous things in the world are men who cook and women who drive."

Manufacturers' advertisements in the world's biggest auto market are invariably aimed at male buyers, and a man at the mall, Wu Zhicun, said: "Women don't really know how to park a car."

"The few times I've come close to crashing was basically with women driving the other car," he added. "I've noticed they're a bit rough at the wheel, they only look forwards, too often they ignore their mirrors."

But driving standards in China are often lamentable, regardless of which gender is at the wheel. According to state media reports, officials said 60,000 people died on the roads in 2012, the most recent figures available.

The parking initiative is not unprecedented -- other countries have similar female-dedicated spaces, including South Korea and various European nations.

The latest Chinese controversy echoes a series of microblog posts Beijing police made last year advising women on driving techniques -- including not wearing high heels, releasing the handbrake before setting off, and not panicking if they suddenly realise they're going the wrong way.

"Some women drivers lack a sense of direction, and while driving a car, they often hesitate and are indecisive about which road they should take," reads one of the entries on the police department's verified microblog.

Another featured a cartoon depicting a confrontation between a police officer and a woman driving a vehicle shaped like a large red high-heel shoe.

According to a World Health Organization estimate in March 2013, globally males are more likely to be involved in accidents than females, and 77% of all road traffic deaths occur among men.

Even so, for some posters the Dalian parking places amounted to discrimination against male drivers.

"It's always women who enjoy privileges!" complained one. "Men have become the weaker sex.據《印度斯坦時報》報道，中國一商場前出現與衆不同的粉紅色停車位，並標有“女士尊享”四個大字，比一般的停車位寬30釐米左右。

大連市大世界都會商城推出的這一女性專用停車位在國內引發熱議，雖然中國官員強調男女平等，但在現實生活中，陳腐的性別歧視卻普遍存在。

隨着中國城鎮化進程大規模推進，全國各地的大型商場如雨後春筍搬拔地而起。該商場在港口城市大連的北部，和其他數千家大型百貨公司一樣擁有服裝品牌、快餐店，觀光電梯，電影院和不可或缺又深受中國新興中產階級喜愛的星巴克。

經理介紹說，儘管不常見，公司在發現女性在地下標準停車位遇到問題後便在商場的主要出口外提供10個女性專用停車位。

顧客永梅（音譯）表示：“我認爲這很方便。其他的車位太窄了。”

她告訴法新社“這並不是性別偏見，只是女性在停車時會有時會不注意看。”

但中國社交媒體上的大多數網名紛紛指責，該商場的經理性別歧視，思想陳腐。

一位網民寫道：“這看似是在尊重女性，其實是種侮辱。”

女經理楊紅君（音譯）解釋說：“女性是我們的主要消費者，我們只是想爲他們提供更多的便利。”

她補充道：“這完全不是侮辱。爲女性提供更寬大的停車位也是出於實用性考慮。這並不表示女性車技不如男性好。”

“下廚的男人和開車的女人”

網上一條評論說道：“世界上最危險的是下廚的男人和開車的女人。”

汽車廠商在全球最大汽車市場做的廣告也始終鎖定男性消費者。商場的一位男性顧客吳志存（音譯）表示：“女性不是真的知道如何停車”。

他補充道：“他僅有的幾次險些撞車經歷，對方車主都是女性。我發現她們有點粗心，只顧看前方，經常忽略了看倒車鏡。”

然而不論司機是男還是女，在中國的駕駛標準往往令人悲嘆。根據中國官方媒體報道稱，2012年共有6萬人死於道路交通事故，這是目前所知的最新數據。

設置女性專用車位並非大連首創，韓國和一些歐洲國家之前已經推出此項服務。

最近一次在中國引發有關女性開車熱議的事件是去年北京交警發表博文指導女性開車，其中的建議包括：不要穿高跟鞋開車；開車前勿忘放手剎；走錯路莫驚慌。

新浪認證爲北京市公安局官方微博的賬號寫道：“有些女司機缺乏方向感，在駕車的過程中經常對路徑的選擇猶豫不決。”

另一條博文中則上傳了一個卡通圖片，圖中展示了一名警察正在和一名開着“巨型紅色高跟鞋”形狀汽車的女司機對峙。

世界衛生組織2013年3月公佈的統計表明，全球範圍而言，男性比女性更容易捲入交通事故中，男性佔道路交通事故死亡總數的77%。儘管如此，大連一些抗議女性專用停車位的人看來，設置女性停車位是一種歧視男性的行爲。

其中一人抱怨：“女性總是享有特權，男性已成爲弱勢性別羣體。”