Found this article in an Australian Paper, and find it a very neat idea, so sharing it here. The concept is to mix up the visual image signs we normally see that picture men and women. For instance, instead of a woman changing a babies diaper, the picture will be alternated with a picture of a man changing the babies diaper. What a great idea for an awareness campaign...the city of Vienna scores a BIG TEN on this one.
Viennese gender equality a sign of the times
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200612/s1813048.htm
A green exit sign shows a woman, rather than a man, running for the door, while a traffic light features another crossing the street, in a new initiative by the City of Vienna to raise awareness about gender equality.
The campaign, launched on Thursday and entitled "Wien sieht's anders" (Vienna sees it differently) is part of the Austrian city's "Gender Mainstreaming" project.
Its aim is to "give both genders the same exposure and ensure an equal distribution of chances, opportunities and duties" by changing the gender of figures pictured on familiar signs, City Hall said in a statement.
"Because it clashes with fixed visual habits, the campaign compels (people) to think, look and act differently," Sonja Wehsely, city councillor in charge of women's affairs, said in the statement.
Thus, signs using male characters will have their female equivalent, while the opposite will also be true.
Female exit signs and pictograms in bathrooms featuring a man, rather than a woman, changing a baby, will be introduced at City Hall to start with, the statement said.
Viennese gender equality a sign of the times
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200612/s1813048.htm
A green exit sign shows a woman, rather than a man, running for the door, while a traffic light features another crossing the street, in a new initiative by the City of Vienna to raise awareness about gender equality.
The campaign, launched on Thursday and entitled "Wien sieht's anders" (Vienna sees it differently) is part of the Austrian city's "Gender Mainstreaming" project.
Its aim is to "give both genders the same exposure and ensure an equal distribution of chances, opportunities and duties" by changing the gender of figures pictured on familiar signs, City Hall said in a statement.
"Because it clashes with fixed visual habits, the campaign compels (people) to think, look and act differently," Sonja Wehsely, city councillor in charge of women's affairs, said in the statement.
Thus, signs using male characters will have their female equivalent, while the opposite will also be true.
Female exit signs and pictograms in bathrooms featuring a man, rather than a woman, changing a baby, will be introduced at City Hall to start with, the statement said.
