Tuesday, March 17, 2020

Equal Street Names



Over 93% of the streets in Brussels named for people are named for men. Only 6.27% of those streets are named for women. EqualStreetNames.Brussels is an interactive map which colors the streets of the capital of Belgium based on whether they are named for men or women.

The map is a very effective visualization of the shocking lack of recognition for women in Brussels. Streets named for women are colored in purple, so they should really stand out on the map. In truth what really stands out is the disparity between the huge number of lime green streets (named for men) and the handful of purple streets.

Of the women who have been recognized by having streets named for them in Brussels a large majority appear to be princesses or queens. If you select a colored road on the map you can view the street's name and click through to read more about the named person on Wikipedia.

Brussels is of course not unique in its sexist street names. Geochicas has been at the forefront in revealing the under-representation of women in street names. Las Calles de las Mujeres is an interactive map which reveals all the streets named for men and women in a number of cities in Spain, Argentina, Mexico, Bolivia, Cuba, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay.

Street Names in Vienna visualizes all the streets named for men and women in the Austrian capital.

Mapping Female versus Male Street Names - also maps the distribution of male and female street names in major cities across the world.

No comments: