Copyright philenews
Little did Simone de Beauvoir imagine, when she wrote about The Second Sex back in the 1960s, that we’d arrive in 2025 replacing two figures on traffic lights and presenting it as a significant step for gender equality. Little did the women workers who took to the streets on 8 March 1857, demanding better working conditions, imagine the struggle would still be going on. With different demands, different goals. That we’d be battling over two male figures. A whole Minister for Transport set aside whatever business he had and took to the streets—not to observe the traffic congestion that exists every day and every hour in the capital, but to be present at this historic moment. Stamatis and Grigoris will no longer have the monopoly on directing us—drivers and pedestrians—when to stop and when to go. At least at the traffic lights on Mikis Theodorakis Avenue in Nicosia, in front of the Municipal Theatre and the Cyprus Museum. And the struggle continues. In every city, the otherwise likeable Grigoris and Stamatis will be toppled from one spot to make way for women. They’ve had exclusivity for quite enough years. For quite enough years, patriarchal societies have excluded women from such important posts. As of yesterday, another fortress has been conquered. “In the first phase of the initiative, six female figures will be installed across all districts,” declared Alexis Vafeadis, describing the action as “a small change with big messages.” “At some stage we’ll aim to have balance between male and female figures on traffic lights.” Balance that doesn’t exist in the cabinet, with nine men and only two women, but equality evidently begins at traffic lights. It would have started with the army a week earlier, but women—with two exceptions—rejected the right granted to them by the men in cabinet and the men in Parliament (there are 7 women and 49 men). And no, the female figures won’t be called Gregoria and Stamatia, as you might have thought. A competition will be announced in schools so pupils can discuss equality issues and propose a name themselves for the new female traffic light figures. So said Equality Commissioner Josie Christodoulou, who also believes “this is yet another action that strengthens the horizontal promotion of gender equality in everyday life. It breaks stereotypes, especially for young people” (and especially for those who happen to pass along Mikis Theodorakis Avenue). Another significant action was introducing the word “vouleftria” (female MP).
