Women - Walk On This Side Please...

[agchristie]

Communication is everything.....

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/london-council-removes-unacceptable-stamford-hill-posters-telling-women-which-side-of-the-road-to-walk-down-9746012.html

[naomi24]

237SJ, I didn’t specify any particular group. I said “ultra-orthodox men”, and for them it is true. Granted those, both Jews and Muslims, who take their religion to such extremes are few, but for those who do, it is the norm. They will not interact with women who are not members of their family.

Andy, when antiquated requirements encroach into public areas, people are right to question them.

[andy-hughes]

naomi24 - "Andy, when antiquated requirements encroach into public areas, people are right to question them."

Absolutely - the fault lies entirely with the organisation putting up the posters - they should have made their notices a polite request, and advised exactly why they were making that request.

That said - it is encumbent upon minority sects to make arrangements so that their religious requirements are met at minimum inconvenience to society at large.

[ludwig]

Most people seem to have missed the point that it's about separating men and women to different sides of the road - not the pavement.

Typical religious nonsense. The sign should have clearly been labelled 'NB : Only applicable to religious fruitcakes', then there would have been no confusion.

[naomi24]

Andy, //it is encumbent upon minority sects to make arrangements so that their religious requirements are met at minimum inconvenience to society at large. //

I'd like to rephrase that and say it is incumbent upon all people of religion to make arrangements so that their religious requirements don't inconvenience society at all.

[naomi24]

Ludwig, //Most people seem to have missed the point that it's about separating men and women to different sides of the road - not the pavement. //

I'm assuming that everyone realises they're talking about different sides of the road. Maybe you're right.

[ludwig]

Most of the early discussion was about women walking furthest away from the road, with men on the inside, to protect the women from splashes etc, which seemed to miss the point.

[237SJ]

OK. We`ll agree to disagree on that one, Naomi.

[naomi24]

Ludwig, oh yes, I see what you mean. I just thought that conversation had gone off course. Thanks for noticing.


237SJ, we will indeed.

[sp1814]

Actually - there seems to be a completely logical explanation to the signs (so detailed in the story itself).

It's just that the signs omitted the detail about the Torah procession.

If the signs had read:

"During the Torah, Jewish women should please walk along this side of the road only" there would have been no story, because (I assume) the Jewish women attending the event would have known about this constraint and followed the guidelines.

Hopefully next year, the signs will be better worded.

[mibn2cweus]

Perhaps next time the signs should read . . .

"This side of road reserved for the intellectually challenged."