They Can Direct Traffic, BUT ... Women Are Banned From Driving In North Korea

---

I've read about this before, women not allowed to drive in North Korea.
So ... the Traffic Ladies can DIRECT traffic, but since they are women they will never be permitted to DRIVE a car.

The article went with humor at the end of the post:

It happened in the land of the Dear Leader, North Korea:

"Women work hard in North Korean society, but do not have the same rights as men. They do not drive cars or bike in the North Korean capital. Nor can smoke in the country. he official claim for the prohibition of women in traffic is that they have already caused many accidents in Pyongyang.

The ban was established some ten years by the "dear leader" Kim Jong-Il, son and successor of the "father of the nation", the "eternal president" Kim Il-Sung, who died in 1994.

At the same time they are trying to organize local traffic, which has crowded streets, North Korea has one of the smaller car fleets in the world. "

Using the logic involved, maybe we can say that North Korea is one of the safest countries in the world.

SOURCE

Not allowed to drive, can't ride bikes, no smoking.... it sounds like Saudi Arabia. Thank goodness they don't make the trafficgirls wear burkas!

I agree. Burkas on a trafficgirl would not be a good thing.

Burkas are Afghanistan - Saudi Arabia is the Abaya and a face veil called niqab.

If they aren't allowed to drive or ride bikes, explain this picture

I have more but you get the point.
Women can ride bicycles in the DPRK - BUT here is the origin of the rumor. In central Pyongyang women are not allowed to ride bicycles. We were swapping lies told about the DPRK in the west with some party members and they confirmed that women cannot ride bikes in the city. The reason is that the accident rate among women was so high that they banned them from riding. It was found that women would turn around in the middle of the street when confronted with traffic. They would not run to the other side. Yeah that sounds illogical. I was told they were banned from riding in the city in 2002.

Women drivers - I cannot recall seeing a women driving a vehicle. That said the most prized position in the old Soviet Union, China, and Eastern Bloc was as a driver. Tips, a vehicle - it was the best and the DPRK is the same way. Men would be first in line for those jobs. Truck drivers - there is some great propaganda art showing liberated women driving but in a long line of coal trucks I did not see any women driving. I think that I will tackle that rumor on my next trip. It is possible that it is true.

There was a rumor that pants were banned for women -
Pants banned
This is not true. I could hardly find a skirt on women outside of Pyongyang. The women in the capitol dress better generally. I think it is an old rumor actually.

For the DPRK anything that people say here carries weight because we know so little. Some of the rumors have strange origins such as observations from the tour bus. The society is a bit more open once you show them you are curious and not there to harm them

Thanks for the insight. I suppose they are OK with the traffic women on motorcycles because they are trained and are official. And I see how rumors arise when information about their society is limited.
Still, not allowing women to ride a bicycle seems a bit absurd to me. But I'm not wise like the Dear Leader.

The NK Government - they're really into banning things.

JIMBIALEK wrote:

Burkas are Afghanistan - Saudi Arabia is the Abaya and a face veil called niqab.

I just googled it- Burka comes from Saudi Arabia. It's an Arabic word. http://alhannah.com/niqab.html

Words have origins - still, Burkas are common in Afghanistan, Abayas in Saudi A.

Whatever, thanks to zaruka it's confirmed that women can't ride bikes or drive in the city. That must give NKs women a real feeling of self-worth.

I just got back from 8 days in the DPRK and was told that women in Pyongyang aren't allowed to ride bicycles because it is believed it harms them. I asked how it would, and never got a straight answer, but got the impression that at least some people believe it hurts their ummm... lady-parts.

But women outside Pyongyang are allowed to (and often do) ride bicycles, presumably because it's often the only way to get across moderately long distances.

From what I understood it is more of a cultural more than anything written into law. There is no law that says they can't ride bikes, but it's just not something a lady should do (unless you're in a rural area and it's absolutely necessary.)

I never thought to ask about motorcycles. I certainly saw women riding on the backs of motorcycles, though. I also saw lots of rural women wearing pants.


Dan
DPRK photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dantoujours/sets/72157627528311983/