France Comment

In Lyon, «gender-neutral» bike lanes. I beg your pardon?

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written by Jonas Follonier · June 12, 2022 · 0 comment

An ecologist elected in Lyon is promising «gender-neutral» bike paths. He explains this by arguing that women, in particular, need more safety than men. The umpteenth autogoal in the match between the «woke» team and the allegedly macho team.

On the social network Twitter, ecologist Fabien Bagnon, vice-president of the Lyon metropolitan area and responsible for roads and mobility, posted a photo of the major cycling project of the agglomeration, «Voies lyonnaises». To an Internet user who pointed out that the bike paths should take into account the notion of parity, Fabien Bagnon agreed, the politician apologized for not having mentioned it and added: «It's actually the Beyondmybike community of women cyclists who take part in technical meetings with the Voies lyonnaises teams to design non-gendered and therefore inclusive paths.»

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What would more gender-equal bike lanes look like? «We're trying to identify what might slow down its use by one gender,» explains the Metropolitan Council member in a tweet. «Is it a problem with night lighting? Is the track being monopolized for predominantly male sporting uses?» he wonders. It's worth noting that the elected official answers one question with other questions. In other words, he himself doesn't know what gender-neutral bike paths might be - but he's glad they're being built.

An ideology that turns against itself

The very nature of these questions reaches a mind-boggling level of stupidity. If a problem with night-time lighting were indeed gender-discriminatory, it would mean that men, in this case, are less disadvantaged than women when it comes to finding their way around without much light. Translation: women need help, they really are pives. These words from the local authority, reported by Le Figaro, are no different:

«The local authority will create 250 kilometers of safe cycle paths, separated from the rest of the traffic. So that everyone will be able to use them in complete safety. Men and women alike.»

Once again, so-called «inclusivism» reveals itself to be paternalistic, patriarchal, macho, sexist, fixist, authoritarian and identitarian. The fact that this ideology resides at the heart of power in France's third largest city is hardly reassuring for the future. When will men be banned from bike lanes so that other «communities» don't feel oppressed by so much sporting talent?

Write to the author: jonas.follonier@leregardlibre.com

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Jonas Follonier
Jonas Follonier

Federal Palace correspondent for «L'Agefi», singer-songwriter Jonas Follonier is the founder and editor-in-chief of «Regard Libre».

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