Men make way for women, on Dutch street signs at least
Do you live on Beyoncé Boulevard or the Mien van Breestraat? Dozens of streets all over the Netherlands have been ‘renamed’ by activists to carry the names of distinguished women, after research showed 88% of streets are named after men.
The fact that relatively few women have streets named after them is in line with the general ‘invisibility’ of women in many fields, the feminist group Bovengrondse says.
‘Street names are a mundane thing but they do emphasise who we find important in Dutch history and that means mostly men,’ the women explain on the site dedicated to the campaign.
Bovengrondse says there are thousands of women who have distinguished themselves in the world of science, politics, sport, literature, media and other fields but their names have not become part of the visual DNA of any town or city.
However, presenter and journalist Mies Bouwman now has her own street as has cookery expert and fifties household name Wina Born.
Sea hero Jan Pieterszoon Coen, whose reputation as a harsh colonial ruler made him a candidate for removal, has had to make way for feminist and member of the resistance Marie Anne Tellegen.
Singer Beyoncé, 17th century painter Judith Leyster and world cycling champion Mien van Bree are among the other women who have been given their blue street sign.
Eén ‘De Riemerstraat’ per stad is toch genoeg? Maken we van die tweede een Mien van Breestraat #meervrouwopstraat @GemeenteDenHaag #feminisme @deposthoorn pic.twitter.com/170b4ExQiS
— De Bovengrondse (@DeBovengrondse) August 7, 2018
De Kartinistraat is er al wel in Ede, ter vervanging van de Gouverneur-Generaal van Nederlands-Indië #meervrouwopstraat pic.twitter.com/4n50XrbewM
— De Bovengrondse (@DeBovengrondse) August 7, 2018
de Dam is nu een Dame #meervrouwopstraat pic.twitter.com/togaO9Sf3R
— De Bovengrondse (@DeBovengrondse) August 7, 2018
JP Coen, verdient die nou echt een straatnaam? In Utrecht een kleine suggestie voor verbetering #meervrouwopstraat Marie Anne Tellegen: bekend verzetsstrijder en feminist. In ’44 trad ze toe tot de leiding van het Nationaal Comité van Verzet. Meer info? https://t.co/9YrtZWjKtL pic.twitter.com/XwVOrGvRtq
— De Bovengrondse (@DeBovengrondse) August 7, 2018
Vandaag gaan we in heel NL de straat op voor #meervrouwopstraat. 88% van de straatnamen is man, dat kan beter! pic.twitter.com/Mumlymewxj
— De Bovengrondse (@DeBovengrondse) August 7, 2018
De Bovengrondse hopes that local councils will be open to a permanent change – although the Dam is unlikely to remain Dame (lady) – and that the percentage of streets named after women will grow, however slightly.
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