Shemaine Bushnell Kyriakides
I nearly spit out my coffee when I saw the story pop up: Cyprus has unveiled its first female pedestrian crossing lights.
Yes, you read that right. The little stick figure that tells you when to cross the street is now wearing a skirt.
Apparently, this is part of Cyprus’ National Strategy for Gender Equality. And just like that, we’ve achieved it, ladies…we can all go home.
Transport Minister Alexis Vafeadis said the new lights serve as a reminder that “women are active, equal participants in public life.” Really, Minister? Equal participants in public life? I don’t know a single woman who’s been waiting for a traffic light to tell her that. The Commissioner for Gender Equality, Josie Christodoulou, echoed the sentiment, proudly calling the lights a symbolic gesture of inclusion. But tell me…will I now be reminded of the government’s National Strategy for the Promotion of Equality between Women and Men every time I cross the street and see a skirted stick figure blinking at me?
Because if this is what we’re holding photo ops for, we’re in trouble. I’m not a politician, but I am a woman who’s lived and worked in Cyprus for years, I’ve been in the trenches. Lawmakers, on the other hand, live in a bubble. They wouldn’t know what it’s like to be knee-deep in the real stuff unless they actually stepped off the pedestal and got a little dirt on their shoes.
What I want to see…what most women I know want to see…are real changes that don’t come with a press release and a photo op.
How about equal pay? Or better parental leave for both parents? Or, since we’re feeling ambitious, how about cracking down on femicide and domestic abuse with the same energy we use to install decorative lights?
Let’s invest in programs that matter, like incentives for companies that actually hire and promote women into leadership roles. Or campaigns in schools that teach boys and girls about respect, empathy, and equality before they grow up to become the adults writing these symbolic policies.
In Denmark, they’ve introduced empathy classes in primary schools…yes, empathy as a subject. Kids learn how to understand others, to care. Imagine the long-term ripple effect if Cyprus tried something like that. Instead of installing plastic silhouettes with skirts, we could be shaping humans who genuinely value equality.
And it’s not that symbols don’t matter, of course they do. But symbols without substance? That’s window dressing. It’s like putting a pink bow on a problem and calling it progress.
When I saw the photos from the “big reveal” in Nicosia…everyone smiling like they’d just cured gender inequality…I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. The Transport Minister said it was a “small step with a big message.” Sure, but when the message is this hollow, it’s less of a step and more of a publicity stunt.
Concrete problems require concrete action. Not everything has to be Instagram-friendly to make an impact. We don’t need another “Best Place to Work” sticker campaign, those usually mean someone filled out a nice form, but nothing really truly changed.
So yes, Commissioner, I get it, symbols can shift perceptions. But let’s be honest: women have been walking these streets, running businesses, and raising families in public spaces long before a stick figure in a skirt showed up at a crosswalk. Maybe we should start a little closer to that very crosswalk, say, with the Parliament building nearby. How about setting an example there, with equal, or at least balanced, representation of women in those seats? Don’t hand us traffic lights and call it progress.
Because if equality in Cyprus can be summed up by a light that tells us when to walk, then we’re not moving forward, we’re just standing still, waiting for the green lady to give us permission.
One small step for man…one giant waste of time for womankind.
