Ending the Sexism of Street Names

When it comes to being remembered by a street name, women get a bad deal. Researchers have analysed the gender balance of streets named after people in seven major cities, including London and Paris, and found that only 27.5 per cent were named after women. In Spain, it’s even worse: just five per cent of the nation’s streets are named after women, and they are mainly religious figures, according to CityLab.com. But since a change in municipal politics, cities such as Bilbao, Oviedo and Cadiz now plan to rename streets that commemorate figures from the fascist Franco regime, instead calling them after leading Spanish female writers and scientists.