Controversy over 'misogynistic' sign for men's parking space

A German town has earned criticism from gender equality officers after advertising a "men's parking space" in a public car-park using a naked woman's silhouette. The silhouette shows a woman lolling backwards, legs splayed and breasts exposed.
Painted beside her are the words "Steep mountains, moist valleys" in German. This "Männerparkplatz" is the first of its kind in the Black Forest town of Triberg. The artwork is a contribution to humour in today's society, Triberg Mayor Dr. Gallus Strobel claims.
However, not everyone is so enthusiastic. The new artwork has angered gender equality and equal opportunity officers in Baden-Württemberg. "This type of sexist advertising, which uses a woman's naked body to grab attention and suggests women are a sexual commodity, is both misogynistic and inhuman," they said.

However, Mayor Strobel has no plans to remove the image in the near future. "It's a matter of artistic freedom," he said. "Art is allowed to provoke people, and should do so." As for artist Werner Oppelt, this is a debate he wants nothing more to do with. "I was unwilling to take part in this from the start," the pensioner admitted. "It's simply not my style." For Oppelt, who paints as a hobby, this was a commissioned work, and nothing more.