This is androcentrism = In the above picture the figure on the left clearly represents a “male” person. But when the figure on the left appears by itself (eg. on emergency exit or street signs) the figure on the left is supposed to represent the “generic” person.
Road signs almost always use male figures to represent a generic ’human being’ (they use figures that are identical to the ones used to indicate the ’mens toilet’). A few places around the world have started to use female figures (alongside male figures) to represent a generic person in road signs.
Spot the odd ones out:
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