Bite Size Semiotics

Estonian pedestrian signs

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I recently visited Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, and one of the things that caught my attention was the signs about pedestrians. Similar Finnish signs also depict two people - an adult on the left and a child on the right - but the adult in the picture was a male until 2020 when they updated the sign to be more generic. (The adult and child also stopped holding hands.)

This is in a strong contrast to the Estonian signs where the adult is depicted as a female. I am not sure how much I should read into this, but could this relate to the level of traditional family values upheld? I would be open to reading a more international study that would compare people's values to assumed gender in pedestrian signage.

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