Jolie and Hague to open largest ever summit on rape in war

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 11, 2014 39

A man representing Brazil performs during the annual Carnival of Cultures parade in Berlin, Sunday, June 8, 2014. Thousands of people attend the festival with costumes from all over the world. — AP

‘Girly’ garage in Paris twins tune-ups with manicures

manicure, a massage and a lesson in mechanics. It’s not tomers, two-thirds of them women. “They’re so welcoming what most expect when they bring their car in for serv- here!” gushes Jennifer Collon, a 25-year-old who was drying Aicing. But one brand-new garage near Paris is revamp- her ruby-red nails after a manicure here. In addition to the ing the masculinist mode of auto repair to suit a female clien- “beauty corner”, the garage includes a children’s playroom. Its tele. Only Girls, which opened in May in the suburb of Saint- waiting room is more akin to a beauty spa than traditional Ouen-l’Aumone, caters to women who feel they’ve been sold garage, with mauve-colored wallpaper, hardwood floors, flick- short and charged long by mechanics in traditional auto shops. ering candles and velvet sofas. With increasing numbers of women living alone or taking control of domestic affairs, it’s simply good business to cater to them, says Rodolphe Bonnasse, from the communication group CA Com.

‘Less macho’ style “The range of goods and services on offer has adapted to societal changes” over the past decade, he says, adding that for companies it’s ultimately about “opening up new growth chan- In this photo taken May 17, 2014, Weluree Ditsayabut, center, poses with two runner- nels”. France, Bonnasse notes, has been a straggler in this so- ups Pimbongkod Chankaew, left, and Sunnanipa Krissanasuwan, right, after the Miss called “gender marketing” trend-behind, say, England and Universe competition in , Thailand. — AP Japan-but now has an array of sports clubs, insurance compa- nies and even credit cards catering specifically to women cus- tomers. For some feminist critics, like blogger Sophie Gourian, the trend is more a shallow marketing ploy than a reflection of Thailand women’s lib. “The whole discourse behind this is really pretty old-fashioned, based on stereotypes” suggesting that women are “a bit daft”, she says. quits after political furore But for Only Girls’ two female auto mechanics, it’s been a professional windfall. Aurore Dabireau spent three years strug- hailand’s contender for the Miss able for the title because of her figure, gling to find a job after earning a degree in auto mechanics. Universe beauty pageant has relin- face and manners,” said another com- “Garage owners are skeptical (about hiring me), and I’ve often Tquished her crown after she ment. Weluree, who is also a prominent been told, ‘you’ve got no place here’,” she said. Only Girls is allegedly called for supporters of the actress, announced Monday that the France’s second made-for-women auto mechanic, following a ousted government to be “executed”, backlash had proved too much. sparking a social media furore. A tearful “The comments that I have received A woman mechanic cleans first female garage in the southern French city of Montpellier. “When you’re a woman, it’s like you’ve got ‘sucker’ tattooed on Hautenne says customers like her come here seeking “more Weluree Ditsayabut, 22, said she was giv- were quite severe,” the pageant queen- her hands after working on ing up the chance to represent her coun- better known as Nong Fai-said at a news repairing a car. your forehead,” says Sandrine Hautenne, one happy 42-year- transparency” about their repairs, and a “less macho” style. We old customer. “One time, I went round to three different only change what is strictly necessary, and we show our cus- try after a barrage of online criticism conference Monday, where she garages, and got three different estimates. Since then, I’ve sent tomers the parts and explain what we’re doing,” says manager upset her family. She was accused of call- appeared without her tiara or beauty my uncle to get estimates and-guess what? the prices have Laid Hdachi. Only Women sets its gender aims high, for cus- ing for “the execution” of the “damn pageant sash. “I said sorry... I understand dropped!” tomers and staff-but in at least one respect it is still traditional: Reds”-a reference to the “Red Shirt” fol- that I am a public figure but when I see From cam belt to brake pads, customer Sandrine got a 15- its manager, Hdachi, is a man.— AFP lowers of former premier Yingluck my mother is unhappy, as a daughter I minute run-down on her car from a female mechanic. “If it had Shinawatra and her family, which has cannot be happy either. So, today I have been a man, he wouldn’t have explained any of this to me,” she won every Thai election since 2001. “The decided to step down as Miss Universe says. With only a month to its name, Only Girls has seen 40 cus- land of Thailand is dirty because of peo- Thailand.” ple who want to get rid of the monarchy,” Dismayed organizers did not immedi- she was quoted as writing. ately say who would inherit her title and The remarks, made on her Facebook represent Thailand at Miss Universe later page late last year, have since been this year. “In the future we will have to removed. At the time protesters were carefully screen the behavior of contest- massing on Bangkok’s streets calling for ants as well as check their social media,” the resignation of Yingluck, in a political said Pranome Thavaravej, from Miss crisis that culminated in a coup carried Universe Thailand. Thailand’s rupture out by Army Chief Prayut Chan-O-Cha on roughly pits the Shinawatra-supporting May 22. Thailand has been torn apart by northern portion of the country against a bitter division since Yingluck’s elder the Bangkok-based establishment and brother Thaksin Shinawatra, a billionaire its backers within the military. The army tycoon-turned-populist politician, was chief has extolled the need to restore ousted in an earlier army takeover in “peace and order” after nearly seven 2006. Political opinions of any kind can months of protests, which saw 28 people be highly inflammatory to the other side. killed and hundreds more wounded in political violence. — AFP Angry backlash Facebook and Twitter users took aim at Weluree’s physical appearance in a campaign seemingly waged in reaction to her posts about government support- A woman mechanic fixes a car as she works ers. “She’s a walking beer barrel,” accord- in an innovative garage and auto repair ing to one comment on a dedicated anti- workshop catering exclusively to female Weluree Facebook page. “She is unsuit- customers.— AFP photos