Leeds is “the UK’s most female-friendly town”, according to the headline of a new survey. Sharp-eyed readers may have spotted the first error there — that Leeds is a city, not a town — but we mustn’t be distracted by petty detail. Apparently, its proud place atop the list has been ascertained by myriad criteria ranging from crime and safety statistics to low chlamydia rates.
Now, as a former student at Leeds University and a big fan of the place, even I’m a little sceptical of that last claim. I remember some undergraduates seeming set on a crusade to enter the Guinness Book of Records for the highest number of sexually transmitted diseases acquired but, again, I suppose this is no time for cynicism. Because what seems to have largely swung it for Leeds, according to the study by Vauxhall Tigra, is that Leeds has “361 bars, 312 nightclubs, more specialist clothing shops and even its own Shopping Week” .
Hear that, sisters? And there we were, worrying about being stereotyped as gigglingly tanked, retail-addicted airheads! Wait what’s this? Leeds is also ranked highly for having the “highest number of female drivers and the safest car parks”. Oh, I get it — presumably where you can park your, erm, Vauxhall Tigra. Aren’t surveys just wonderful?