Women and Cars Preconceptions

In men's thinking, a woman can't simply talk about cars, she can't simply love them and can't actually drive any car out there. Also, when a man sees a car, he immediately catalogs it, before stating what segment it belongs to, as either a girl's car or a man's car. This kind of happens as a consequence of the axiom proclaimed in the beginning.

This way of thinking is so well established that even women themselves are starting to fall for the same way of thinking. The category where my editorials are going is called "Girls Only", so some people might think that's a consequence of the same axiom. I would like to clarify this subject and say that the category's name was given from the perspective of the person who's writing about cars – and yes, I'm a woman – not from the perspective of this editorial's theme, the supposed cars for women.

One of my friends weighs over 100 kilograms (220 pounds) and there are very few car seats in which he feels comfortable, or that don't squeeze him or poke his ribs. He always says that the cars whose seats are like that are "for women".

Another friend of mine loves powerful engines and, although he seems to be a wise person, when it comes to cars he's only pleading for those in the aforementioned category, even if today's electronic systems found on most vehicles and busy traffic make powerful engines pretty much obsolete. I keep telling him this but all I get as a response is the fact that I don't understand because those are not "cars for women".

In just about every parking lot in the city we can find at least one "tuned" car – meaning a vehicle engulfed in a bodykit to the ground and ruining the aerodynamics, with a rear wing that turns any 75 horsepower car into a LeMans racer. It can also have a vomit-inducing color and an exhaust that sounds like a dying animal. This, my dear ladies, is called a "man's car" in almost every discussion between guys.

A Beetle is a "woman's car" since it has a small vase near the steering wheel for a flower, while a man who drives a Mini Cooper is most definitely gay. A Porsche Cayenne Turbo is a "man's car", a Cayenne S is perfect for a female artist while the base, less-powerful models are just "family cars".

On numerous occasions I hear about couple's arguments when choosing a car. She feels the need to talk about the upholstery while he says it has to be silver, for example. Men handle the exterior, while girls are all about the interior. He knows what color is more "resistant" to scratches and dirt, while she wants to choose an upholstery that will resist the test of time better. He wants masculine lines, she wants pleasant touches.

When either of them tries to step on each other's territory then sparks begin to fly out: "you're a man and you don't understand", "you're a woman and that pretty much settles it," etc. We're all living under the impression that our sex automatically gives us a competence on the matter and we can't even move on because of it.

A while ago, a friend bought himself a rather powerful BMW X3. He was very excited about his new toy especially since it drew so much attention among his pals. His wife was worried that her husband might also turn the heads of other women at the traffic light. After a while though they had a baby and the "sporty" car became a small, safe and easy to maneuver family car, a "woman's car".

I'm also convinced that you've noticed how almost everybody says that a limo is only fit for certain occasions, like a wedding or a business lunch. As if its comfort would hinder us if we used it all the time. A Jeep is only fit for the mountains, a convertible for the Californian Coast while a smart for the crowded city we live in.

Engulfed in a variety of stereotypes and marketing rules we forget the fact that the streets have almost the same width everywhere in the world, parking spaces are quasi-identical anywhere you go and we have pretty much the same body shape no matter the meridian we're on.

It makes me sad to see that not all people are expressing themselves freely when talking about the car which enters our seeing path and our dreams. We should do it with humor and without prejudice, not like a defense lawyer or a prosecutor. I say that we move on from the stereotypes, start enjoying beauty anywhere we find it and realize that we can talk about the downsides of a car without bringing sex into the equation. Without any complex and completely relaxed.

Stereotypes only shorten or even shut off our communication channels, common sense, free will and even our personalities. Let us free ourselves!