After
reading Kine and Pinch’s “Users as Agents
of Technological Change: The Social Construction of the Automobile in the Rural
United States” I could not help but think about my friends, family and I
and how we drive. I grew up with my Mom driving us to practices and to the
grocery store and running errands, but when it was the weekend and my whole
family was together or we were going on a long trip, my Dad always drove. Now
this never seemed as odd or unusual to me because it was just how it was, but now
that I can drive and after reading this article I can see how the driving for the
women was mainly for chores and things as a house mother, whereas for the man
it was either pleasure or business.
This
point was made very clear when discussing how when farm women used automobiles
it was enforcing the gender roles of the man is the head of the household
because the women were using the cars to purchase domestic good or parts for
their husbands to fix their tractors (p 781). I found this interesting because
my family seemed to fall into this idea and I never even thought about it. With
all of the things you hear about women wanting rights in the workplace, you
never hear about women complaining about their “driving duties” compared to a
man’s.
This
idea made me think about whether women drivers were just as good, better, or
worse than male drivers. In the Kline and Pinch article, they discuss the ideas
that when farmers were learning how to drive they either felt that it was a man’s
job to do the driving and that the women should never touch a car, or that it
was too hard and obnoxious in some cases that they let the women do all of the
driving. So who is it to say whether a man or woman is a better driver? In this
article, they discuss how women and men are not better or worse than each other,
they are just different. Men make faster decisions, not always better but
faster, and women are sometimes not as skilled in difficult situations where
men might excel. What is interesting is how these stereotypes are enforced by
the marketing job of Henry Ford. He marketed the car to the men as a masculine
machine, so still today it is a little unusual when you see a woman driving and
a man in the passenger seat.
When
looking at the female drivers that I know, I am definitely the most aggressive
and “male-like” driver out of all of them. I grew up driving tractors and
working on cars so I guess in this department I definitely have a few more what
are considered masculine skills in this department, but my sister who was
raised in the same environment as me does not possess the same driving style
that I do. She follows in the path of my Mom who is a sometimes a very
indecisive driver, whereas I follow my Dad’s style which is fast and
aggressive. I think that it is extremely interesting to look at this after
reading the article because you start to question if this idea of having the
car being a masculine object because of ability or because of marketing?
I
believe that the marketing done to sell the automobile to the skeptic farmers
who did not like the car because it scared their horses and ruined the roads,
made it into a masculine machine and that is why the car is seen this way
today. Women were able to drive the horse and carriage, just like they can
drive cars today, but there is a difference in the consumers’ eyes on which
type of car is for a man or for a woman. It is extremely unusual to see a man
in a Chrysler Sebring Convertible today, and that is strictly due to how the
car was marketed towards women.
Overall,
I think the progression of the automobile over time has truly shaped our
culture and what we believe to be the societal rules and acceptable roles
within it. The car started out as a way to help with work, but has slowly
introduced new ideas and technologies to it. The car can be used for recreation
now, whereas that was unheard of at one time. The amount of technology that has
been integrated into the car is incredible. With the invention of the cell
phone and other technologies, there are now hundreds of pieces of equipment
that are integrated into cars coming off the lots, such as Bluetooth. With all of that said, the stereotypes that
were made when the automobile was introduced are still rooted in our society,
and I do not think that they will be going away any time soon.
Paige, after reading your blog post about Kline and Pinch’s “Users as Agents of Technological Change: The Social Construction of the Automobile in the Rural United States” and the article that you referred to from the Reader’s Digest, it made me think about how the automobile, gender, and stereotypes all intertwine together in my life in one way or another. For example, similar to your experience, my mom was always the one to drive to the grocery store or bank, while my dad would be the one who drove us to my grandparent’s house for dinner on the weekends or drive us to the Phillies games in the spring. Is it a coincidence that my mom would drive to the places where it’d be stereotypical for women to go to and my dad would drive to the more “masculine” places? Also, why is it that my mom drives a white Ford Tarus while my dad drives a black Cadillac? In today’s society, simple things such as the color of a car, in my opinion, all can relate back to the stereotype of gender. In the Kline and Pinch article it states that the automobile was “symbolically inscribed for masculine use by Henry Ford and other manufacturers” (pg. 779) and with the idea of technological competence discussed in the reading it is evident that this was the popular mindset during this early developmental time period. But it is interesting to note that today’s new technology, such as iPhones, iPods, or tablets, do not seem to be marketed towards one specific gender audience. Both men and women own and use all of these items and I think that it would be extremely strange if all of the sudden, say, men were socially only allowed to have an iPhone and it’d be socially acceptable for only women to have a Kindle.
ReplyDeleteVictoria, you have some great points. The color of the cars is so true when it comes to gender stereotypes. And I never thought about what would happen if all of a sudden iPhones and kindles were gender associated, but it is extremely interesting.
DeletePaige, I really enjoyed your post. I think it’s really cool that you grew up driving tractors and working on cars and therefore have what would be considered as masculine skills in the car department. I think marketing is responsible for having the car become a masculine object. I remember a commercial for buying a car where all these women exclaimed that they don’t need a man’s help to buy a car with this new kind of dealership. It’s offensive to me as a woman. You are a female and clearly capable of driving well. I really liked that you posted the link from Reader’s Digest. It said “Despite the research, psychologists claim that it’s difficult to determine whether men are truly innately better drivers than women or if they’re simply more confident in their driving because they’re perceived to be better, and thus show more proficiency. Similarly, the stereotype that women are weaker drivers may negatively affect their performance behind the wheel.” I think that it is absolutely true that women are affected by this stereotype and that it negatively impacts our driving skills. The sexes should be considered equal but different in driving skills. “Men may be responsible for more accidents than women” is a quote from the link and doesn’t crashing indicate a bad or more careless driver?
ReplyDeleteThanks Caroline! I thought the article was very interesting as well, especially the last quote you used. You would think that a driver who causes more accidents would be a worse driver, but some how it does not seem to follow that idea.
DeleteI agree that there are definitely stereotypes about which gender drives which types of car, and when they drive them. Your post made me realize that these are stereotypes that are seldom talked about. When I think about it, my mom has always driven a minivan or a sedan, while my dad has always driven an SUV or a truck.
ReplyDeleteEvery time I see a woman driving a big truck, it seems a little odd to me. Not because I don;t think they should be driving them, but because I don;t know why a woman would want to drive such a big vehicle. My mother always complains about being stressed out when she has to drive the truck.
This mentality is probably largely due to the part that marketing plays in the automobile industry. Every minivan commercial shows a woman driving the kids to soccer, while the f-150 commercials show a man towing some giant thing up a mountain.
Thanks for your comment, I completely agree that different car sizes are definitely marketed toward certain genders. And just as odd as it to see a woman driving a large SUV or truck on the reverse it is odd to see a man driving a minivan. It is a very interesting concept.
ReplyDelete