DriftGirl

iTrader: (6)

There are lots of girls into cars...they dont post on forums.

and guys do act like jerks when a female walks into a dealership or repair place....and will look at you like you're an alien if seen in a performance shop LoL!!


"Cars" are a "guy thing"...I get that

bruce van

I don't know about most of the guys here on the forum, but it's always a big thumbs up when I do meet women who know cars and can talk about them. I don't expect women to know a lot about cars because, in general, most don't.

What I can't stand are guys who don't know squat about cars!

mmarshall

Well, they can learn, just like we did......that's one of the things CAR CHAT is for. We've got some very knowledgeable ladies here at CL, including Liz (AsianGirl007), Faymester, and SandiK.

There's one thing worse.....people who don't know squat and yet talk or think like they actually do. That doesn't mean simple, honest disagreements on automotive issues, but actual ignorance. A classic example of ignorance and arrogance is Arianna Huffington and her political ramblings about SUVs.

geko29

I think you've got it exactly right here. The stereotype that women generally aren't into cars is fact based and nearly indisputable. However, the translation of that into an assumption that those that ARE interested don't know anything has no basis whatsoever, yet is relatively widespread. I've only known two such women in my life--one is a better mechanic than I'll ever be, and the other a better driver. So based on my own experience with their scarcity, I'd be exceedingly surprised to meet another "car girl", but totally unsurprised to subsequently find out she was knowledgeable.

I've observed similar phenomena in a variety of other traditionally male-dominated aspects of life. I work in IT, where women are generally pretty rare. Therefore the few I've worked with tend to stand out, for better or for worse. One was dumb as a whole box of rocks, another didn't have a wide range of knowledge but was exceedingly talented in her specific area, and the rest have been more or less brilliant. I don't know if that's because women generally have to be REALLY into tech to deal with the prejudices and preconceptions in the industry, or if they have to be that much better than the men to even merit consideration during the selection process. Of my admittedly small sample, the average competence of female IT workers is leagues ahead of the average male--largely because there are so many completely worthless male IT workers.

As a final humorous example, when I was in high school, I had a friend who worked at Ace Hardware. She was 5'2" and looked like she was 12, but was very mechanically-inclined. A lot of times she'd greet people walking into the store and ask if she could help with something, and they'd walk past and go find one of the guys. When they'd ask their question, 75% of the time, the answer was "I don't know too much about that, but Karen would know." and they'd point back towards the door. The customer invariably made the walk of shame back up front, where Karen was standing with a big s***eating grin on her face, and proceeded to thoroughly answer every question they had. The few times I saw it, I nearly fell down laughing.

DriftGirl

iTrader: (6)

I also think a lot of us girls make it hard on ourselves. if you're gonna be around a car coulture..atleast know SOMETHING about it. I see this mostly in the Import world.

Every single day I get emails from girls asking me how did I get into 'car', etc, etc. So I know there are other chicks that want to get into it, but a lot are ran off by guys on Automotive forums who think that cars can only be a male thing.

Ive been on boards a while and know that over half just repeat what theyve read on the forums...

I have tough skin, Plus I can put my skills up against ANYBODY in the car game, so it never bothered me. I'm a cocky-*** sometimes but just like GEko29 stated: They dont respect you at first sight.


...some simply dont wanna put up with the BS and decide to jus go to the mall.

Sandi_k

This is an interesting discussion for me.

My husband is a car nut. I've learned a LOT from him, and discovered I like cars too. I'm the one who likes to go to the LA Auto Show, and I was on a Saturn Owners' Group on a Usenet BB waaaayyyy back in the day (1993!)

There IS still prejudice, although I think it's less than it used to be. The worst offenders, IME, are car SALESPEOPLE. You'd think that women would be more represented in auto sales; it's a pity they're not.

I think it is largely a matter of confidence, in regards to career exploration. For both autos and IT, when career and college major decisions are made, many women/girls are still deferring to mom, dad, the boyfriend, the girlfriends, and just don't want to generally stand out and fight for their place. It's easier to "go along" with what others expect of you. By the time you're 35 and don't give a d*mn what others think, you're already locked into a more traditional field.

Happily, I haven't had much of a problem in those areas, so I'm willing to point out stupidity and assumptions about women and "field XXX" when I come across it. Which does still happen (ask me about the salesperson who asked me "what color do you want to drive?" - 2 months ago!!)

Sandi

mmarshall

In my area (Washington, D.C. suburbs), women are well-represented in sales, but that may partly be because of the huge number of vehicles sold in this area and the vast number of dealerships. We are the country's second-largest new-car market, second only to Southern California.

But, to be honest, many auto salespeople, both men and women, don't know much about cars at all, much less the ones they are actually selling. They are often just buisnessmen and women out to make a buck. This is not necessarily a gender thing....I've seen it on both sides.

Of course, salespeople have to make a living, too...I'm not denying that. They have bills to pay, just like anybody else. But many of them (not all) seem to look at it as more of just a job than a real love of cars.