Book Review: It never ends: Mothering middle-aged daughters

Women at the Wheel: A Century of Buying, Driving, and Fixing Cars provides an intricate examination of the construct of femininity and the American automotive experience. With detailed analysis tracing women’s contact with cars from the 1900s to the present day, Parkin uncovers the facts behind female drivers. She suggests that a serious disparity exists between perceptions of women behind the wheel and reality. Citing a wealth of research from advertisements to accident rates, Parkin portrays the stereotype of “women drivers” as patently false. Learning to drive is introduced in Chapter 1 as a highly gendered occurrence. Throughout the twentieth century, men held the majority of drivers’ licenses and served as driver education instructors in the United States. Pop culture portrayed women as unfit drivers, fearful, and prone to hysterics. Parkin debunks this myth, citing statistics that reveal men’s and women’s similar driving behavior, with the exception of crashes, where young men accrued the highest rates. Chapter 2 uncovers sexism when a vehicle is purchased. Parkin presents historical data on advertisements and automobile showroom tactics that either ignore or patronize women and portray them as unable to understand a car’s mechanics and only interested in its aesthetics. A newspaper account in 1989 labeled women who negotiate the price with dealers as “bitches. ” A 2004 study revealed that the top complaint women have with dealerships is service in the showroom. Yet women influenced most car purchases, and no significant differences between the genders were reported in reasons for buying a car. Driving cars was no different for women and men, and yet anti-women attitudes abounded. Throughout the twentieth century, women raced, drove coast to coast, sold products from their cars, and used cars to further the feminist movement. Nevertheless, female drivers were described as vulnerable, weak, and likely to lose their heads when behind the wheel. Magazine and news sources depicted women as inferior drivers, unable to park, steer properly, or signal correctly. Comics, TV shows, and films followed suit. Ads stoked fear of flat tires or car breakdowns; one stated, “when there’s no man around, Goodyear should be” (p. 90). Parkin shows how unwarranted these claims were, citing evidence in the battle of the sexes behind the wheel that women emerged on top. In Chapter 4, Parkin covers caring for cars, and again we see women perceived as helpless. Advice columns and guidebooks talked down to women, referring to car care like caring for a baby. Topless female mechanics and bikini-clad car washers further illustrated how women weren’t taken seriously. Car maintenance was clearly masculine, but women were responsible for securing most of it. In the last chapter, the author investigates identity and the automobile. From the Model T “Tin Lizzie” to the present, people have christened their cars female. A 2014 study reported Baby, Betsy, and Bessie were the top three names for cars. Cars’ bodies are described as feminine, long, and lean; likewise, Faulkner claimed the car was “our national sex symbol” (p. 149). Song lyrics link a man’s libido to the auto he owns. Women, on the other hand, drive “safe wombs” (p. 156) to protect their kids—minivans and SUVs. Equating cars to women, Parkin points out, objectifies them, weakening gender equality. Women at the Wheel offers an extensive and thoroughly enjoyable account of America’s gendered car culture. Parkin suggests that the power differential between men and women can help us understand the often antagonistic automotive experience for women. For over a century, women have been shut out, and men have enjoyed the ride. Parkin’s work should be a must-read in drivers’ education courses across our country. Indeed, Women at the Wheel serves as a worthwhile historical text on Americans’ relationship with their cars, putting to bed the baseless prejudice against “women drivers. ”