CHRIS LEZOTTE PHD
Independent Scholar
Ann Arbor MI
734.516.5166
clezott@bgsu.edu
chrislezotte.net
Education
Research Fellow
Center for Popular Culture Studies
Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green OH
2015-2016
Doctor of Philosophy in American Culture Studies
Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green OH
May 2015
Master of Liberal Studies in Women’s and Gender Studies
Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti MI
April 2009
Bachelor of Fine Arts in Advertising Design
Wayne State University, Detroit MI
March 1972
Scholarly Interest
My work focuses on the relationship between women and cars in a variety of contexts. This includes investigations of women’s participation in various car cultures traditionally associated with masculinity and the male driver, as well as the representation of women and cars in popular culture.
Journal Articles
“Pink Power: The Barbie Car and Female Automobility.” The Journal of American Culture. 00 (2023): 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1111/jacc.13462
“Women and Automobiles Across Two Continents: An [Unfortunately] Brief Historiography of Women Automotive Scholarship in Australia and America.” Automotive History Review 64 (Spring 2023): 30-43.
What Would Miss Daisy Drive? The Road Trip Film, the Automobile, and the Woman Driver.” The Journal of Popular Culture 54.5 (October 2021): 987-1011.
“McCann & Me: One Woman’s Experience in Detroit Automotive Advertising.” Automotive History Review 62 (Spring 2021): 4-16.
“Born to Drive: Elderly Women’s Recollections of Early Automotive Experiences.” The Journal of Transport History 40.3 (December 2019).
“A Woman and Her Truck: Pickups, the Woman Driver, and Cowgirl Feminism.” European Journal of American Culture 38.2 (2019), 135-53.
“Where on the Web is Dorothy Haener? Recovering Dorothy Haener from Labor, Automotive, and Women’s Histories.” Automotive History Review 59 (Spring 2019), 34-49.
“Out on the Highway: Cars, Community, and the Gay Driver.” Culture, Society, and Masculinities 7.2 (2015): 121-139.
“Women Auto Know: Automotive Knowledge, Auto Activism, and Women’s Online Car Advice.” Feminist Media Studies(2014): 1-17.
“Born to Take the Highway: Women, the Automobile, and Rock ‘n’ Roll.” The Journal of American Culture 36.3 (2013): 161-176.
“Women with Muscle: Contemporary Women and the Classic Muscle Car.” Frontiers: A Journal of Women’s Studies 34.2 (2013): 83-113.
“The Evolution of the Chick Car, or What Came First, the Chick or the Car?” The Journal of Popular Culture 45.3 (2012): 216-231.
Book Chapter
“From Powder Puff to W Series: The Evolution of All-Women Racing in Motorsports History.” Lives in the Fast Land: Essays on the History and Politics of Motor Racing. D. Andrews, D. Strum, & S. Wagg (eds). London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2023: 247-270.
Book
Power Under Her Foot: Women Enthusiasts of American Muscle Cars. Jefferson SC: McFarland & Co., Inc. 2018.
Unpublished
Dissertation: “Have You Heard the One About the Woman Driver? Chicks, Muscle, Pickups, and the Reimagining of the Woman Behind the Wheel.” Bowling Green State University, 2015.
Master’s Thesis: “Women and Car Culture in Cyberspace: Empowerment and Car Talk in the Internet User Group.” Eastern Michigan University, 2009.
Reviews
Candacy Taylor. Overground Railroad: The Green Book and the Roots of Black Travel in America. In SAH Journal 313 (November/December 2021): 13.
Gary S. Cross. Machines of Youth: America’s Car Obsession. In Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth 13.1 (Winter 2020): 142-144.
David Lawrence Miller. The State of American Hot Rodding: Interviews on the Craft and the Road Ahead. In SAH Journal 295 (November/December 2018): 14-15.
Darwin Holstrum & Melinda Keefe, eds. Life is a Highway: A Century of Automotive Writing. In Journalism History 37.2 (2011): 124-125.
Peer Reviews
Book Manuscript: Johns Hopkins University Press
Book Chapter: Gender, Feminist and Queer Studies: Power, Privilege and Inequality in a Time of Neoliberal Conservatism
Automotive History Review
European Journal of American Culture
Transfers: Interdisciplinary Journal of Mobility Studies
Media
Appearances & Reviews
Featured in Canvas 8 “How Can Luxury Car Brands Redefine Female Success?” by Fru Bekefi. July 5, 2023.
Presentation to the American Association of University Women [AAUW] in Birmingham, Michigan. March 9, 2022.
Appearance at the Automotive Hall of Fame , December 1, 2021.
Book review on Speedreaders.com by Helen V. Hutchins. Oct 202
Book Review in the SAH [Society of Automotive Historians] Journal. Issue 301 (November/December 2018).
Book review in The Independent Journal by Dorothy Woodman. 10 July 2019.
Presentation to Points and Condensers Restoration Society, Ypsilanti MI, April 2019 “Power Under Her Foot: Women Enthusiasts of American Muscle Cars”
Hackett Museum Speaker Series, Jackson MI, January 2019
“A Discussion with Chris Lezotte”
Book review in Choice Connect 56.4 December 2018.
Book review on Woman Driver Blog by Liz Turner 28 October 2018.
Featured in AD&P blog “Girls Just Wanna Have Horsepower” by Gary Vasilash. 8 October 2018.
Book review in Hemmings Muscle Machines by Mark McCourt. September 2018, 12.
Book review in Against the Grain (September 2018): 70.
Presentation at Motor City Muscle, Detroit MI, August 2018
“Power Under Her Foot: Women Enthusiasts of American Muscle Cars”
Featured in the Book Beat blog “What’s So Underground About Detroit?” 2 August 2018.
Featured in DBusiness “Detroit Native and Scholar Writes Book about Women and Muscle Cars.” 6 July 2018.
Presentation at Motor Muster, The Henry Ford, Dearborn MI, June 2018
“Power Under Her Foot: Women Enthusiasts of American Muscle Cars”
Featured in “Car Sellers Refine Pitch to Women” by A.J. Baime. Wall Street Journal 21 August 2014: D1, 3.
Featured in “Local Women’s Club Represents Shift in Classic Car Culture” by Will Rubin. The Bulletin 8 August 2015
Webcast
Webinar: MotorCities at Home Series. 25 March 2021.
Featured on The Bart Hawley Show 21 March 2019.
Featured on Autoline After Hours “Power Under Her Foot: Drive, She Said.” 5 Oct 2018.
Radio
Interviewed on Titanium Outdoors Radio 15 August 2015.
Conferences/Symposiums
November 2022
Michael Argetsinger Symposium for International Motor Racing History, Watkins Glen NY
“Real Racers Turn in Both Directions: Autocross, Life Skills, and the Woman Driver”
September 2022
Wheels Across the Pacific: Transnational Histories of the Automotive Industry Society of Automotive Historians & Automotive Historians Australia Virtual Symposium
“Women & Automobiles Across Two Continents: An [Unfortunately] Brief History of Women’s Automotive Scholarship in Australia and America”
June 2021
National Popular Culture Association Virtual Conference
“Pink Power: The Barbie Car and Female Automobility”
April 2019
National Popular Culture Association Conference, Washington DC
“What Would Miss Daisy Drive: The Road Trip Film, the Automobile, and the Man Behind the Wheel”
April 2018
Second International Drive History Conference, Allentown PA
“Power Under Her Foot: Women Enthusiasts of American Muscle Cars”
March 2018
National Popular Culture Association Conference, Indianapolis IN
“Power Under Her Foot: Women Enthusiasts of American Muscle Cars”
April 2017
National Popular Culture Association Conference, San Diego CA
“Born to Drive: Elderly Women’s Recollections of Early Automotive Experiences”
November 2015
Bowling Green State University Department of Popular Culture Colloquium
“Muscle Men to Fast Women: the American Muscle Car and the Woman Driver”
April 2015
National Popular Culture Association Conference, New Orleans LA
“Playing with Trucks: Cowgirl Feminism and the Woman Driver”
April 2014
National Popular Culture Association Conference, Chicago IL
“Women Auto Know: Automotive Knowledge, Auto Activism, and Women’s Online Car Advice”
June 2012
Popular Music and Automobile Culture Symposium, University of Chester, England
“Born to Take the Highway: The Automobile, Women, and Rock n’ Roll”
April 2012
National Popular Culture Association Conference, Boston MA
“Women with Muscle: Contemporary Women and the Classic Muscle Car”
March 2012
BGSU Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Symposium, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green OH
“Women with Muscle: Contemporary Women and the Classic Muscle Car”
February 2012
Ohio Latin Americanist Conference, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green OH
“Political Peregrinations: Getting Personal with Flora Tristán”
April 2010
National Popular Culture Association Conference, St. Louis MO
“Classic Women: Women and Classic Car Culture Online and on the Road”
February 2010
Battleground States Conference, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green OH “A Women’s Place is in the Minivan: Power, Mobility, and Motherhood”
October 2009
Midwest Popular Culture Conference, Detroit MI
“Born to Take the Highway: The Automobile, Women, and Rock n’ Roll”
April 2009
National Popular Culture Association Conference, New Orleans LA
“Women and Car Culture in Cyberspace: Empowerment and Car Talk on the Internet User Group”
March 2009
Eastern Michigan University Graduate Fair, Ypsilanti MI
“Women and Car Culture in Cyberspace: Empowerment and Car Talk on the Internet User Group”
October 2008
Midwest Popular Culture Conference, Cincinnati OH
Paper #1: “Evolution of the Chick Car:
Paper #2: “Does the Gender and Sexuality of a Film Director Make a Difference?”
March 2008
Michigan Women’s Studies Conference, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti MI
“Evolution of the Chick Car”
March 2007
Eastern Michigan University Graduate Fair, Ypsilanti MI
“Does the Gender and Sexuality of a Film Director Make a Difference?”
Honors & Awards
2009 Margaret L. Rossiter Award for Outstanding Graduate Paper in Women’s and Gender Studies, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti MI
“Getting Into Cars: Women, Engineering, and the Automotive Industry”
2007 Margaret L. Rossiter Award for Outstanding Graduate Paper in Women’s and Gender Studies, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti MI
“Will the Real Mrs. Dalloway Please Stand Up?”
Memberships
National Coalition of Independent Scholars [NCIS]
Society of Automotive Historians [SAH] – Board of Directors
National and Leland [Michigan] Branches
T2M: Transport, Traffic, & Mobility
National Women’s Studies Association
Midwest Popular Culture Association
National Popular Culture Association
Culture Club: Bowling Green State University
Bowling Green State University Graduate Women’s Caucus
Women’s and Gender Studies Student Association: Eastern Michigan University
Secretary & Webmaster
References
Susana Peña, Director, School of Cultural and Critical Studies, Associate Professor, Department of Ethnic Studies, Dissertation Chair, Bowling Green State University, susanap@bgsu.edu
Andrew Schocket, Director, Department of American Culture Studies, Associate Professor, Department of History, Bowling Green State University, aschock@bgsu.edu
Radhika Gajjala, Professor, Communication, Bowling Green State University, radhik@bgsu.edu
Denise Pilato, Professor, School of Technology Studies, Eastern Michigan University, denise.pilato@emich.edu
Margaret Crouch, Professor, Department of Philosophy, Eastern Michigan University, mcrouch@emich.edu