Tag: woman driver

Car CultureWomen & Car Advertising

What Women Want

Posted on by Chris Lezotte
Advertisement for the 1955 Dodge La Femme

A recent article on Hagerty.com looked back at a notable and somewhat notorious failed attempt of an American automaker to develop an automobile specifically for the woman driver. In 1955, Chrysler introduced La Femme, with the intention of directing a perceived wealth of “lady-dollars” to its rebranded, repainted, and reappointed Dodge Royal Lancer. The thinking – by the group of male engineers, designers, and marketers –  was that women would be innately attracted to an automotive product and package that included a heather rose and pearl paint application, brocatelle upholstery, accompanied by a complement of accessories that included a matching lipstick case, cigarette lighter, compact, change purse, rain cape, rain hat, umbrella, and purse, all coordinating with the Jacquard car interior. Not surprisingly, women’s response to La Femme was lukewarm at best. After a two year production run with only 1500 cars sold, the pink and white behemoth drove off quietly into automotive history.

This was not the first, nor the last, attempt by auto manufacturers to designate a particular vehicle as the “woman’s car.” In the early auto age, when the introduction of the fast and powerful gasoline automobile threatened the future of the electric car, automakers rebranded the electric as perfectly suited for the woman behind the wheel. The qualities that differentiated the electric from its gas-powered successor –  clean, quiet, easy to handle, stylish, and with limited power and range – were promoted as appropriate for the “feminine” characteristics of cleanliness, physical weakness, and domesticity. However, although Clara Ford was gifted an electric vehicle by her auto mogul husband Henry, the majority of driving women desired the power, performance, and range of the gasoline powered automobile. It wasn’t long before women passed over the electric in favor of the ever-expanding lineup of combustion engine cars.

During the 1980s, car manufacturers began to consider women as a potentially important demographic for trucks and vans. Yet rather than addressing women as serious consumers, advertisers once again called upon “feminine” stereotypes to promote vehicles to women. Because the Chevy S-10 Blazer was purchased primarily by men, marketers believed that a “pink truck” campaign would convince potential female customers to consider the off-road vehicle. As Ella Howard writes, “although trucks are often associated with masculinity, readers here saw one bathed in pastels, and were assured that a woman driving a Blazer need not be unfeminine” (137). Women in the market for a vehicle, however, found the use of pastel colors and “other gimmicky features” in these advertising attempts to be offensive and condescending. If women did, in fact, purchase a Chevy Blazer, it was in spite of, rather than due to, the stereotypical visions of gender reflected in the print advertising campaign. 

In my own work on women’s involvement in various car cultures – including chick cars, muscle cars, and pickup trucks – I discovered that what a woman wants in a vehicle is personal. Whether looking for an automobile that is sporty, tough, powerful, or simply fun to drive, female motorists make choices based on their own preferences, needs, and desires. While women – at some point in their lives – may adhere to gender prescriptions in the purchase of a certifiable “mom” vehicle – i.e. wagon, minivan, crossover, or small SUV – when freed from parental responsibilities, or in defiance of them, they are likely to select vehicles that offer independence, autonomy, and empowerment. Rather than being seduced by a pretty paint job or feminine accoutrements, they drive off in a vehicle that says “this is who I am.”

Over the past century, auto makers have been slow to understand that it is difficult, if not impossible, to produce a vehicle specifically for the woman driver. As I have learned in my various explorations into the relationship between women and automobiles, “what women want” is to make their own choices about who they are and what they will drive.

Howard, Ella. “Pink Truck Ads: Second-Wave Feminism and Gendered Marketing.” Journal of Women’s History 22.4 (Winter 2010): 137-161.

Hunting, Benjamin. “How the 1955 Dodge La Femme Missed the Mark on Designing Cars for Women.” Hagerty.com 10 Feb 2020. Accessed 18 Feb 2020.

What are your feelings about a ‘woman’s car’? Is there such a thing? What are the qualities that make a car appealing to the woman driver? Your opinions are welcome!

Women Writing Cars

Virginia Scharff

Posted on by Chris Lezotte

When Virginia Scharff submitted her dissertation in 1987, it was hard to imagine it would evolve into a book that would forever change the course of women’s automotive history scholarship. At the time it was written there was very little research devoted to the history of cars or car culture. That which existed was – not surprisingly – written about, by, and for men. However, as a young and developing historian, Scharff joined the wave of feminist scholars who began “writing women into history” during the late 1970s. Like those before her, she desired to examine an aspect of women’s lives which had heretofore been invisible. Because scholarship on women’s automobility was nonexistent, Scharff had some difficulty finding resources on which to base her research. Although she struggled to find data, Scharff’s determination and diligence paid off. Taking the Wheel: Women and the Coming of the Motor Age, published in 1991, was groundbreaking not only for its subject matter, but because it challenged and dispelled the “common knowledge” about women’s relationship to the automobile.

In the early motor age, automobiles were handcrafted, costly, and electric with limited range and power. Consequently, they were not taken seriously as modes of transportation but rather, served as expensive playthings for the rich. However, after the development of the gasoline-powered engine, and Henry Ford’s implementation of the assembly line, automobiles became faster, cheaper, less refined, and available and accessible to “every man.” The growing popularity of the gasoline-powered automobile in the early twentieth century resulted in a significant loss of market share for the manufacturers of electric cars. Seeking to maintain or increase its consumer base, the electric was repositioned from a symbol of wealth and status to a vehicle particularly suited for the woman driver. The gasoline automobile, on the other hand, as noisy, dirty, rough, and difficult to operate – as well as fast and powerful –  was positioned as the ultimate man’s car. 

Until Scharff entered the scene, students and scholars of automotive history uniformly accepted the notion that, because the electric had the feminine qualities women desired in a car, it was, in fact, women’s transportation choice. The report that Henry Ford purchased an electric for his wife Clara seemed to confirm this widely held view. However, as Scharff discovered in her research, the electric was promoted as the woman’s car not because women innately desired it, but because of the potential repercussions of women’s enthusiasm for the gasoline-powered automobile. Yet despite the efforts of automakers to market the electric as the “woman’s car,” female drivers of the growing middle class set their sights on the power and performance the masculine gas-powered automobile could provide. Seeking horizons beyond the confinement of domesticity, women envisioned automobility as the means to reach them. In the minds of many women, attainment of such lofty goals was not to be realized through the limited power of the meek electric, but rather, from behind the wheel of the noisy, dirty, and aggressive gasoline-powered automobile. 

When the electric eventually disappeared from the roadways, and it became clear that the female motorist had set her sights on the gas-powered car, auto industry decision makers were faced with a conundrum. While automakers recognized the lucrative possibilities of a female consumer base, they also feared an appeal to the woman driver would damage the longstanding association between cars and masculinity. The solution was to call upon the “vast, immutable, reassuring differences between men and women” as the means to divide automotive use by gender (115). The large, powerful vehicle was marketed to the male head of the household. And by promoting the smaller, less powerful, more practical vehicle as form of domestic technology, a tool that enabled women to fulfill their prescribed roles as wives, mothers, consumers, and caretakers, automakers believed they could appeal to the female consumer without alienating men.

Scharff’s notion that women’s car choices threatened the status quo – so much so that automakers had to develop marketing strategies to contain the woman driver – was both a revelation and confirmation to future scholars of women’s automobility. It changed the way historians and cultural studies scholars approached women’s relationship to the automobile. It altered how cars are marketed to women. And most importantly, it motivated scholars to continually question and challenge “common knowledge” about women and cars.

Although Scharff has since moved on from women’s automobility to other topics in women’s social history, her influence on those who study gender and automobiles today is both significant and ongoing. Those of us who write about women and cars are forever grateful for her determined and tireless efforts – while a young PhD student – to recover a missing – and revelatory – part of automotive history.

Do you have a favorite automotive author? Are you interested in automotive history, automotive advice, or just a good story about cars? Your comments are welcome.

Car Culture

Old Car Songs and the New Woman Driver

Posted on by Chris Lezotte

A topic that often finds its way into car journals, blogs, and online automotive publications is the “car song.” Auto journalists and enthusiasts of a certain age frequently call upon the classic car song as a way to reminisce about the past. As popular music is often referred to as the song track of one’s life, car tunes – whether in reference to music emanating from the car or about the car itself –  bring back particular memories of an automobile and the life experiences surrounding it.

I recently came across such an article by car blogger Jim Van Orden on the popular automotive website hemmings.com. In “Car Tunes of My Youth,” Van Orden intertwines stories of the songs that accompanied family road trips, car advertising tunes on the radio and television, popular car songs of the day, and the memories each of these car tunes evoked. The article is followed by a substantive comment section in which others passionately and often humorously contribute their own car tune memories.

What is notable about the proliferation of online articles devoted to the car song is that they are all written by – and addressed to – drivers of the male persuasion. Although young women during the 50s and 60s may not have owned their own vehicles, they certainly spent a good amount of time in automobiles with car songs and advertisements playing on the radio. So why are women less inclined to call upon the car song as a link to the past? Is it because they were not all that interested in cars? Or was it because, as written from a male perspective, the songs did not reflect women’s unique automotive experiences?

I addressed the second part of this question a few years ago in a journal article focusing on the woman’s car song. In “Born to Take the Highway: Women, the Automobile, and Rock ‘n Roll,” I argue that once women became more accepted as singer/songwriters in the music industry, they began writing a very different kind of car song. While the car songs of the 50s and 60s were almost exclusively focused on the automobile as an important contributor to the male teenager’s rite of passage – promoting good times, adventure, liberation from restrictive home environments, and sex – the women’s car song of the 70s and beyond called upon the automobile as a vehicle of freedom, escape, recollection, rebellion, and empowerment. While the singular male focus of the classic car song may be responsible for women’s indifference to it, the rise of the women’s car song suggests not only that the automobile serves as musical inspiration for women as well as men, but that cars have an importance to women’s lives that is different from, but no less legitimate than, that of the male driver.

Which leads back to the first question regarding whether women, in fact, have an interest in cars. As I have discovered in my own research, a good many women – more than is commonly believed – have an interest, if not a passion, for the automobile. The ability to write and sing about it provides an opportunity for women’s car songs – and women’s voices – to be heard.

Lezotte, Chris. “Born to Take the Highway: Women, the Automobile, and Rock ‘n’ Roll.” The Journal of American Culture 36.3 (2013): 161-176.

Do you have a favorite car song? What is it and what do you like about it? Feel free to comment below.

Car Culture

Making a Home on Wheels

Posted on by Chris Lezotte
Nash press photo

Since the automobile’s inception, auto manufacturers and suppliers have offered optional and aftermarket products to convert the automobile into mobile sleeping quarters. To address the needs and desires of a traveling public, Daniel Strohl notes, “carmakers have expressly made their vehicles suitable for camping”(hemmings.com). Such alterations and add-ons include folding front seats that provide a flat sleeping area, accessory tents for hatch back models, sleeper units for passenger vans, and a “magic camper package” for the ubiquitous minivan. These accessories allow folks to expand the automobile’s primary function as a mode of transportation into a more flexible vehicle that meets individual and family travel needs.

By offering these products and accessories, manufacturers have – over the years – reacted to the car-owning public’s desire to use the automobile in ways not originally intended. As noted by Kathleen Franz in Tinkering, “consumers became tinkerers and occasionally inventors as they outfitted their cars for travel […]” (second cover). Taking matters into one’s own hands, however, was not limited to men. During the early years of automobility, female owners and drivers actively reconfigured the automobile for their own use. As Franz writes, “women, who were portrayed by manufacturers and their husbands as passive consumers, remade themselves into competent mechanics and active users” (110.) Women who travelled alone often found it necessary to modify and outfit their cars to meet middle-class standards of domestic comfort and economy; in doing so they also challenged the common perception of women’s technological ability and ingenuity. Franz remarks, “women drivers tinkered with the car and, by extension, with their gender roles’” (42). Although advertising for automotive accessories during this time was directed toward the male consumer, women were, in fact, active participants in the tinkering phenomenon.

In a recent project, I interviewed women in their 80s and 90s about their early automotive experiences. Many of them recalled how when travelling with husbands or young children, they altered the automobile to meet family needs. Before chain hotels were commonplace, decent lodgings in out-of-the ways places were few and far between. One of the women described how she converted the family station wagon into cozy sleeping quarters with the addition of curtains and other amenities for a long distance trip. Others mentioned how – as primarily responsible for the children on family road trips – they devised ways to keep young passengers quiet, safe, and occupied. Whether laying down the car’s back seat to accommodate a baby’s playpen, converting the back seat of a VW Beetle into a bed for an infant, repurposing the back seats of a station wagon into a child’s play area, or using a husband’s leather belt to strap a young traveler onto the front seat “hump,” these women called upon imagination, innovation, and resourcefulness to make family road trips enjoyable for everyone. 

Advertisements, marketing brochures, and news articles produced during the early to mid-twentieth century uniformly suggest that women’s role in auto travel was solely a domestic one. However, as noted in Franz’s work as well as my own, whether traveling on their own or with children in tow, women were also instrumental in reconfiguring and accessorizing the automobile into a comfy home on wheels for all of its passengers.

Franz, Kathleen. Tinkering: Consumers Reinvent the Early Automobile. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2005.

Lezotte, Chris. “Born to Drive: Elderly Women’s Recollections of Early Automotive Experiences” The Journal of Transport History 40.3 (2019): 395-417.

Stohl, David. “Well Before Hashtag Vanlife, Carmakers Encouraged You to Sleep in Their Cars” Hemmings.com 10 Dec 2019.

Do you have memories of family road trips? How was your car reconfigured to accommodate a sleeping family? Feel free to tell your travel stories.

Conferences

IMRRC Conference @ Watkins Glen

Posted on by Chris Lezotte
Watkins Glen International Raceway, Watkins Glen NY

A couple of months ago I received a request from a scholar in the UK to contribute a chapter on the history and politics of women and motorsports for an upcoming book on motor racing. Although I am neither a historian nor an expert on motorsports, I decided to take on the challenge. As the first step in becoming more familiar with the motorsports literature, I decided to attend the Michael R. Argetsinger Symposium on International Motor Racing History held at the infamous racetrack at Watkins Glen, New York. It was an informative and interesting couple of days, where I had the opportunity to observe a number of engaging and thought-provoking presentations, pick up some new ideas for research and resources, and connect with scholars in the field. I also spent a little time at the International Motor Racing Research Center which allowed me to get a brief start on my research. The site of the conference on the Watkins Glen International racetrack – and the ride there from my hotel on very hilly and somewhat snowy roads – gave me a little feel of the area and its auto racing history. I came home impressed and somewhat intimidated by motorsports scholars, and inspired to get started on my project. 

Are you a fan of motorsports? Do you follow women racers? What do you feel are the pros and cons of women-only racing?

Car Culture

Women’s Car Songs

Posted on by Chris Lezotte

One of the secret thrills of writing articles for academic journals is getting that work cited in the research of other scholars. A goal in my late-starting-academic career has been to contribute to the literature on women and cars in some way. Having others cite my work validates my research; it makes me feel as though I am doing something meaningful. Because my work focuses on a subject that has not received much attention in scholarship, it is periodically cited in articles on a variety of subjects that somehow or somewhere address the woman-car relationship. I must admit that I often ‘Google’ myself to see if anyone has called upon my work to support their own. 

That being said, I was ‘Googling’ myself the other day when I came upon an article in PopCulture.com that cited an article I wrote a number of years ago on the woman’s car song. In “Born to Take the Highway: Women, the Automobile, and Rock ‘n’ Roll”, I argue that while the car song has traditionally been associated with men and masculinity, women have also called upon the automobile in song to make statements about independence, identity, memory, and empowerment. I cited a number of female singer-songwriters of various musical genres to make my case. Bonnie Riatt, Toni Braxton, Shania Twain, Nanci Griffith, Tracy Chapman, and Joni Mitchell were a few of the artists who featured prominently in the article.

To quote Wikipedia, Pop Matters is “an international magazine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture.” In “’Blue’, ‘Tapestry’, and Oil: Or, Oil Capitalism in Two Key Singer-Songwriter Albums”, Joshua Friedburg asserts that while ‘oil capitalism’ has had negative effects on the global environment, it has “simultaneously enabled new forms of social movements to occur, including feminism.” He focuses on two iconic female singer-songwriters – Carole King and Joni Mitchell – who in their respective albums Tapestry and Blue have reclaimed the road as a space for women. While I have not written about Carole King in relationship to automobiles, Mitchell featured prominently in “Born to Take the Highway,” which Friedberg cites. It was encouraging to see – nine years after the fact – that the article has relevance to what is being written about women and cars today.

Yes, seeing my work cited in academic literature and online journalism is a bit of an ego trip. But it also reassures me that the research I continue to do has value. 

Do you have a favorite woman’s car song? What message about women and cars does it convey? Your comments are welcome. 

Announcements

Published in Journal of Transport History

Posted on by Chris Lezotte

“Born to Drive: Elderly Women’s Recollections of Early Automotive Experiences” has been posted on Open Access with a December 2019 publication date. This was a wonderful project to work on, as the women I interviewed were generous, funny, and had amazing car stories to tell. I am honored to have my work published in this prestigious journal, and I thank the reviewers who offered suggestions, critique, and encouragement in the revision process.

Do you have a mother, grandmother, or family friend now in her 80s or 90s? I invite you to ask those women about their early driving experiences before it is too late. You are welcome to share those stories in the comments section.

Announcements

“A Woman and Her Truck” goes international

Posted on by Chris Lezotte
One of the awesome truck-driving-women who contributed to this project.

A dissertation chapter that turned into a conference presentation that evolved into a journal article has finally been published in the European Journal of American Culture. “A Woman and Her Truck: Pickups, the Woman Driver, and Cowgirl Feminism” was inspired by a Chevy commercial and a chance visit to the Cowgirl Hall of Fame in Fort Worth. This article provided me with the opportunity to talk with 25 women from all over the US who are passionate about pickups.

Are you a woman with a pickup? What do you use it for and how do you feel when driving it? You are welcome to share your truck stories in the comments section.

Appearances

Points & Condensers

Posted on by Chris Lezotte
Book presentation at the Points & Condensers Restoration Society, Ypsilanti MI

I was honored – and somewhat intimidated – today to talk about my book to a group of avid car enthusiasts. The Points & Condensers Restoration Society is an organization that meets the first Saturday of each month to nosh, talk about cars, and attend a presentation on various car subjects. The meetings are held in a storage garage owned by Bill Milliken, which is filled with an ever changing array of new and old cars of every description. As I looked around while setting up, I noticed – to no surprise – that the attendees were primarily male. There were very few women in attendance; however, those that were there made a point of coming up to me and lending their encouragement and support. The presentation went very well, I sold a few books, and I met John Tucker – the grandson of the founder of Tucker automobiles – who, as it turns out, happens to be a neighbor. I was invited back to next month’s presentation which focuses on the Shelby. It was a great experience and hopefully I changed some minds about women and cars.

Are you a woman with a muscle car? Has the response of male car enthusiasts been positive or negative? Feel free to share your muscle car experiences in the comments section.