{"id":73,"date":"2019-09-04T19:38:06","date_gmt":"2019-09-04T19:38:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/test.chrislezotte.net\/wordpress\/?page_id=73"},"modified":"2026-03-12T18:09:05","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T18:09:05","slug":"projects","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/chrislezotte.net\/wordpress\/projects\/","title":{"rendered":"PROJECTS"},"content":{"rendered":"
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RECENT<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

“Without the Community, It’s Just Driving Fast Around Cones”: Autocross, Women’s Worlds, and the Reimagining of Motorsport Culture<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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This project examines women\u2019s growing involvement in the motorsport of autocross, an accessible and challenging timed competition in which drivers navigate a unique course defined by cones or pylons. Relying on interviews with female participants, as well as in-person observation at autocross events, this research investigates how and why women become involved in autocross, the ways in which women have negotiated entry into a historically masculine environment, and how the autocross experience can contribute to women\u2019s identity, confidence, self-knowledge, and empowerment.

This paper was presented at the Argetsinger Symposium on Motor Sport Racing History in Watkins Glen NY in November 2022.<\/em><\/p>\nIN FRONTIERS: A JOURNAL OF WOMEN’S STUDIES<\/em>. Manuscript in press.<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Pink Power: The Barbie Car and Female Automobility<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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This project focuses on the role of the Barbie car in expanding the automotive world to those -in particular impressionable young girls – who might otherwise feel excluded from it. While acknowledging the ways in which the Barbie phenomenon reinforces stereotypical displays of femininity, it also argues that the vehicles in which Barbie \u2013 not Ken \u2013 is the driver have the opportunity to promote independence, agency, identity, and empowerment in the future woman driver.<\/p>\nin Journal of American culture – <\/em>46 (2023): 197-208. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1111\/jacc.13462<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Women & Automobiles Across Two Continents: An [Unfortunately] Brief Historiography of Women’s Automotive Scholarship in Australia and America<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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This historiography examines the trajectory of women\u2019s automotive history scholarship in both Australia and the US to consider how women\u2019s automotive participation has been addressed in each location \u2013 the overlaps and dissimilarities; the importance of a gendered perspective to traditional automotive histories; as well as to reflect upon future opportunities for the study of women and cars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This paper was presented at the joint SAH\/AHA Wheels Across the Pacific: Transnational Histories of the Automotive Industry Virtual Symposium in September 2022.<\/em><\/p>\nIn Automotive History Review <\/em>64 (SPRING 2023): 30-43.<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

From Powder Puff to W Series: The Evolution of Women-Only Racing<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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This chapter in a scholarly book of essays on motorsports explores the chronology and controversy of all-female racing events, and considers how women-only racing complicates, facilitates, and liberates women\u2019s entry, participation, and recognition in the masculine world of motorsports.<\/p>\nin Lives in the fast lane: essays on the history and Politics of Motor racing. <\/em>D. Andrews, D. Strum, & S. Wagg (eds). London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2023: 247-270.<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Car Girl: Introduction to Limousine<\/em> by Kathy Shorr<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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In the late 1980s, Shorr spent nine months as a limousine driver in Brooklyn shortly after graduating from New York’s School of Visual Arts. This series of photographs – taken inside and outside the limousine – has won numerous awards and was featured at the celebrated Visa Pour L\u2019Image in Perpignan, France. This is the first printed collection of these photographs.<\/p>\nin LIMOUSINE<\/em>. KATHY SHORR. MILAN: LAZY DOG PRESS, 2025.<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

FUTURE<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Behind, Beside, and In-Between. Discovering Women’s Automotive History in America’s Car Museums.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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While there have been many histories devoted to the automobile since it first appeared on the American scene in the early twentieth century, very few pay particular attention to women\u2019s automotive involvement or interest. This absence is not only evident in the thousands of publications devoted to automotive history, but in locations such as the automotive museum as well. This project will examine the representation of the woman driver in 25 automotive museums in auto-centric Michigan and the surrounding areas. It will consider how each museum positions the role of women in automotive history, the methods by which women\u2019s automotive involvement and impact is displayed, how women\u2019s presence in automotive history is regarded in comparison to that of men, and perhaps offer suggestions as to how museums might better address the role and influence of women in automotive history and American culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This paper was presented in March 2024 at the Popular Culture Association Conference in Chicago, Illinois<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A revised version was presented in July 2025 at the Studebaker National Museum Speaker Series.<\/em><\/p>\nWayne State university press. manuscript in pROCESS.<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Patriarchy Protest in a Pink Corvette: The Cars of Barbie<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Reviews of Barbie have often focused on its feminist messages. While the storyline, characters, and dialogue have been dissected and analyzed in both scholarship and the popular press, one aspect that has avoided such examination is how the vehicles in Barbie contribute to the notion of the film as a feminist text. In this presentation I argue that the four main vehicles \u2013 Barbie\u2019s pink Corvette, Mattel\u2019s blacked-out GMC Suburbans, Gloria\u2019s Bright Blue Chevy Blazer EV, and Ken\u2019s silver and black GMC Hummer Pickup EV \u2013 serve to underscore the feminist overtone\u2019s in Gerwig\u2019s screenplay. Calling upon past research on women\u2019s cars in film and the Barbie car, this paper will reflect on the role of the automobile in Barbie<\/em> as a source of feminist protest, power, and liberation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This paper was presented in November 2024 at the National Women’s Studies Association [NWSA] Annual Conference in Detroit, Michigan.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Putting Women on Track: A History of Women’s Motorsport Organizations<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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It has often been said that the first automobile race took place when the second automobile was built. Although the history of racing most often focuses on men, women with a sense of adventure and daring have, since the very beginning, also sought to engage in motorsport competitions. This project will focus on women’s racing experiences through an examination of the history of women’s motorsport organizations in both Europe in the United States.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

<\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

RECENT “Without the Community, It’s Just Driving Fast Around Cones”: Autocross, Women’s Worlds, and the Reimagining of Motorsport Culture This project examines women\u2019s growing involvement in the motorsport of autocross, an accessible and challenging timed competition in which drivers navigate a unique course defined by cones or pylons. Relying on interviews with female participants, as…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-73","page","type-page","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nPROJECTS - Women & Cars<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Chris Lezotte's current women and cars writing projects\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/chrislezotte.net\/wordpress\/projects\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"PROJECTS - Women & Cars\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Chris Lezotte's current women and cars writing projects\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/chrislezotte.net\/wordpress\/projects\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Women & Cars\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/chris.lezotte\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-12T18:09:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/test.chrislezotte.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/mechanic-1024x1024.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/chrislezotte.net\/wordpress\/projects\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/chrislezotte.net\/wordpress\/projects\/\",\"name\":\"PROJECTS - Women & Cars\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chrislezotte.net\/wordpress\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/chrislezotte.net\/wordpress\/projects\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/chrislezotte.net\/wordpress\/projects\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/test.chrislezotte.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/mechanic-1024x1024.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-09-04T19:38:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-12T18:09:05+00:00\",\"description\":\"Chris Lezotte's current women and cars writing projects\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/chrislezotte.net\/wordpress\/projects\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/chrislezotte.net\/wordpress\/projects\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/chrislezotte.net\/wordpress\/projects\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/test.chrislezotte.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/mechanic-1024x1024.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/test.chrislezotte.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/mechanic-1024x1024.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/chrislezotte.net\/wordpress\/projects\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/chrislezotte.net\/wordpress\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"PROJECTS\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chrislezotte.net\/wordpress\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/chrislezotte.net\/wordpress\/\",\"name\":\"Women & Cars\",\"description\":\"Writing. 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