{"id":1467,"date":"2023-05-05T21:08:58","date_gmt":"2023-05-05T21:08:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chrislezotte.net\/wordpress\/?p=1467"},"modified":"2023-05-05T21:09:03","modified_gmt":"2023-05-05T21:09:03","slug":"volvo-women-cars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/chrislezotte.net\/wordpress\/women-car-advertising\/volvo-women-cars\/","title":{"rendered":"Volvo, Women, & Cars"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I\u2019ve been writing about the relationship between women in cars since first discovering the topic in graduate school nearly 15 years ago. Since that time I\u2019ve addressed the woman-car connection in a variety of contexts. Some of my work focuses on women who participate in car cultures associated with the male driver, including muscle cars, pickup trucks, chick cars, and motorsports. Other projects speak to the representation of women\u2019s connection to cars in popular culture locations such as film, music, and children\u2019s toys. While literature on women\u2019s automotive history and participation has increased since I first embarked on the topic, it tends to fall into two camps. The first is a critique of how auto manufacturers and marketers have traditionally erected obstacles to women\u2019s full engagement with automobiles, and the second is the focus on exceptional women in automotive \u2013 women who have successfully challenged barriers to become successful in venues such the auto industry and motorsports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Chick Car project<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In my own work, I have focused primarily on ordinary women \u2013 in popular culture as well as real life – in order to uncover the complicated, productive, positive, as well as empowering aspects of women\u2019s relationship to cars. In each of these contexts, I attempt to reveal the potential of the automobile to enrich women\u2019s lives. Although I often address the barriers to women\u2019s participation in various car cultures, the major focus is on how women successfully negotiate membership in male dominated automotive spaces not to become famous, but rather to become stronger, more confident, and more powerful versions of themselves. In popular culture settings, I try to examine how cars hold special meanings for women that differ from those found in dominant male narratives. My goal in each of these projects is to give the woman driver a voice that has historically been silenced.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Girl Gang Garage – credit Volvo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

During this past week I came across an article in\u00a0Advertising Age<\/a><\/em>\u00a0developed from an interview with Janique Helson, head of brand marketing at Volvo Car USA<\/a>. As the article points out, Helson \u2018has made combatting sexism in the automotive industry a tenant of Volvo\u2019s marketing strategy.\u2019 One of the ways this has been accomplished is through the unique female-friendly messaging that has made its way into Volvo advertising and promotional material since Helson took the helm in 2020. Some of these efforts include creating safety messaging that is more emotional, making a connection between feeling safe to the ability to endure challenges. Another is a collaboration with Girl Gang Garage<\/em><\/a> as a means to \u2018elevate, encourage, and champion women\u2019s entry and advancement within the automotive and skilled trade industries.\u2019 However, what was most interesting to me was a video created by Volvo last year for International Women\u2019s Day. The recording features snippets of conversations with 26 female Volvo owners discussing the connections they have with their cars. The diverse group of women talk about the car\u2019s ability to strengthen relationship with family members; the pride in owning something so strong and beautiful, how the car contributes to a woman\u2019s personality and identity; how owning a Volvo can lead to a safer and cleaner environment for future generations; the \u2018specialness\u2019 of driving a vintage Volvo; how Volvo makes mothers and caretakers feel more safe; the car as an intimate space; and over a dozen other powerful vignettes that demonstrate the significance of cars to women\u2019s lives. As Helson notes, \u2018these women have this massive love for cars and the way they talk about it is very different than how men talk about their love for cars.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n

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International Women’s Day video – credit Martin Schoeller for Volvo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

As few in academia write about women and cars as a relationship that is both positive and empowering, I often feel as though I am working in a vacuum. The work Helson has overseen since her appointment as brand marketing head in many ways serves as a legitimization of my own. [On another note, it also emphasizes the importance of having a woman in a position of power within an auto company]. Although Helson operates on a much grander scale and is therefore capable of a much greater reach and influence, we are in agreement regarding the importance of providing women drivers with a platform. As Helson asserts, \u2018obviously we need more women working in automotive, but we also need to put women\u2019s stories at the front and center of how they feel about cars and how they feel about driving.\u2019 I am grateful to Janique Helson for the impetus to continue my own exploration of women\u2019s relationship to cars.<\/p>\n\n\n

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International Women’s Day video – credit Martin Schoeller forVolvo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Schultz, E.J. “Volvo’s Marketing Head on Fixing Female Representation in Auto Ads.” Advertising Age<\/a><\/em>. 3 May 2023.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve been writing about the relationship between women in cars since first discovering the topic in graduate school nearly 15 years ago. Since that time I\u2019ve addressed the woman-car connection in a variety of contexts. Some of my work focuses on women who participate in car cultures associated with the male driver, including muscle cars,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[46,44,51],"tags":[50,17,23,13],"class_list":["post-1467","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-auto-industry","category-car-chicks","category-women-car-advertising","tag-automotive-brands","tag-car-advertising","tag-driving-experiences","tag-woman-driver"],"yoast_head":"\nVolvo, Women, & Cars - Women & Cars<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Volvo and the author explore the importance of women's experience in car advertising and real life\" \/>\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\/women-car-advertising\/volvo-women-cars\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Volvo, Women, & Cars - 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