Motor shows are extremely popular amongst visitors who are eager to see the fancy wheels on display, right? Nope, wrong. You would be surprised that many visitors are actually there to see the models, I mean the ones with long legs!
We have all heard expressions such as: “Fill her up with diesel”, “Take her out to the Freeway and stretch her legs”. Popular culture of the last century and the history of automobiles has generated a unique lingo and imagery that has by become the standard association for the car and the bike. There is a several explanations about why feminine pronouns are used for ships, cars, heavy machinery, and even countries. The original intentions may have been noble, if at all, but such associations have extended into our everyday lives. Today, the default imagery of a woman next to a car and not in it is so ingrained that it doesn't seem out of place.
Not just a pretty face
We associate all kinds of machinery with the feminine gender. The underlying message seems to point to an innate inability of women to contribute in any other way but as eye candy. But the truth is in terms of intellectual progress, women have been equal to men throughout the last century. It is surprising that in today's world of gender equality, there are still such prominent vestiges of the past.
In the testosterone-fuelled world of sports such as boxing and professional wrestling we continue to see women in various states of undress waving placards and round numbers during half-time and time-outs. This should certainly not be acceptable, and must not be overlooked in the world of automobiles. Yet, the show girls at car shows, the parade of girls before Formula One races and the hostesses at car events are all still the norm. And there seems to be no move to stop this practice.
There are sections of websites and even whole websites that are dedicated to the show girls at auto shows. The cars and bikes themselves are sidelights in these sections. The standard photograph is the centrefold-style leggy model in a pair of ‘barely-theres’ or leather-tights standing beside or sprawled in the rear seat of the car or bike. You’ll never see them posing like they are actually driving a car or riding a bike. Is the world of the automobile still male-dominated?
The real drivers
The reality is different, especially in markets where this stereotyping is still common. Women are now CEOs and part of top management in automobile companies, they are designers, assembly-line workers and....wait for it....they outnumber men in many western countries (the so-called developed automobile markets) as registered, licensed drivers.
In the US, for example, the percentage of women with driving licences is 51.5 per cent and in the UK and Germany too the percentages are tipping in favour of women. In many of these countries, for many years now, there have been more driving licence applications from women than men.
You must have heard of the soccer mom. She might have been a white middle-aged, middle-class woman driving her kids to sports school. But today, she has no colour or race or geographical concentration. Though by sheer numbers they may not represent a big subset in India, women drivers are clearly growing every year. They already influence the family's purchase decision, and there are several women who will be car buyers and drivers in the future. They are also globally aware and waiting in the wings today.
It is time to stop portraying women as adornments. Yes, it is symbolism, and it reeks of a bias that we should have gotten rid of a long time ago.