The Automobile and
Gender:
An Historical Perspective
Martin Wachs
THE AUTOMOBILE AND GENDER:
AN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
INTRODUCTION
GENDER STEREOTYPING AND THE MODERN AUTOMOBILE
Many have observed that when men get lost while driving they will seldom stop to ask for directions,
while women who are lost will usually pull into a gas station or convenience store or ask a passerby
for directions. This supposed gender-linked trait may be an example of simple folk wisdom and may
be real or imagined, but it was recently taken very seriously in an open piece by Robyn Meredith in
The New York Times on August 26th. The article dealt with the emerging technology of intelligent
transportation systems, and described some newly available automobile navigation systems and
several others that are still in development. The article reported some findings that should be of
interest to those of us attending a conference on Women’s Travel Issues.
Meredith concluded that on-board navigation systems are useful because men will prefer them rather than
to ask for directions. The article quoted Sociology professor Pepper Schwartz of the University of Washington, who stated that in “nine out of ten feminist households, men do most of the driving,” and “men find it
hard to ask for help because it is a submissive gesture.” Support for this position was offered in the article
in the form of interviews with technical experts attending a national conference on in-vehicle navigation
systems. Professor David E. Cole of the University of Michigan, for example, was quoted as saying that
he personally did not need to stop at gas stations for directions because he always brought along a compass.
The article goes on to quote Stephen E. Weilland, an expert on car navigation systems, who supported
the development of in-vehicle navigation systems by saying said that sending his wife into a gas station
for directions was pointless because she would only misunderstand them.”
The article also stated that German engineers, responsible for designing a Phillips on-board navigation
system for BMW cars, have concluded that the talking computer that will give directions in future
BMWs will have a male voice. Mr. Francis J. Dance, who demonstrated the Phillips system to the
reporter, was quoted as saying that the technical decision had been made to use a male voice because
“men don’t want women giving them directions” (Meredith, 1996).
THE PLACE OF HISTORICAL ANALYSIS AT A CONFERENCE ON WOMEN’S TRAVEL ISSUES
This is a partly humorous and partly serious contemporary example of the influence of gender on
travel and transportation systems. As we undertake the Second National Conference on Women’s
Travel Issues, it is important that we consider the depth and the significance of gender issues in
transportation. It would be a terrible mistake to conclude that this conference is only about small
differences in vehicle ownership rates between men and women, recent trends in vehicle miles of
travel as they differ between men and women, or mathematical models in which gender is one of
several independent variables. All of our technical analysis, statistical modeling, and hypothesis testing
is really derived from an overarching concept of gender that we should remember to be simultaneously
both the cause of and the effect of what we measure in our individual technical studies. We should
take note in this opening session of the fact that “gender” is a socially constructed concept. Gender is
Gender:
An Historical Perspective
Martin Wachs
THE AUTOMOBILE AND GENDER:
AN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
INTRODUCTION
GENDER STEREOTYPING AND THE MODERN AUTOMOBILE
Many have observed that when men get lost while driving they will seldom stop to ask for directions,
while women who are lost will usually pull into a gas station or convenience store or ask a passerby
for directions. This supposed gender-linked trait may be an example of simple folk wisdom and may
be real or imagined, but it was recently taken very seriously in an open piece by Robyn Meredith in
The New York Times on August 26th. The article dealt with the emerging technology of intelligent
transportation systems, and described some newly available automobile navigation systems and
several others that are still in development. The article reported some findings that should be of
interest to those of us attending a conference on Women’s Travel Issues.
Meredith concluded that on-board navigation systems are useful because men will prefer them rather than
to ask for directions. The article quoted Sociology professor Pepper Schwartz of the University of Washington, who stated that in “nine out of ten feminist households, men do most of the driving,” and “men find it
hard to ask for help because it is a submissive gesture.” Support for this position was offered in the article
in the form of interviews with technical experts attending a national conference on in-vehicle navigation
systems. Professor David E. Cole of the University of Michigan, for example, was quoted as saying that
he personally did not need to stop at gas stations for directions because he always brought along a compass.
The article goes on to quote Stephen E. Weilland, an expert on car navigation systems, who supported
the development of in-vehicle navigation systems by saying said that sending his wife into a gas station
for directions was pointless because she would only misunderstand them.”
The article also stated that German engineers, responsible for designing a Phillips on-board navigation
system for BMW cars, have concluded that the talking computer that will give directions in future
BMWs will have a male voice. Mr. Francis J. Dance, who demonstrated the Phillips system to the
reporter, was quoted as saying that the technical decision had been made to use a male voice because
“men don’t want women giving them directions” (Meredith, 1996).
THE PLACE OF HISTORICAL ANALYSIS AT A CONFERENCE ON WOMEN’S TRAVEL ISSUES
This is a partly humorous and partly serious contemporary example of the influence of gender on
travel and transportation systems. As we undertake the Second National Conference on Women’s
Travel Issues, it is important that we consider the depth and the significance of gender issues in
transportation. It would be a terrible mistake to conclude that this conference is only about small
differences in vehicle ownership rates between men and women, recent trends in vehicle miles of
travel as they differ between men and women, or mathematical models in which gender is one of
several independent variables. All of our technical analysis, statistical modeling, and hypothesis testing
is really derived from an overarching concept of gender that we should remember to be simultaneously
both the cause of and the effect of what we measure in our individual technical studies. We should
take note in this opening session of the fact that “gender” is a socially constructed concept. Gender is
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