i refuse to believe it's anti-feminist to follow gender norms/stereotypes. i always thought feminism was about having equality in choice, not necessarily practice. i mean, i hate driving as well, i also wear bows in my hair and once had a pink blackberry. im a girly girl. i might one day be a stay at home mom. this doesnt mean i wouldnt fight for equal pay and recognition in the workplace, and other issues that face women today.
I like driving sometimes...only problem is that I have the exact opposite problem...my boyfriend doesn't drive, so I have to drive us EVERYWHERE. I just want him to drive me somewhere sometimes, you know?
I LOVE driving, I love cars. I always thought whoever owned the car drives, if I am dating someone he can drive HIS car, I'll drive mine.
I choose to let men drive me around when I drink since my tolerance is so amusingly low that I feel I shouldn't get behind the wheel after more than 1 drink, which pretty much kills a night out in LA.
That being said if I was dating a guy with a ridiculously fast, expensive car...I'd make him let me drive it. Passenger seat is no fun.
I kind of dislike driving. Sometimes I like it, but if I'm in an unfamiliar area or a major highway, it sets off my anxiety. It's probably because I grew up in a city, where I could walk or take a train anywhere I wanted. Also, I kind of see a car as "extra baggage" that I have to take care of, like if I'm going to a party I will not, under any circumstances, drive. I like being able to drink, and I don't want to worry about dying/finding a DD for my car that I stupidly decided to drive.
Interesting. I drive 95% of the time when bf and I are in the car, and he will readily admit that I am a more experienced, calmer, and better driver. It doesn't matter whether I am in the city, on the highway or in the country, it's all fine for me. I hope when I have kiddos that I can pass on this skill to both boys and gals.
I love driving, especially driving fast. I drove across the country recently (alone) and when I hit that 80mph zone in western TX, I was so happy, I took a picture of the sign (while driving). And of course, on a highway, you can go 15mph above the speed limit (as long as traffic allows) so that picture was taken at appx 94mph on a cell phone then promptly texted to a friend. That was still at least 50mph slower than my top speed. Yeah, I'm a great driver.
I think the only reason I date boys is to have a DD.
(side note - i just peeled a dozen potatoes with a regular knife and my friend just found her potato peeler - argh).
@Residentdrunkgirl: We should be friends. I remember the WOOHOO moment crossing into NM and seeing the 80 or is it 85 mph sign.
I also blew a tire out "Seeing how fast my car could go" on I80 through Nevada. Fortunately for me a trooper found me and changed my tire. [I discovered I didn't have a tire iron for the jack.]
-Oh and I'm totally with you about the DD thing.
@veronykah: The first thing my older brother did when I got my first car was to teach me how to change a tire and how to check the fluid levels and how to change the oil/filter..back then you could still get under a car without putting it on a lift!!
My father gave me a really good set of jumper cables for in the trunk, which is still with me all these years later. I've never needed them, but there are a lot of people who don't carry them and don't take decent care of their vehicles and are therefore stranded without the tools to take care of themselves!!
Knowing HOW to do these things should be mandatory for every driver before they get a license, even if we never have to actually do it ourselves!!
@extigermom: Not all of us had an older brother to teach us how to work on a car, or a father that was in any way interested in that either.
I know how to check fluid levels [my car leaks fluids!] and could probably change a tire and the oil but trying to wing it or learn without a teacher isn't quite the same as having a willing mentor to show you how things should look and be done.
Not excusing my stupidity for not having a tire iron, but it was also something that would NEVER have occurred to me at the time.
I wish I would have had someone that wanted to teach me about cars, everything I've learned has been from my car breaking down.
Consider yourself lucky.
My mum is a brilliant driver, no tickets nor is she responsible for a single accident after 47 years on the road. She taught my brother to drive and he's a great driver too.
She always told me driving was one of the keys to freedom as a woman and that often women are just as good if not better at driving than men, just in different ways.
Me? I can't drive aged 31. I've tried because everyone said I should, but I'm atrocious at it. Not because I'm a woman, but because I hate driving. I'd rather eat decomposing worms than wait to park. I hate driving so much I gave up the chance to study for a year in the US because I would have had to drive when I was there.
I will happily take buses or trains forever, please don't take my feminist card, evn though my mum swears I can't be a proper woman unless I drive! I just hate cars and cars=driving...
Woohoo, my household is the 1 in 10! I usually drive, because I think my husband drives too fast and because we usually take my car, which he doesn't really like to drive. When we drive somewhere relatively far, say over an hour, we take turns driving there and back.
I like driving, except for the 3 years I had to drive from Northern VA to the District every morning. KILL ME.
My boy and I will drive each other around locally equal amounts of the time. But when we go on longer car trips, we always take my car, and I always drive. The only time I asked him to drive was when I felt like I was going to fall asleep at the tail end of a long trip home. I get lost sometimes, but the only tickets I've ever gotten were for parking.
I have a lot less road rage issues than my boy as well. He's been known (in his younger, more angsty days) to get into physical altercations with other drivers that may or may not have involved the punching of side-view mirrors.
Not the volume of traffic, but the sheer stupidity and inattention of drivers. Give me Los Angeles drivers over anyone in the Western states. Why? Skill and attentiveness. Awareness of the common goal: Arrive. Awareness of the limits of their vehicle.
I've driven hundreds of thousands of miles in my life and see no reason to believe that women are any more egregious than men at shitty driving.
@Jack_Burton: As I said upthread, if you hate traffic...get a scooter or motorcycle. Traffic then becomes a non-issue and driving is fun again.
At least with lane splitting...I love driving in LA now.
Edited by howdybeep (runs with monkey wrenches) at 11/25/09 6:16 PM
howdybeep (runs with monkey wrenches) was starred
howdybeep (runs with monkey wrenches) was unstarred
@howdybeep (runs with monkey wrenches): OMG that is so cool.
How does one get into this?
I checked out their page but the New To SCCA page doesn't really give any info.
Holy shit that sounds fun.
Tell me more!
@veronykah: Well, the season is mostly over for now, but here's what you do:
Go to the main scca.org page and figure out what region you're in. From there, navigate to your region's page and check out the season schedule (which, depending on your region, might not be posted until early next year, after elections are held). Find first event. Write on calendar.
On the day of the first Solo II event, show up. You'll want to have a clean, empty car, a full tank of gas, a lunch, a lot of sunscreen and a collapsible chair and your entry fee. (The chair is optional, but I recommend it.)
There will be many, many people milling about at the event site. Ask one of them where the novice director is. The novice director (which could be me!) will be the one to walk you through tech inspections, find a loaner helmet for you and walk you through the course. They'll also ride with you, giving tips on how to go faster.
You'll also be expected to help run the event -- you might be standing on a corner, setting up any cones that are hit, or helping with timing and scoring.
At the end of the day, if you're like me, you'll be a shaky mass of adrenaline and nerves. Driving home will seem incredibly dull and you may wonder why you didn't get into this years before.
I'm a good driver but I suck at parking I don't even know how to parallel park which is why I always avoid parking on the street. Two weeks ago I dented the doors on the right sde of my car on another car (the other car was fine mine was the one who got fucked). The total cost of me not knowing how to park is: $500. I usually make whoever is with me park for me whether male or female.I don't really like driving but it's a necessity where I live. If I had a chauffeur that would be great. Maybe people in feminist households leave it to the guy to drives because it's a heavy responsibility (looking out for your welfare+welfare of passengers+welfare of other people driving+welfare of pedestrians). Maybe they'd rather pass that responsibility on to someone else.
The hardest decision at work each week is will I drive or will my female co-worker - kinda funny watching two girls who love stick shifts, driving, and operating heavy machinery race for the driver's seat. She bought me off last time with biscotti and then taught me to drive a tractor.
I'd like to think that the issue isn't gender related, but whether or not you feel comfortable driving and are you a confident and safe driver. But alas, there is a stereotype about women drivers.
I wonder if a lot of our feminine distaste for driving (lots of people are saying how they hate driving, and I am definitely in that number) is culturally constructed. I mean, you're supposed to dislike it and be bad at it, and then eventually there's a lot of pressure on you both to be stereotypical and to subvert the stereotype and then it ends up not always being about getting from point A to point B, like it should theoretically be, and it's annoying.
I dunno.
I don't mind driving on mild, sunny days, but I can't stand driving in weather. If only I didn't live in Oregon, this would probably be an okay situation.
11/25/09
Watch Death Proof.
11/25/09
11/25/09
11/25/09
I choose to let men drive me around when I drink since my tolerance is so amusingly low that I feel I shouldn't get behind the wheel after more than 1 drink, which pretty much kills a night out in LA.
That being said if I was dating a guy with a ridiculously fast, expensive car...I'd make him let me drive it. Passenger seat is no fun.
11/25/09
11/25/09
11/25/09
I think the only reason I date boys is to have a DD.
(side note - i just peeled a dozen potatoes with a regular knife and my friend just found her potato peeler - argh).
11/25/09
I also blew a tire out "Seeing how fast my car could go" on I80 through Nevada. Fortunately for me a trooper found me and changed my tire. [I discovered I didn't have a tire iron for the jack.]
-Oh and I'm totally with you about the DD thing.
11/27/09
My father gave me a really good set of jumper cables for in the trunk, which is still with me all these years later. I've never needed them, but there are a lot of people who don't carry them and don't take decent care of their vehicles and are therefore stranded without the tools to take care of themselves!!
Knowing HOW to do these things should be mandatory for every driver before they get a license, even if we never have to actually do it ourselves!!
11/27/09
I know how to check fluid levels [my car leaks fluids!] and could probably change a tire and the oil but trying to wing it or learn without a teacher isn't quite the same as having a willing mentor to show you how things should look and be done.
Not excusing my stupidity for not having a tire iron, but it was also something that would NEVER have occurred to me at the time.
I wish I would have had someone that wanted to teach me about cars, everything I've learned has been from my car breaking down.
Consider yourself lucky.
11/25/09
She always told me driving was one of the keys to freedom as a woman and that often women are just as good if not better at driving than men, just in different ways.
Me? I can't drive aged 31. I've tried because everyone said I should, but I'm atrocious at it. Not because I'm a woman, but because I hate driving. I'd rather eat decomposing worms than wait to park. I hate driving so much I gave up the chance to study for a year in the US because I would have had to drive when I was there.
I will happily take buses or trains forever, please don't take my feminist card, evn though my mum swears I can't be a proper woman unless I drive! I just hate cars and cars=driving...
11/25/09
I like driving, except for the 3 years I had to drive from Northern VA to the District every morning. KILL ME.
11/25/09
I have a lot less road rage issues than my boy as well. He's been known (in his younger, more angsty days) to get into physical altercations with other drivers that may or may not have involved the punching of side-view mirrors.
11/25/09
Not the volume of traffic, but the sheer stupidity and inattention of drivers. Give me Los Angeles drivers over anyone in the Western states. Why? Skill and attentiveness. Awareness of the common goal: Arrive. Awareness of the limits of their vehicle.
I've driven hundreds of thousands of miles in my life and see no reason to believe that women are any more egregious than men at shitty driving.
11/25/09
At least with lane splitting...I love driving in LA now.
11/25/09
I love driving, and I love, love, love my car.
11/25/09
How does one get into this?
I checked out their page but the New To SCCA page doesn't really give any info.
Holy shit that sounds fun.
Tell me more!
11/26/09
Go to the main scca.org page and figure out what region you're in. From there, navigate to your region's page and check out the season schedule (which, depending on your region, might not be posted until early next year, after elections are held). Find first event. Write on calendar.
On the day of the first Solo II event, show up. You'll want to have a clean, empty car, a full tank of gas, a lunch, a lot of sunscreen and a collapsible chair and your entry fee. (The chair is optional, but I recommend it.)
There will be many, many people milling about at the event site. Ask one of them where the novice director is. The novice director (which could be me!) will be the one to walk you through tech inspections, find a loaner helmet for you and walk you through the course. They'll also ride with you, giving tips on how to go faster.
You'll also be expected to help run the event -- you might be standing on a corner, setting up any cones that are hit, or helping with timing and scoring.
At the end of the day, if you're like me, you'll be a shaky mass of adrenaline and nerves. Driving home will seem incredibly dull and you may wonder why you didn't get into this years before.
11/25/09
11/25/09
I'd like to think that the issue isn't gender related, but whether or not you feel comfortable driving and are you a confident and safe driver. But alas, there is a stereotype about women drivers.
11/25/09
I dunno.
I don't mind driving on mild, sunny days, but I can't stand driving in weather. If only I didn't live in Oregon, this would probably be an okay situation.