As if I didn't have enough problems, now comes this:


Gender benders: Crossing stereotypical lines when it comes to vehicles / LJWorld.com

Here are the "highlights":

Even if consumers are more concerned with comfort and economy, they still may feel the sting of buying a car that doesn’t quite fit their image. Just ask 2009 Kansas University graduate Andrew Neubauer, who owns a Honda Fit.

There’s nothing especially feminine about the Honda Fit. It’s short, small and sleek. However, according to Road and Travel magazine, over 80 percent of Fit drivers are female. This fact, combined with the car’s appearance, bothered Neubauer when he bought the car.

“At first it was fairly emasculating,” he says. “It’s like someone took the ‘Honey, I Shrunk the Kids’ laser and pointed it at a mini-van.”

Even Neubauer’s roommates would give him a hard time about the vehicle. The more he drove it, though, the more confidence he found.

“It’s still a little embarrassing when you’re trying to take a girl out,” he says. “But, it cost 12 grand, its gets 30 to 32 miles to the gallon and it gets me from point A to point B.”

Neubauer says he hope his story can inspire other men to take pride in their vehicles, no matter what they drive.

“There was this one time I was in Overland Park and a guy in the exact same car pulled up next to me,” Neubauer says. “He looked over and gave me the solidarity fist, and I said, ‘Yes! We both are guys driving sissy cars!’”

If only I had known.

Cheers.

 

Never really understood why cars have to become "engendered" - if that bothers you then you're probably just insecure.

Over here the Fit/Jazz is just a car. Men and women drive it and I've never heard any qualms about it being a "girl's car" - except maybe for the GD3s that came in Iris Red, which is actually a shade of pink.

My two cents.

 

it can't be a "sissy" car; it's stick.

/thread

 

Guess it doesn't bother me all that much. Here's my other ride:



The Fit is the big one.

Cheers.

 

I have a friend that gives me crap everytime we hang out about choosing a fit. I think he's just jealous that he could only afford a $4000 grand prix.
The fit is a cute car, but not girly.

 

lol at the grand prix. I bet if he drove your fit, he would hate himself.

 

Personally I would LOVE to have the contents of your garage.

They could call me a girly man for driving your Miata and GE8 and I wouldn't care. I'd be having too much fun behind the wheel to give a damn.

 

I've had nothing but compliments from girls on my Fit. Everyone wants me to drive it when we go out. Maybe out in the middle of nowhere they're still a little behind the times?

 

My female friends love my car. The men like the murdered out look minus the showy green wheels. Only strangers and ignorant people give me shit about it.

 

If you think Fit gender-stereotyping is bad, try driving a Forester.

 

scion tc's are girl cars!

 

lol

Hey if 80% of Fit drivers are female then you have more of a chance at using the car as an ice breaker!
Any man not secure driving a Fit is not secure driving anything.

 

miatas and del sols are chick cars apparently too... who knew.

 

HEY EVERYBODY! i saw an older lady driving an S2000! so all AP1's are chick cars now!

....does it really matter about gender?

 

my last car was a del sol. I am comfortable as hell with my sexuality

 

hook me up with her. she sounds haawwwwwttt

 

i donno about the gdd3 but here in orlando ive seen alot of women and old people driving ge8. but i love my car and truthfully people can say what they want and shove it up theyre @sses if they say something about my car like that to me! but thats my opinion!!

 

I see about 50/50 with Fits. There are a lot of guys driving the GD's around here. I see alot of young couples driving Fits too. In the suburbs all you see are Minivans and Kia's so no one can really give me too much crap. With the economy in down turn and gas prices bouncing all over the place I think I rather have a car that is reliable and gets great gas mileage than a V8 that will crap out in a couple years (Dodge, Chevy etc) I got crap on how small my Fit was when I first got my car. Then people rode in it and now people are actually impressed with the little car (mostly coworkers). People make fun of what they don't know. When they realize you are smarter for buying it they shut up pretty quickly.

 

People used to make jokes about my car at the Autocross events I went to. However, 1/3 of the field is Miatas, and I can hold my own with them even on street tires, so .

I don't see anything particularly feminine about the Fit. Then again, I grew up in Europe, where the Fit is a mid-size car. Honestly though, how could it be a feminine car when the seats adjust to give you 5+ different ways to have sex in it?

 

I see more old people (men and women) driving the Fit than girls. I see a lot of girls/women driving RX-8 and lots of girls drive Scion tc. I see lots of old people (men and women) driving miatas.