Heh. Since I've been accused recently of being a neanderthal (grunt! grunt! oog SMASH!), I'm going to let my knuckles drag today...
Today's fun thread is going to center on the gender-specificity of certain makes of automobiles.
This ought to be good...
For instance, the Ford Mustang. Definitely a male car. Ditto the new Dodge Challenger, or the Chevrolet Corvette.
If you're a man driving a VW Beetle, though, check yourself into the man clinic, stat. Testosterone replacement therapy begins in 3... 2... 1...
For the ladies, the Saab 9-3 convertible is a sweet little runabout. Ditto the Mazda Miata.
With the popularity of the SUV in the 1990s, trucks were no longer the sole domain of the XY set. The Jeep Liberty is definitely a truck for the fairer sex. The Dodge Ram with Hemi, of course, is reserved only for those with the highest levels of testosterone permitted by law...
And the VW GTI, of course, is so totally a girl's car that no self-respecting male would even consider being a passenger in one... (I kid! I kid! I actually owned an '86 GTI back in the day).
Surprisingly enough, minivans are neither male- nor female- biased. They're just boxy and slow. Ditto station wagons, with the notable exception of the Dodge Magnum. Definitely a guy's car. Subaru wagons, though, are definitely for the ladies.
Not all sports cars are for the men, though; the BMW Z3 roadster is totally for the ladies (yes, that is completely and totally blatant sucking up to her Tamness...)
Some cars are so freakin' stupid they belong to neither the guys nor the gals. The Porsche Cayenne is one. Ditto the Lincoln Blackwood.
And some cars are so cool they transcend mere gender roles. Even in pink, the 1959 Cadillac El Dorado Biarritz convertible could be driven by a man with no compunction. And an XKE Jaguar is so timelessly beautiful that the gender of the driver is totally irrelevant.
Lastly, utilitarian vehicles, whether they be plain Jane SUVs, blasé Japanese sedans, or economical commuter cars, are androgynous.
Well, that's about all I can think of off the top of my head (which, as my pictures can attest, has no hair due to the raging excess testosterone coursing through my veins). Now that I've probably offended a good 98% of my readers, and pegged myself for a hopeless misogynist, have a good Friday!
That is all.
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14 comments:
Subaru wagons, though, are definitely for the ladies.
An odd opinion ... oh, wait, you're from Massachusetts. Up here in NH, Subarus are second only to jeeps in popularity among those who go off-pavement a lot, or live in areas where heavy snow is common. A Subaru wagon is just about the perfect vehicle for the chap who wants AWD, a useful-size cargo deck, and decent gas mileage.
And if you really Just Gotta Have the Zoom-Zoom, you can upgrade to the turbo model. ;-)
Wolfwalker,
I'm actually taking a poke at a friend of mine who comments sometimes - Ross. He drives a Subaru wagon.
Just gentle ribbing, all done in good fun.
I have a Subaru that I purchased with the bad-weather thing in mind. Of course, I'm not worried about having my testosterone challenged- I've got none!
My question would be whether you'd see the cars like Subaru's STIs/WRXs and Mitsubishi Evos as being masculine or feminine.
Correction: The Mustang GT is a man's car. Anything less under the hood is a Putztang, probably driven by some college chick with rich parents.
sara,
Like I said to wolfwalker, I was really just tweaking a buddy of mine. The WRX/STi/Lancer Evo genre are definitely male, as evidenced by the superabundance of testosterone beind the "Fast 'n' Furious" franchise...
CB,
Notice I pictured the Shelby? 'Nuff said.
Awww... Jay, you noticed.
I gotta say two things, though, Jay... first, that NO ONE, in all my 48 years on earth, has ever called me one of the "fairer sex". Not even when I'm wearing a kilt. *grin* And second... I really don't care what you think. ;-) I'm secure in my choice of vehicle. We real men are like that.
Besides... everyone knows that REAL men don't put their motorcycle up for the winter but ride in the snow. Has your bike ever seen snow? I know how a Beemer handles in snow, pal. (mind you, I NEVER, EVER want to ride in snow again, but still...) (one good poke deserves another...
Ross,
My bike has never seen snow, but I have ridden it at 25ºF...
I'll take snow at 32ºF, thank you very much...
Glad you saw the humor!
Jeep Wrangler needs to make the list as a Guy's car. No other Jeeps need apply (most seem pretty gender-neutral, to me at least).
Jay,
A four day weekend? Jeez. These days I'm lucky to keep my job.
Ross,
Are you DWarven (or something like that) on NES?? IIRC, you're a member of The Tribe. Did you have an easy fast yesterday?
- Brad
Disagree on two points:
1) Miata - not a girl's car; it is a man's car -- so long as that man lives in P-Town.
2) Minivan -- definitely a chickmobile. I have never met a man who drove one willingly -- they do so out of some painful practicality, and usually trade up to a Stang (as soon as the kids have their own cars) or an SUV, as soon as they can $$ the jump.
Wolfwalker- The Subaru wagons are the flipside of the Miatas -- for ladies who like to live with other ladies, if you take my meaning. Hence why Martina Navratilova was the spokeswoman for the model.
All IMHO, of course.
Now the Z3 coupe roadster was built by the M division of BMW for racing. With a 3.0 liter in line V6 pulling out 0=60 mph in under 6 seconds and a top speed of over 155 mph the only person who would call it a "ladies car" is one who can't understand a graph inversely correlating truck size with male genitalia.
Back at yah.............
Either the women down here are a lot more masculine than the ones up there, or the men up there are a lot more effeminate than the ones down here, 'cause in San Anto the Mustang's most definitely a chickmobile.
First car that I drove with any regularity was a 1995 Mustang GT. Black with tan leather interior. Had a nice Bose system in it.
God I miss that car.
Jay, I'll take the 25ºF. At 25ºF, you're only cold... when you're riding in snow, you're TERRIFIED. And no problem about teasing me about the Subaru - like I said, I know who and what I am. And anyway, you know that we Jews like to laugh at ourselves!
Brad, that would be me... and I'm not allowed to fast any more - diabetic. :-(
Sci-fi - not sure I can agree with you on the minivans. I have a friend who drives one (he's on his second). Not sure if you'd consider this under duress or not, but I know that he does use it in his hobby; clockmaking. He needs it to haul tall case clocks (what many call "grandfather" clocks) and his supplies when he teaches classes in it. But he doesn't seem to mind it. He also rides a Shadow Ace...
Dr. Mac... have you ever read the blog View From The Porch? The lovely (I've seen pix!) Tamara drives a Z3, IIRC.
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