We have a series of phrases, each more cheesy than the last, from our wonderful popular culture, that speak of the dangers of a woman driving. I remember one that said "woman at the wheel, constant danger". The typical little jokes about whether they park your car for you or if you buy an electric one because it parks itself. And so many other uncomfortable situations that we have lived through, endured, and normalized in conversations about engines, driving, and traffic problems or accidents.
There has been a script swerve and now, according to a study by the DGT (Dirección General de Tráfico - General Directorate of Traffic), three times as many traffic accident victims are men, and the "calm" driving style associated with women is being rewarded and valued as a model to follow and copy. It is clear that cars are associated with temperaments, character, personal style, lifestyle, and values. Choosing an SUV, a convertible, a hybrid, or an SUV implies a series of associations that advertising is responsible for connoting. And so, we have associated aggressive, noisy, fast, and sometimes reckless driving with men, who want to demonstrate their masculinity, strength, power, and sex appeal from behind the wheel. From gestures of mockery or criticism, to honking the horn at the slightest setback, yelling at another driver, playing music at full blast, or pressing the accelerator to show off their power.
While in Spain calm driving is being promoted and companies like TMB (Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona) reserve 40% of new bus driving positions for women, in neighboring France a campaign has been launched by the association of accident victims with the slogan "conduisez comme une femme" to reduce the number of traffic accidents and associate female driving with "prudence" and directly with saving lives.
As an advertiser, I don't like to perpetuate stereotypes or anchor clichés; I like to break and question them. In this case, I would prefer to think that it is a stereotype that men are more aggressive and noisy with an engine between their legs, but I fear that the statistics are overwhelming.
Yes, it is a controversial and surely unpopular campaign, but these changes of route in decision-making are necessary to change the status quo and activate the handbrake in uncivil situations.
Thus, I link these two campaigns with a wonderful presentation that the head of urban planning of the city of Vienna gave this month within the framework of the GSW (Global Summit of Women) in Madrid, exposing the case of the capital of Austria, as the first feminist city in the world since 1995 and how critical it is to design cities with a gender perspective, public spaces, the management of acoustic and light pollution and above all safety so that women and families can walk calmly at any time through its streets. If we also add to these data that 60% of cars are bought by women (source: Ford, France), a feminist perspective is essential in the management of cities, public spaces and transport.
The two values that have been associated with female driving are; calm and prudent, and I would add silent. If women do not shout, insult, honk the horn, or press the accelerator at will because testosterone does not ask us to, we could work on the hypothesis that "the non-feminist driver is potentially noisy". Logically, the feminist driver would be calmer, more prudent and quieter.
Following this hypothesis, we could rephrase the popular saying and make the 21st century version "woman at the wheel, life ahead".