Humour thrives on exaggeration. Sometimes, on wild assumptions. The one about women drivers thrives on both. It assumes men drive better. And then it suggests only women make mistakes on the road, especially while backing into a parking bay. Jokes on women drivers are sexist, horrendous and in bad taste. No two ways about it. However, with due respect to every woman who has ever sat at the wheel of a car, these jokes have impressive LRPs, listener rating points.
Recently, an all-boys group was having a sinful laugh, cracking these jokes. At the end of the day, I regretted having ‘sat in the company of the scornful’. Because, one of them, who has known me since the dawn of time, suddenly brought up my driving test.
Now, let me admit I had to repeat my driving test because I fared miserably the first time around. It remains the most painful memory of my life. I did everything right. While releasing the clutch slowly, I gently pressed down the accelerator. But, for some strange reason, the car would not move a fraction of a millimeter. I tried again, this time throwing in a silent prayer between the two corresponding actions. Same result. Panicking, I pressed the accelerator slightly harder. The car wouldn’t budge still. With a scowl, the examiner pointed out what I was doing. I was pressing down the brake, instead of the accelerator.
What is pertinent to our topic is that all the others who took the test cleared it without a hitch. The majority of them were women. The point is, while comparing men and women as drivers, we often tend to confuse strength with skill. Biologically, men may be predisposed to performing certain tasks better. However, when it is down to skills, men and women are invariably on a level playing field. Honing a particular skill can help women overcome biological disadvantages, considerably.
Take the examples of Alisha Abdullah and Chithra Priya, women associated with motor sports and endurance biking in these parts. They first shot to fame through their performances on the track, racing against boys. They have subsequently developed motoring skills to a point where they are bound to be better on the road than most men. And they know it. This self-confidence makes them very different from most other women who hit the road with their machines.
According to a theory, based on studies about gender differences in driving, most women have a low opinion of their motoring skills. Poor performance at the wheel or at the handlebar is traced to this self-belief.
Most of these studies, which can be accessed online, seem to suggest that jokes about women drivers are at the root of the problem.
In the light of this theory, it makes sense to me why a colleague would seldom try to reverse her car out of the parking lot herself, but seek the help of a driver at hand or a male colleague.
Gender stereotyping often cuts both ways. Men are sometimes at the receiving end of the gender stereotyping based on recorded driving patterns. They are seen as more risk-taking at the wheel. Sometimes, I think, men are expected to.
I follow certain car racing events. Yet, I drive like a turtle, often inviting astringent comments from a co-passenger. My wife, if you have not figured it out yet.
“If someone follows motor racing for a long time, you expect it to influence his driving at some point.” That is one of her frustrated remarks, when she realised she was getting late for work and I was, as usual, “driving like a zombie”. To rub it in, she would always add, “I’ll be a better driver than you.”
She has not learnt to drive. If she does, I don’t quite see why she can’t be.
Ultimately, I think, it is not about he or she . It is about who drives.
