Women Drivers: Just Another Sexist Stereotype.

Feministing recently posted a short blog about an article on Yahoo! Autos Canada (it looks like they took the post off of Yahoo! but I found it on AskMen.com it is here). The article is titled “Ten Reasons Women Can’t Drive.” Now, just from the title it’s obvious that this article is going to be riddled with sexist stereotypes, and it certainly did not disappoint. Each reason is worse than the last and I honestly can’t say which one offended me most.
It is obvious that Ricky Tanner (the author of this piece) is just trying to be funny with this article, and I can just imagine his response to anyone taking offense to it (something like “calm down, you need to get a sense of humor. It was only a joke”). But even if this was meant to be a joke, it doesn’t mean it isn’t offensive and sexist. One of his points, “They Let Their Dog’s in the Car,” doesn’t really seem like a valid reason that all women are bad drivers. Sure, his saying that “one yippy little thing riding on the lap of another yippy little thing equals one big reason women can't drive” might be amusing to some people, but it is also extremely offensive to compare a woman to a “yippy little thing.” Personally, I’m a woman and I don’t drive with a dog on my lap, in fact I don’t even own a dog. And yet I am lumped into this category just because of my sex. Ricky seems to be ignoring the fact that all women are just as diverse as men, and just because a small minority of women allow their small dogs to sit in their lap as they drive, does not mean that all women allow this.
In case any of Ricky’s readers felt a twinge of guilt that they agreed with the article, or worry that someone may not like their stance on women drivers, Ricky even gives the reader a good tip on how to avoid being called sexist for agreeing with him. He says: “As soon as your girlfriend starts calling you a pig and protesting your agreement with our stance, bring up some of these simple reasons women can’t drive and she's sure to get back to her texting in no time.” Because women are so wrapped up in their cell-phones they can’t take the time to argue with Ricky’s infallible points; they’d rather just talk with their friends.
The very last point on Ricky’s list of why women are worse drivers then men was that “Women Have No Driving Gene.” This assertion that men are naturally better drivers then women is completely absurd. Not only is it terribly sexist, but it is also completely untrue. In fact, according to the Social Issues Research Center men are more at risk to be involved in car crashes then women. This idea that women are worse drivers then men, therefore, is completely ridiculous. I’m not trying to say that all men are bad drivers, but they do, statistically, get into more fatal car crashes, are more aggressive drivers, and are more likely to disregard rules and laws while driving.So Ricky, instead of saying that women can’t drive, maybe you should keep your eyes on the road and stop blaming other people for something that they haven’t done.