Women and Driving from the Radical Wrencher

The other day I was talking to a woman about my classes and she was telling me how she'd like to take it, but she didn't have a car. I hear this a lot because I live in the city, but to be honest...I don't understand it. Most people at some time in their life will own a vehicle and we all ride in them. Why not learn what we can about them?

I think that women often rely on men to repair and take care of their vehicles. Older women tell me they don't need the class because their husbands "do all that". Maybe it's just one more thing that women don't want to have to take on if they don't have to, but I think it's important to at least know enough about your vehicle to make educated decisions about repairs.

I thought for sure that when I started teaching these classes that I would get young women, just out of college, wanting to learn about how to maintain their vehicles. What I've found is that I have a lot of women 50 or older that no longer have a man in their life and want to know how to do things themselves.

Women are still taught very little about their vehicles and expected to call "dad" if there's a problem. Unfortunately "dad" can't help you if you're 500 miles from home. I think it's especially important for women to understand their vehicles from a safety perspective. You never know what that 'Good Samaritan' is going to do when they stop to help.

Bottom line, it doesn't matter if you own a vehicle or not. You probably will one day and I'm sure you ride in them. As a woman you owe it to yourself to take advantage of any knowledge you can learn to empower yourself. Let's not fool ourselves....understanding your vehicle is no more a man's place than cooking in the kitchen is a woman's!

P.S. My dad does all the cooking :)

Lori