Driving against the Power: Sexism in Automobile Culture and Female Drivers in Turkiye
This article’s aim is to understand the socio-historical factors behind sexist judgments against female drivers in Turkey, based on written and visual media, social media content with the theme of “female driver errors,” and everyday male conversations in which being a woman is equated wit...
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| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Istanbul University Press
2023-01-01
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| Series: | Journal of Economy Culture and Society |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/2036921 |
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| _version_ | 1832541100960645120 |
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| author | S. Yetkin Işık Birgül Koçak Öksev |
| author_facet | S. Yetkin Işık Birgül Koçak Öksev |
| author_sort | S. Yetkin Işık |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article’s aim is to understand the socio-historical factors behind sexist judgments against female drivers in Turkey, based on written and visual media, social media content with the theme of “female driver errors,” and everyday male conversations in which being a woman is equated with novice driving. The article seeks to answer whether the increase in thenumber of female drivers is a symptom of a feminization of the driving profession and automobile culture. It is based on interviews with seventeen middle-class drivers (academic, teacher, doctor, psychologist), three of whom were men. In Turkey, the automobile is still an object with connotations of status, power, prestige, and competitiveness, and historically men have been dominant in automobile-related professions. Meanwhile, the normalization of women walking around the city without a man is a relatively new development for a significant part of society. The recent expansion of conservative and/or religious middle classes seems to support the increase in the number of female drivers. Automobile manufacturers’ market-expansion strategies and efforts to produce new models for each type of user also support this trend. However, production and sales strategies that try to catch up with the diversity of demand by considering the diversity of consumers are also effective in reproducing sexist stereotypes, such as some car models being labeled as “women’s cars”. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-d9f03c2c23cd4cbc98764648c17ca734 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2645-8772 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | Istanbul University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Economy Culture and Society |
| spelling | doaj-art-d9f03c2c23cd4cbc98764648c17ca7342025-02-04T10:17:03ZengIstanbul University PressJournal of Economy Culture and Society2645-87722023-01-0166739210.26650/JECS2021-10123644Driving against the Power: Sexism in Automobile Culture and Female Drivers in TurkiyeS. Yetkin Işık0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5043-370XBirgül Koçak Öksev1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6783-2843Bartın ÜniversitesiBartın Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Sosyoloji Bölümü, Bartın-TürkiyeThis article’s aim is to understand the socio-historical factors behind sexist judgments against female drivers in Turkey, based on written and visual media, social media content with the theme of “female driver errors,” and everyday male conversations in which being a woman is equated with novice driving. The article seeks to answer whether the increase in thenumber of female drivers is a symptom of a feminization of the driving profession and automobile culture. It is based on interviews with seventeen middle-class drivers (academic, teacher, doctor, psychologist), three of whom were men. In Turkey, the automobile is still an object with connotations of status, power, prestige, and competitiveness, and historically men have been dominant in automobile-related professions. Meanwhile, the normalization of women walking around the city without a man is a relatively new development for a significant part of society. The recent expansion of conservative and/or religious middle classes seems to support the increase in the number of female drivers. Automobile manufacturers’ market-expansion strategies and efforts to produce new models for each type of user also support this trend. However, production and sales strategies that try to catch up with the diversity of demand by considering the diversity of consumers are also effective in reproducing sexist stereotypes, such as some car models being labeled as “women’s cars”.https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/2036921cinsiyetçilikerizahatkadınsılaşmakadın sürücülerotomobil kültürüautomobile culturefeminizationmansplainingsexismwoman drivers |
| spellingShingle | S. Yetkin Işık Birgül Koçak Öksev Driving against the Power: Sexism in Automobile Culture and Female Drivers in Turkiye Journal of Economy Culture and Society cinsiyetçilik erizahat kadınsılaşma kadın sürücüler otomobil kültürü automobile culture feminization mansplaining sexism woman drivers |
| title | Driving against the Power: Sexism in Automobile Culture and Female Drivers in Turkiye |
| title_full | Driving against the Power: Sexism in Automobile Culture and Female Drivers in Turkiye |
| title_fullStr | Driving against the Power: Sexism in Automobile Culture and Female Drivers in Turkiye |
| title_full_unstemmed | Driving against the Power: Sexism in Automobile Culture and Female Drivers in Turkiye |
| title_short | Driving against the Power: Sexism in Automobile Culture and Female Drivers in Turkiye |
| title_sort | driving against the power sexism in automobile culture and female drivers in turkiye |
| topic | cinsiyetçilik erizahat kadınsılaşma kadın sürücüler otomobil kültürü automobile culture feminization mansplaining sexism woman drivers |
| url | https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/2036921 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT syetkinisık drivingagainstthepowersexisminautomobilecultureandfemaledriversinturkiye AT birgulkocakoksev drivingagainstthepowersexisminautomobilecultureandfemaledriversinturkiye |