'Women Behind the Wheel' explains how cars became a gendered technology
“We’re at this really important point in the life of the automobile where we’re going to have autonomous vehicles, we’re having electric vehicles, we have women legislators who are arguing for better, more inclusive kinds of safety dummies. So I want women to be aware of all these aspects of the car. The car as a domestic space, the car is a place where you can really be injured. And I want them to just kind of take ownership of this. We are active consumers in the automobile world.”
Author Nancy Nichols says that for men, cars signify adventure, power and strength. For women, they are about performing domestic duties; there was even a minivan prototype with a washer/dryer inside. Her book is Women Behind the Wheel: An Unexpected and Personal History of the Car.