Are Women Good Drivers?

How well can a woman drive?

Last evening, I was sitting on the passenger seat beside my brother who was driving the car, taking us to a convenient store. It was 15 minutes of drive, and meanwhile, I was busy checking out my Instagram post, and while being at it, I suddenly heard my brother acting up on his apparent road rage. I looked up at him and asked what the matter was.  He cursed the driver driving ahead of him for being too slow and for not allowing him to take over as there was plenty of space on the other side. He said, and I quote, “Female drivers are useless. They shouldn’t be driving at all, if they can’t drive properly”. The driver, apparently, was a female.

I kept mute at that time, not wanting to cause further damage to his already short-circuited temper. But, his remark became a food for thought to me. I asked myself “why?” Why are female drivers being looked down upon? This was not an isolated incident in my life. I have had faced such remarks from male drivers umpteen times who thought men were better drivers than women. But did they ever ask themselves the question “why”?

In the streets of India, the grasp of patriarchy is far tighter than any other Southeast Asian country. Up until recently, women were not even allowed to go out on the streets by themselves, let alone drive. But with current changes (thanks to Feminism) women have taken to not only driving, but are excelling in all those fields that were, earlier, thought to be “male-dominated”.  But there are people who have not yet embraced the idea of women empowerment wholeheartedly.

To my mind, the reason why women are not good drivers (which, as a matter of fact, is not true for all women), is because the menfolk are not great motivators and supporters of women. The handful of women that drive hesitantly, and/or drive without the same confidence as others is because their male counterparts are not showering the encouragement which the women deserve. Negative thoughts and statements, or a lack of encouragement are huge psychological factors that surely and certainly contribute to their mental health, and therefore, result in the declining self-confidence in some women.

It’s time the society starts embracing and accepting the rights of all human beings, irrespective of their gender. We should start living up to the motto of “One for all, all for one”.  Make this world a better place for men, women and everyone else living here.

Reviews

[Coyote Poetry]

I agree my friend.
"It’s time the society starts embracing and accepting the rights of all human beings, irrespective of their gender. We should start living up to the motto of “One for all, all for one”. Make this world a better place for men, women and everyone else living here"
It is sad. It is 2020 and many faces look down at women. Also, women are good drivers. Thank you dear Ayesha for sharing your amazing words and thoughts.
Coyote

[JayG]

In this, you're carefully reporting the events, which makes it read like, well, like a report. First, let's edit it a bit to get rid of the dispassionate voice of the narrator.

• Last evening, I was sitting on the passenger seat beside my brother who was driving the car, taking us to a convenient store. It was 15 minutes of drive, and meanwhile, I was busy checking out my Instagram post, and while being at it, I suddenly heard my brother acting up on his apparent road rage.

1. Do we care what time it was? No. This could have taken place weeks ago, at any time of day. So we dump the first line.
2. Do we need to be told that the passenger seat is next to the driver? Of course not. If she's in the car and he's driving, who cares which she shes in? So that goes, along with the length of the trip. Stories take place in the now. So how long they drove till it happened is irrelevant backstory.
3. How about their destination? Does that matter? Again it's irrelevant to the story.
4. Does what the character is doing, specifically, other than not watching the road, matter to the story? No, too.
5. Does the word "suddenly" have any real function? Isn't any event that isn't happening, and then is, sudden?
6. If the brother is "acting up," who else's road rage could it be? So why mention that it's his when that's obvious to the reader? And instead of telling the reader that he was displaying road rage, why not let it happen, and have her notice, and react to what's actually happening, rather then the abstract notion of "road rage."

Remember, every word you can remove without changing what matters to the plot, or making the writing less meaningful, makes the idea you're giving the reader hit faster and harder. And if you want to drive an idea or a nail home, it's best to hit it hard and accurately. So look at another possible way of expressing this.
- - - -
"Stupid woman!" The car stopped, abruptly, horn blaring, throwing me against the seat belt and nearly making me drop my phone.

The cause of my brother's anger appeared to be the car ahead, which had stopped to let an oncoming car pass before competing their turn, though there appeared to be more than enough time to have done so.

Fuming, my brother waved his hands in frustration as he said, "If females want to drive in traffic they should either learn how or get off the road."
- - - -
The why's:
1. We open with what gets our protagonist's attention, presented as SHE perceives it in the moment she calls now. Why does that matter? Because it gives her reason to notice and react. That places us in her viewpoint as-she-lives-the-event, not as reported later, from the comfort of her keyboard. Story events, even in a piece of this type, need to have life.
2. I began with the remark (which expresses anger, not rage) because his displayed attitude is the rock on which you build the article. It's also the thing the speaker is reacting to, and gives her a reason to react.

I added the abrupt stop and the horn to both set the scene and amplify his anger with physical anger. That also demonstrates character for the brother. The mention of the seat belt and phone was to show why she wasn't looking at the road, and that it was a surprise (replaces the word, suddenly)
3. The event causes our protagonist to react by observing and analyzing. I said the cause of the stop "appeared to be," because she can't be certain, and in that moment, was still orienting. Then, I continued the analysis, as she viewed it.
4. I used the word "fuming," as a simple way of telling the reader how he spoke the line. Then, I condensed his speech to a single remark that contained the essence of his view of woman drivers. We want to report the essence of the conversation, not the full text.
- - -
Notice that at no time do I, the narrator, explain what's happening to the reader. That's because I'm not on the scene, and, the reader can't hear the emotion in my voice. So my role, as narrator, is to support the protagonist with things that don't require the reader to know the tone of the narrator's voice. Here, I did that with things like the car stopping, and that the horn sounded.

Only you can decide if the style of presentation I used reads more as it happening as we watch than a report. But for some examples of what can be trimmed and amplified:

• The driver, apparently, was a female.

Isn't that obvious after what he said?

• This was not an isolated incident in my life. I have had faced such remarks from male drivers umpteen times who thought men were better drivers than women.

Doesn't this become obvious, based on what follows? The question has been asked anf the reader has heard it. Instead of info-dumping backstory, focus on that question. Why? Because in the moment when the question is asked, she's focused on it. If you can imply something with assurance the reader will "get it," always do so. NEVER tell a reader what they already know.

• To my mind, the reason why women are not good drivers (which, as a matter of fact, is not true for all women), is...

This is my personal reaction:

The term "woman driver," used as an insult, used to be just as common in the US, back at a time when most families had one car and the husband usually used it to get to and from work. As a result, most woman drove only once a week, and to close locations like the market. So of course they were more cautious, less experienced, and made errors in judgment—which made them, intelligently, err on the side of caution (which is the event you describe). Add to that, men tend to be more aggressive, and it shows in their driving. That's a recipe for exactly the situation you describe.

I also have to observe that the men who react as you describe, probably curse at pretty much anyone who causes them to wait, or take action they don't want to. You might point out that statistically, women get into fewer accidents, but he's not going to like that, so... 🙄