It can be very easy for women, especially young girls, to feel isolated in the predominantly male-dominated car culture. There seems to be an attitude in the industry that women don’t need to know as much about cars as their male counterparts.I believe it’s time to empower our daughters by encouraging them to tinker with, feel comfortable around, and love cars! Here are a few ways we can help young girls nurture and grow their love for cars:
Start young. Little things like buying matchbox cars like you would barbies when they’re young can make a huge difference in their attitude towards cars in the future. If a young girl is only given barbies and her brother is given cars, it immediately creates an attitude that girls and cars don’t belong together!
Watch Top Geartogether, which turns out to be surprisingly gender neutral. Give hergood role models of successful women in the racing. Show her women who take on an active role in the auto industry, who are are more than just “props” standing next to cars.
Include her in the garage. When you’re tinkering with your car in garage, invite her to join you. When she’s old enough, hand her the wrench. The more she knows about what is going on under the hood, the more empowered she’s going to feel when making decisions relating to the rest of the car culture. Like any acquired skill, it just takes practice.
Keep a positive attitude. Your attitude can make a complete difference in how she feels about cars, the car industry, and ultimately how she will relate to cars. With all of the negative energy about women in the industry, it’s important that our young women feel they have a strong place to stand.
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