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Women don't know cars. By Flea - 12-06-2010 02:08 PM
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My 10 year old truck is overdue for some routine maintenance. The drive belts are about ready to give, and I have a small leak in the power steering line. Since I have a few more weeks before it becomes a really serious issue, and since I'm new in town, I decided to use my luxury of time and shop around. Two mechanics cheerfully gave me free estimates. (Bear with me, I swear I'm going somewhere with this. :uhyeah: )
This morning I dragged my arse out early for an appointment with a shop specializing in Asian imports. The woman on the phone promised me a free estimate, and I told her all about the problem. It was a different story when I got there - I talked with an older guy and told him about the drive belts. He took it back, and after a scant two minutes I suddenly had "mechanical problems" that would take an additional $45 to even begin looking at. And the nature of these problems? They're mechanical. Did you hear any noise or any other indication of these problems? Well, they're mechanical, and I don't know until I can take a look, and that'll be $45. :duh:
As I drove home muttering curses, I thought back to a thread here several months ago about how SD can extend way beyond one's body to encompass one's home, wallet, car, and so on. I can't prove that he wouldn't have tried that snow job with a man, but I think it's pretty likely.
Which of course got me thinking about the different dynamics of SD for men and women. Because of gender stereotypes we're more likely to have to contend with different kinds of attacks and motivations. For women there's the more obvious issue of sexual violence. It's not exclusive to women, but it's certainly more common. Men would be more likely to be attacked by someone with something to prove. With that of course there's the biological component of different centers of gravity and muscular builds, and men having more testosterone.
Obviously all this is grossly oversimplified, but I think it's worth a conversation. Any thoughts?
Read More ... or click reply below.
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MartialTalk.com Post Bot - Women's Self-Defense Feed
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My 10 year old truck is overdue for some routine maintenance. The drive belts are about ready to give, and I have a small leak in the power steering line. Since I have a few more weeks before it becomes a really serious issue, and since I'm new in town, I decided to use my luxury of time and shop around. Two mechanics cheerfully gave me free estimates. (Bear with me, I swear I'm going somewhere with this. :uhyeah: )
This morning I dragged my arse out early for an appointment with a shop specializing in Asian imports. The woman on the phone promised me a free estimate, and I told her all about the problem. It was a different story when I got there - I talked with an older guy and told him about the drive belts. He took it back, and after a scant two minutes I suddenly had "mechanical problems" that would take an additional $45 to even begin looking at. And the nature of these problems? They're mechanical. Did you hear any noise or any other indication of these problems? Well, they're mechanical, and I don't know until I can take a look, and that'll be $45. :duh:
As I drove home muttering curses, I thought back to a thread here several months ago about how SD can extend way beyond one's body to encompass one's home, wallet, car, and so on. I can't prove that he wouldn't have tried that snow job with a man, but I think it's pretty likely.
Which of course got me thinking about the different dynamics of SD for men and women. Because of gender stereotypes we're more likely to have to contend with different kinds of attacks and motivations. For women there's the more obvious issue of sexual violence. It's not exclusive to women, but it's certainly more common. Men would be more likely to be attacked by someone with something to prove. With that of course there's the biological component of different centers of gravity and muscular builds, and men having more testosterone.
Obviously all this is grossly oversimplified, but I think it's worth a conversation. Any thoughts?
Read More ... or click reply below.
------------------------------
MartialTalk.com Post Bot - Women's Self-Defense Feed