Pink Cars and Pocketbooks: How American Women Bought Their Way into the Driver's Seat

Summary

Since the commercial introduction of the automobile, US automakers have always sought women as customers and advertised accordingly. How, then, did car culture become so masculine? In Pink Cars and Pocketbooks, Jessica A. Brockmole shares the untold history of women’s relationship with automobiles: a journey marked by struggle, empowerment, and the relentless pursuit of independence. Brockmole uncovers the stories of pioneering women who defied conventions, such as trailblazer Alice Ramsey, the first woman to drive across the United States in 1909, and Barb Wyatt, whose contributions to automotive manuals broke new ground. Women have always been users of technology, and this book illustrates how the auto industry evolved—as well as how it chose not to evolve—in response.

“Written with the panache of a seasoned author, Pink Cars and Pocketbooks is a meticulously researched and persuasively argued contribution to the histories of women, gender, and consumer culture. Brockmole sheds new light on how American women influenced the highly masculine auto industry and, ultimately, claimed their place in the driver’s seat.”—Emily Remus, author of A Shoppers’ Paradise: How the Ladies of Chicago Claimed Power and Pleasure in the New Downtown