Chances are, just by reading the title of this post, you are already expecting something interesting. Everyone has an opinion on female drivers, just like how everyone has an opinion on taxi drivers, bus drivers, or drunk drivers. The general consensus is, they are all road hazards.
Just this morning, I was sitting in the back seat of my dad's car, and we were in the multi-storey carpark of a shopping centre looking for a parking lot. As luck would have it, all the lots were full, so we were just driving up as high as we could to see if there were any lots available.
Just as we were turning the corner to the next level, a car suddenly backed out of the parking lot. It backed out rather abruptly, which meant that if we were just a little faster in rounding the corner, there might have been a collision.
My dad took one look at the driver and immediately went "Aiyah female driver, no wonder. Always creating problem."
I have to admit that I laughed, but a part of me was taken aback by how naturally those words came out. I guess it is true to some extent that when I drive on the roads and I see someone driving erratically, having trouble parking, or driving very slowly, it is almost always a female driver.
That would usually bring out statements like "You drive until like that, you think it's your grandfather's road ah?" This will usually be followed by some very aggressive tailgating, honking, or the obligatory I speed up and overtake just so I can glare at the public nuisance as I drive past. And somehow, most of the time, the person will be female.
In fairness, I think there are much fewer female drivers around, so when they make mistakes, we notice them a lot more. Another reason is, I think male drivers just want to believe that women cannot drive, so they feel a lot better about themselves. Guys have a really big problem with ego, which is normal. Guys with no ego issues do exist but they're just gay.
Cars are traditionally a masculine domain, and when guys realise that some women can actually drive, it makes them feel more than a little useless. And guys have this huge fear of feeling useless, because they actually are, but they are hoping that women never find out.
In the past, when women were traditionally masters of the house, it wasn't a problem. Now, women are entering the workplace and storming up the corporate ladder, while keeping their skills at managing the home. Where does that leave guys?
Well, if you're a guy, you know the answer. In front of the television, a can of beer in hand, slouched over the couch snoring with mouth wide open.
Guys don't give birth to children, and they don't do housework. In fact, guys are only useful for carrying heavy furniture and shopping bags, or killing cockroaches, and yet they get to carry on the family name. I think at some point in time women have found that unfair, but they don't have an ego big enough to go nitpick with guys over it.
Despite the evolution of women over millenia, they haven't figured out how to make themselves more adept in certain areas, which is a blessing for guys. Or maybe, they just don't want to. Killing cockroaches is still disgusting, and you really need both hands free to do shopping. I guess it is also still more fun to spend the husband's money. Since he's useless anyway and can't do his own shopping to save his life, you get to do it for him while fulfilling that insatiable urge to shop without the guilt trip.
According to the science journalism class I'm currently taking, some male scientists are finding ways to make sperm cells from stem cells. I'm perfectly okay with scientists trying to grow livers, hearts and other organs from stem cells. I think it's beneficial. But sperm cells? My immediate reaction was "Stop! Don't do it! The day you do that, guys will really become useless! You traitors, you are ensuring the eventual destruction of the male race!" But I realise such arguments are futile. Someday some feminist scientists will do it.
Now, when you hear guys pan the skills of female drivers, you must realise the huge amount of ego baggage that comes with it. And actually, it's not our fault that most of them do suck and clog up our roads anyway. Ego ego!
(this post is dedicated to my female friends who drive and cause their dads to pay higher insurance premiums)