Especially for Androgynes

[Laurry]

Had a thought pop in my head.  It got lonely in there all by itself, so I thought I would ask y'all.

This question is especially for Androgynes and would apply even more to the bi-gendered of us...

When driving your car, do you notice any difference when your male side or female side is in control?  If so, which is the better driver?

In my case, there is not much difference...both drive too fast and are fairly aggressive (big city driving).  I do tend to slow down a little and use my blinkers more when I am "dressed" as I really don't want to have to explain things to the cop when they pull me over.

I know this question is gonna get me in trouble...I just know it.  Nothing worse than a sexist argument taking place right inside my own head...dang [wo]men drivers!!!

....Laurie

[Kendall]

I tend to abhor SUV drivers. Nothing like watching a huge vehicle trying to be a sports car. Even better is a SUV full of kids weaving in and out of traffic.

I guess thats off topic though.

There are times when I drive more fast and aggressive. Most the time I drive slower, more careful, and I follow the rules. Its not so much a gender thing as it is the lack of car insurance.

I may drive like an old lady, but the lady in me is a bit younger than my driving may infer.

Kenny

[chunk]

I don't notice a female or male side. I just notice its either the week of PMS or its not. 
Lately though, as I accept myself for whatever I am, I notice that I don't hold my anger for more then a few seconds. I used to hold my anger for quite a while...roll it around in my head. Now I just notice someone doing something, react, move on. So much nicer.
Maybe I was more female and now I'm more male?

Chunk.

[nigno]

As a motorcycle instructor I have spent mch time pondering the 'women driver' question.  If I let my male side drive a bike i become a psychopath with a death wish... my femme side is cautious and considers others on the road

N

[nathan]

Hi nigno! Fellow rider here. On my bike I tend to bring out the angst, especially for idiots or selfish jerks that want to cut into traffic and end up blocking my lane. Grrr. I always have to remind myself to cool off and ride focused. Not to say my horn doesnt get a good workout. Heh...

[Mia and Marq]

There is no significant difference between my two sides. I know that I drive more aggresively sometimes which is usually just because I'm late, and then sometimes I'm just driving really slow because I have no where to be. If I were going to guess though, I would have to say that the male half drives a little more aggressive.

Marq and Mia

[Kendall]

I do notice that my female side can be aggressive to. There is a difference though. I cant put it into words really. When I am in male mode I try to muscle like aggression. When in female mode its more intellectual, precission, emotional, and mental aggression. Even while driving. Dont know if this makes sense or if my words are exactly correct. Does this make any sense?

[Laurry]

I do notice that my female side can be aggressive to. There is a difference though. I cant put it into words really. When I am in male mode I try to muscle like aggression. When in female mode its more intellectual, precission, emotional, and mental aggression. Even while driving. Dont know if this makes sense or if my words are exactly correct. Does this make any sense?

Yep...makes perfect sense.  Started to say that aggession has two sides (good and bad), but I've come to love the "spectrum" idea.  The following comments are based on how I act when closer to the bad end of the aggression spectrum (I know, silly isn't it).  When I'm a guy, I tend to just go with the flow; any aggression is easy to see and straight to the point (from the gut).  When feeling more female, the aggression turns methodical...like yours, it's more mental (from the head) and tends to be mean.  For me, the male aggression is more physical...pushing, shoving, in your face, loud.  While my female side is more scheming and wants to produce a longer-lasting hurt than just a punch in the nose...more cruel and vindictive.

Guess the same kind of holds true on the "good" end of the spectrum.  Male side shows more hustle, more go-get-it, and the female side plans better and is more precise in how things are carried out.

This does carry over with my driving too.  Seems like the more male I feel, the faster I tend to drive, the closer to other cars I get, and the more chances I take.  When driving in female mode, I tend to drive slower and notice shops and things along the side of the road...as a male, I'm more focused on the cars in front of me and how to get around them, and generally don't notice as much off the road.

Good point, Ken/Kendra.

.......Laurie   

[Shana A]

I lost a dear friend to car accident a few years ago I drive very carefully regardless of which of my genders is behind the wheel.

zythyra

[Kendall]

Yep both men and women crash. I dont know statistics let me check.

More than 1 million people were killed in accidents on U.S. roads in the 29-year period from Jan. 1, 1975, through Dec. 31, 2003.

73 percent of all people killed in car accidents are male. For every age, all the way through the mid-90s, male fatalities outnumber female fatalities by a factor of 3 or more. At age 20, for example, there were 14,325 male and 3,238 female drivers killed while traveling alone during the 29-year period.

The period from 1975 to 2003 saw in pedestrian deaths 126,715 male deaths and 55,669 female deaths. Indeed, even among infants and young children, male fatalities invariably outnumbered female fatalities.

Men averaged 65 percent more driving miles than women did in 2001. At the same time, while men log more miles, women log more trips, on average. Indeed, data show that more female drivers are involved in minor accidents while more male drivers are involved in severe accidents

In 2003, for example, 27 percent of the male drivers in fatal crashes had been drinking, whereas only 12.5 percent of the female drivers had done so. And, of male drivers, 34 percent were wearing no seatbelt versus 24 percent for female drivers.


Conclusion However, I believe the simplest and most plausible interpretation is that the effects reported reflect intrinsic behavioral differences between the sexes originating at a hormonal level."

http://blog.sciencenews.org/2006/04/men_women_cars_and_crashes_1.html

Although men are three times more likely than women to be killed in car crashes, researchers at the Johns Hopkins Schools of Medicine and Public Health have found that, when the total numbers of crashes are considered, female drivers are involved in slightly more crashes than men. Overall, men were involved in 5.1 crashes per million miles driven compared to 5.7 crashes for women, despite the fact that on average they drove 74 percent more miles per year than did women.

The investigators, who published their results in the July issue of Epidemiology, found that although teenage boys started off badly, with about 20 percent more crashes per mile driven than teenage girls, males and females between ages 20 and 35 were equally at risk of being involved in a crash, and after age 35 female drivers were at greater risk of a crash than their male counterparts.

The investigators determined that about half of the 3.1-fold difference between the sexes' fatal crash involvement rates was due to the fact that males' crashes were more severe. Another 40 percent was due to the fact that men, who on average drove many more miles than women, thus had a greater opportunity of being in a crash; and 8 percent because of gender differences in "crash incidence density," the number of crashes per million person-miles.

Also another good study talking about the increase in Women getting into accidents and their increase in riskier driving.
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/ohim/womens/chap26.pdf

From these statistics women get into more accidents. Men have a greater chance of death from riskier driving.
Certainly both get into accidents, and both die.

[Laurry]

So does that mean that, as an androgyne, I should let my female side drive more (and risk more, but not as bad, accidents) or let my male side drive and risk fewer, but worse, accidents?  I'm so confused...

Guess I will just have to be aware of how each side drives and make appropriate adjustments.  When driving as male, I need to slow down and when driving as female, I need to pay more attention to the road and less attention to looking at the stores in the shopping centers I am passing.  This just isn't fair...now I am sterotyping myself...aarrrrrggghhhh!!

.....Laurie

[Shana A]

When driving as male, I need to slow down and when driving as female, I need to pay more attention to the road and less attention to looking at the stores in the shopping centers I am passing.  This just isn't fair...now I am sterotyping myself...aarrrrrggghhhh!!

LOL, Laurie, just as long as you're not using a cell phone and doing your makeup too 

One thing I seem to do more and more is to miss exits, turns, etc that I should know since I've driven these routes a million times... I don't know if that's gender or just getting older

zythyra

[kaelin]

Guess I will just have to be aware of how each side drives and make appropriate adjustments.  When driving as male, I need to slow down and when driving as female, I need to pay more attention to the road and less attention to looking at the stores in the shopping centers I am passing.  This just isn't fair...now I am sterotyping myself...aarrrrrggghhhh!!

It's possible you may be doing this because you're more inclined to go shopping while dressed female.  While one does not necessarily have to change their behavior according to gender while in the store, *other people* will treat you differently, and that may be playing on in your head.  That, and you may be playing "catch-up" in terms of going to the store a lot as a female in order to balance the number of times you were there as a male.

One thing I seem to do more and more is to miss exits, turns, etc that I should know since I've driven these routes a million times... I don't know if that's gender or just getting older

Well, if you're dressed in a way outside of society's norms, you may have that voice nagging you in the back of your mind, and you are prone to not pay as much attention as you typically would.  If you've got tons of clothes and make-up on compared to your male self, it can also pose a physical distraction to yourself.

[Shana A]

Well, if you're dressed in a way outside of society's norms, you may have that voice nagging you in the back of your mind, and you are prone to not pay as much attention as you typically would.  If you've got tons of clothes and make-up on compared to your male self, it can also pose a physical distraction to yourself.

Just as likely to happen when wearing male clothes... I turned 50 this year, so it's probably age related. I haven't worn makeup in years and don't tend to go for fancy clothes. Whichever gender I present as, I mostly seem to be frumpy when I look in the mirror, sigh   

zythyra

[Laurry]

LOL, Laurie, just as long as you're not using a cell phone and doing your makeup too 

One thing I seem to do more and more is to miss exits, turns, etc that I should know since I've driven these routes a million times... I don't know if that's gender or just getting older

LOL Zythyra...cell phone, probably...but with an earpiece so I can keep both hands on the wheel.  Makeup...heck, I have enough trouble at home...that mascara and driving thing is dangerous!  As another who turned 50 last summer, it's hard enough to drive 30 in the fast lane on my way to Luby's for supper at 3:30 without trying to talk on the phone and put on lipstick while smoking a cigarette and changing CDs.  Thank God I had a newspaper to read, I was getting bored watching all those other cars on the road.

I would say missing the turns was an age related thing (they don't call them "Senior Moments" for nothing) except I've been absent minded since I was a child...still, I'm blaming it on age...nothing wrong with my mind, no zir!

I knew it was bad when I started getting AARP letter 2 years ago.  Made me wonder if my mind was already gone and I had turned 50 without knowing it...hey, stuff happens!  Oh, dammit!  That was my turn!!!

[Shana A]

As another who turned 50 last summer, it's hard enough to drive 30 in the fast lane on my way to Luby's for supper at 3:30 without trying to talk on the phone and put on lipstick while smoking a cigarette and changing CDs.  Thank God I had a newspaper to read, I was getting bored watching all those other cars on the road.

LOL Laurie! Those people reading behind the wheel definitely make me worried. I've been getting those AARP letters too, so far I've thrown them all away, but who knows, those coupons for early bird dinner at 4PM might come in handy... I can just see all of us aging trans/androgynes out for dinner. 

zythyra

[nigno]

Here we go then....
In the UK men generally do the long distance stuff, usually at speeds of over 70mph. They get used to measuring at that speed and keep their distance as per 70mph (7 car lengths approx).
Women generally drive the shops/school run which involves lots of 30mph driving. They are used to small gaps in the traffic and taking them...
On the bike I use steriotypes - steer clear of anybody with a baseball hat on backwards.....

Nigno