🚀 go-pugleaf

petrich@netcom.com (Loren Petrich) writes:

> Maybe we ought to go easy on Mr. Rothwell, however. 
> For him, I'm sure, a Suburban 'Uge Vehicle is an 
> extension of his penis. 


No comments re: Mr. Rothwell one way or t'other, but
I'd like to comment on the general idea of SUV-as-
penis-extension.  That seemed to be the conventional
wisdom for a while.  In fact, a couple of years ago
the local NPR affiliate even ran a "public access" 
spot read by a snotty-voiced little bimbo from UC 
Berkeley who'd bought into that idea of SUVs being
advertisements of machismo.

The funny thing is, I see a _hell_ of a lot more SUVs
being driven by women than I do by men.  It's actually
pretty comical to see some enormous Suburban or Lexus
Land Cruiser being driven by this tiny little broad
who's all alone in the cavernous thing, looking as
though she has to sit on a stack of encyclopedias 
in order to even see over the dash.  

Women feel safe in sport-utility vehicles, and I've
observed that in a lot of cases, it actually emboldens
them to the point where they become pushy and overly
aggressive behind the wheel.  A couple of things in 
particular that I've seen enough times to be perpetually
on guard against it is the way women in SUVs will often
use the intimidating bulk of their vehicles to try and
prevent people from merging into the freeway, and the
way that, upon entering a freeway, they'll sometimes 
race up the shoulder and try to nudge other cars out 
of their way instead of merging at the proper point.

And from what I've seen, the advertising seems to be 
aimed primarily at women as well.  I remember one TV
commercial in particular, the one showing a woman in
an SUV using its capabilities to beat someone else to
a prime parking space at a shopping mall.  Now is that
an example of knowing your market, or what?



Geoff

--
"Anyone who uses the term 'workshop' who isn't involved 
 in light engineering is a right twat." --Alexei Sayle