Doing Gender: Cars and Culture in the United States

This qualitative research study aims to define and describe gender stereotypes and car culture. It will also explain how these stereotypes influence car culture and vice versa. This paper aims to explain how the mass media uses car culture in the United States and imposes gender stereotypes. The mass media I will be discussing includes but is not limited to commercials and magazine adverts. This paper asserts that by portraying what it means to be a man and what it means to be a woman, car companies build car culture and use pre-existing constructs of gender for marketing it. According to mainstream media and culture, the car people buy indicates how they perform gender. The commercials, culture, and even the dealerships are all designed to guide people to buy the right car for their gender