Utopia

In my utopia of technology and gender, everyone would be able to drive this car:

Behold, the Nissan Pivo 2. Yes, it is cool, battery-powered, and extremely user-friendly. I would love to have this car, mostly because I can’t drive and I’m sure anyone who has trouble driving would appreciate it. Yet in its demonstrations, this car has never been marketed toward people who find driving to be difficult. Only women are ever shown driving it and not in the popular “if you drive this car, sexy women will pull up alongside you and flirt with you” way. The underlying message is clear, that this car is so simple that even women can use it, that cars in general are a male technology. I was reminded of this concept car during the discussion on Monday, during which my group talked about technology that is geared toward one gender or the other when both could be using it.

My utopian view is not that technology should be completely neutral, but it should be able to acknowledge gender differences without exploiting them. This car should be marketed toward anyone who prefers an easier way to drive. It could even be geared toward people who are on the shorter side, as it is a relatively small car. If it were marketed in this way, I’m sure anyone would want to drive it.