Motormouth: Women shouldn’t be mechanics, because they are supposed to manage the grease monkeys servicing our cars

There are many more men than women in car workshops, but a woman’s touch helps to keep the wheels turning for everyone involved. 

John Lennon said/sang it so poignantly in his ballad, Woman: “I will try to express my inner feelings and thankfulness for showing me the meaning of success.”

Indeed, behind every successful man is usually a woman or two - be it his wife/ex-wife, girlfriend/ex-girlfriend, sister,  mother, female comrade/colleague, or whoever else of the fairer sex who helped the gentleman achieve success in his life, on his career path, and sometimes behind the wheel too. 

In the automotive arena, men appear to be everywhere, seemingly doing everything, and they look really busy driving the business forward or occasionally sideways. From the highest echelons of motorsports to the humblest levels of motoring, such as petrol stations, workshops and tow trucks, guys are omnipresent and in the thick of the action.

But there are numerous women doing important automotive work, across different sectors and in different disciplines. These include the digital domain (e.g. infotech experts), sales, aftersales, finance, marketing, engineering, design, business development, management, and media. 

For the longest time, the vast majority of writers, editors and photographers in the motoring media were men, some of whom were overgrown boyracers who were fortunate/talented enough to upgrade from playing with toy cars. 

In recent years, however, more women drove into the fast lane of car content creation - passionate bloggers, random influencers, and proper reporters, from the up-and-coming to those already at the top of their game. 

There is now even a Women’s Worldwide Car of the Year (originally Women’s World Car of the Year when it started in 2009), which is the only international car awards organisation comprised exclusively of women motoring journalists. There are currently 75 of them in the WWCOTY jury, representing 52 countries. One of them is Ms Genevieve Tiu, who represents the Philippines on the prestigious jury.

In case you’re wondering, these qualified professionals do not select a “woman’s car”, but focus on gender-neutral aspects such as safety, quality, price, design, ease of driving, and environmental footprint when casting their votes. 

On a wider scale, the mediums of communication in the wonderful world of cars have also evolved, with online lapping print in the infotainment race and social media engagement overtaking face-to-face interaction, while videos are overpowering photos, for better or for worse. 

What is always good is to hear the soothing voice of a woman when a motorist calls a hotline to seek roadside assistance. The hotter the problem, the greater the cooling effect of the lady on the line, so to speak. 

Even if it’s just a customer service number for general motoring matters such as insurance, financing, buying/selling, and routine servicing, a woman would probably do a better, or at least sweeter, job than a man. 

She is supervising the apprentice who is trying to repair the engine.