Why do more men drive manual cars with a clutch opposed to women?
by 
VINTAGE GLAM0UR
ANSWERS: 11
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To us men our cars are not a tool, they are an extension. We like to be able to 'feel' the gear change and be in full control of when it does so.
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Men are more likely to regard driving as a skill which they want to be good at, whereas women are more likely to see it as a means to and end (usual caveats about generalisations). A manual gives you, in principle, more control of the care and hence more ability to develop and display skill. An automatic means that you drive a little less fast for a lot less work.
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I think that, culturally speaking, men tend to be a little bit more mechanically proficient than women. This is not to say that there is an intelligence difference, only that men and women have different interests because of what is learned in society. Nevertheless, I haven't really noticed that men drive manuals more than women. Here in Southern California, it seems that roughly 80% of all people drive automatics.
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I think it's an outdated thing where they feel they are more in control and that they aren't going to rely on something on auto pilot. But technology has advanced. Even race cars are can be automatic or partially. F1 cars have cool handy paddle shifting which just slides into gear. The old four on the floor will soon be a thing of the past. There are much better answers to gear shifting.
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I must not be a real man because I can't stand manual transmissions. If I'm going to pay $20,000+ for a vehicle, I shouldn't have to work so hard to make it go.
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It must be a cultural thing. I understand that about 80% of cars in the USA are automatic and a similar percentage in Europe are manual. In my (European) experience a similar proportion of men and women drive automatics. Apart from the other points already mentioned, I think that manual transmission tends to use less fuel than automatic, but I'm ready to be corrected on that if I'm wrong.
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Is that so? I must be hanging out with a bunch of tom-boys. Most of the people I know either prefer stick or don't care either way and that is regardless of gender.
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The men in my family refuse to even learn how to drive my manual car. My son learned only because he need it for emergencies once in awhile when the two other cars are in use. I hate manual, but it was very cheap.
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I'm female and I drive a manual transmission. One of my male friends insists that I must hate it. I don't. In fact, I love my car. When I was looking for my car, the stupid sales rep. didn't even show me the car. I said "What about that one?" and he said "Oh, that's a manual transmission." and I said, "So?" He felt really stupid for not even considering I might want the manual transmission since I'm a girl.
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I like manual more than automatic because its more fun to drive. My sister's car is manual and she was uneasy when buying it even though we said she'd be able to do it. Like me, any time she gets into an automatic after not driving an auto for a while it feels like somethings missing. (well, maybe not everytime, I can't speak for her) I think it's just people thinking that manual is harder because theres more stuff to do, and then eventually they just assume they can do it. I have male friends that when looking at cars will cross off any car that has manual, and female friends who will cross off any car that has automatic.
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I am no Dr. Ruth Westheimer, but I believe there is something of a phallic symbol behind the whole clutch/manual stick/fast car scenario. Men love it, the same way many men love firearms. Most women don't care about those things...
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