Living Car Free - carless/car-lite living and gender

I've noticed on this forum that some people with car-free or car-lite aspirations find themselves at odds with a significant other who's just not into the idea of doing without a car. My impression has been that the reluctant partner is almost always female. This has been borne out in my personal life, too; a lot of people think I'm a bit odd for not having a car, but my female friends are the ones who mock me most aggressively, and who confidently predict that of course I'll have to get a car again when I come to my senses. Is this an accurate perception, that women in general are less interested going carless? If it is accurate, why is that so?

I've noticed on this forum that some people with car-free or car-lite aspirations find themselves at odds with a significant other who's just not into the idea of doing without a car. My impression has been that the reluctant partner is almost always female. This has been borne out in my personal life, too; a lot of people think I'm a bit odd for not having a car, but my female friends are the ones who mock me most aggressively, and who confidently predict that of course I'll have to get a car again when I come to my senses. Is this an accurate perception, that women in general are less interested going carless? If it is accurate, why is that so?

I don't think it is accurate.

Three of my inspirations for going car free when I was car lite were car free females. Right now I think I know more car free females than males. People get mismatched with their significan others in more ways than transportational choices. It is just part of living in a diverse culture you have to look harder for a compatible mate and be flexible with negotiating and compromising.

This car-free female has a hard time finding men to date who are willing to get our of their $*@&^# cars!

The internet, and internet forums, are the male-dominated factor in this Internet forum of car-free individuals.

I find that cars matter more to men. My brother judges people based on what car they drive, for example (really sad... :(). A car is a status symbol and males care about having high status more than females. Females are more likely to do what's practical.

Of course, a lot of them will feel that car-free is totally impractical. Males, on the other hand, might decide is that "no car" is in itself a status symbol. :D

Men always, Women usually, etc.. The sad truth is most people don't even have a concept of living without a car. If a man or woman acts in a certain way, it's surely because of their life experiences and culture. When you start discussing biological differences that's a complex minefield. Most comments above involve generalizations, cliches', and stereotypes.
How about some hints, like "I asked him to ride with us" or even "After years of marriage we now tandem to the store"? Could even be some swooning or kissing (with helmets).

We are car lite. My wife has a small desire to reduce her driving by biking. Hence the new bike for her birthday. As for going completely car free, I would be suprised if she ever went that far. However, you never know. It's not like 2 years ago I would have believed I would be without my own personal chariot :p

Men always, Women usually, etc.. The sad truth is most people don't even have a concept of living without a car. If a man or woman acts in a certain way, it's surely because of their life experiences and culture. When you start discussing biological differences that's a complex minefield. Most comments above involve generalizations, cliches', and stereotypes. Yes, in this sort of matter, upbringing completely overrides the gender. Whatever generalizations one makes basically have to assume the same upbringing for the generic male and female in question.

I would guess that the proportion of females on the Carfree subforum is high, compared to their numbers in other subforums. Even our closest "sibling"--Commuting--is predominantly male.

Maybe a couple things do sometimes make it harder for women to be carfree cyclists? I leave it to them to name those impediments, if they exist....

*raises hand* I am female and carfree. After doing a 90 mile round trip commute for several months, DF and I were able to move closer to our work places. I have a twenty-four mile round trip commute by bike and well, DF went carlite and commutes by motorcycle for now. What with all the gas money we are saving, he will have a commuter bike within a month!

(Side note: thanks to all the regular posters on this subforum for all the really helpful suggestions for carfree living. Very helpful!)

My personal experience is that there are lots of car-free women...but not many of them are cyclists. Its a bit easier for women to get away w/o cars in this society because its relatively easy to succor a guy into ferrying them somewhere.
That said, my fiance (female) thinks my car-liteness is impractical and until she gets a different job wouldn't think twice about cyclecommuting. all this and she didn't have a car from 16 to ~22 and held off on her license till she was nearly 20...

This is a bit of stereotyping (and I admit I know girls who don't mind getting their hands dirty) but a possible explanation for the heckling the OP gets over being car-free/lite is that US/Euro women are socially pressured into a kind of dont-get-dirty-drive-to-a-million-places-to-shop-must-look-perfect-must-always-be-comfortable consumerist mentality that is highly car dependent. to people of that mentality (of which both genders are members) life without a car would be icky and uncivilized.

Females are more likely to do what's practical. :D

Like marrying rich old men?

If I didn't bike everywhere, when would I wear all of my precious cycling outfits?

hmm I cover up my car-lessness. Job hunting at the moment and **** I dont want to give them another excuse not to hire me.

This debate is gonna get sour soon

This is a bit of stereotyping (and I admit I know girls who don't mind getting their hands dirty) but a possible explanation for the heckling the OP gets over being car-free/lite is that US/Euro women are socially pressured into a kind of dont-get-dirty-drive-to-a-million-places-to-shop-must-look-perfect-must-always-be-comfortable consumerist mentality that is highly car dependent. to people of that mentality (of which both genders are members) life without a car would be icky and uncivilized.

I think this is a huge barrier for many women to get rid of their cars. When my female family/friends/coworkers want to try to convince me that using my bike as my primary mode of transportation is a bad idea, this is the line of reasoning they use 100% of the time. My coworkers are always amazed that I can look presentable at work. It's not that hard in a business casual workplace, but then again, I don't plaster cosmetics on my face as part of my daily routine.

People mistake me for a guy on the bike, but I am a car-free female! Maybe it's the hairy legs...

People mistake me for a guy on the bike, but I am a car-free female! Maybe it's the hairy legs...
Can't be that because so many male riders shave their legs. Maybe they think you're a guy because you ride so fast.

This is a bit of stereotyping (and I admit I know girls who don't mind getting their hands dirty) but a possible explanation for the heckling the OP gets over being car-free/lite is that US/Euro women are socially pressured into a kind of dont-get-dirty-drive-to-a-million-places-to-shop-must-look-perfect-must-always-be-comfortable consumerist mentality that is highly car dependent. to people of that mentality (of which both genders are members) life without a car would be icky and uncivilized.
The girls that like to get dirty ;) sometimes can't get dirty enough with a bicycle. So they are forced to working on internal combustion engines, and are seduced by men that find this unbelievably sexy.

PS don't tell a man that you like white graphite (or other similarly high end high tech) chain lube unless you want him to fall for you :love:

hmm I cover up my car-lessness. Job hunting at the moment and **** I dont want to give them another excuse not to hire me.

This debate is gonna get sour soon

I've had to keep the fact that I don't drive in the dark while looking for jobs in the past. For some reason a lot of employers seem to look at this as a sign that a person is not responsible enough to have/afford/maintain (or whatever) a vehicle. At least that's the vibe I get off of people. After not mentioning it in my current job I was pleasantly surprised when I had a conversation with the COO about cycling. I mentioned that I ride everywhere and him and the facilities manager thought it was great. I now have my own special area to park my bike inside when ever I want. I never thought I'd have a company be so happy about it. Now they're giving me vacation almost 6 months early so I can go on a week long tour.

As for male vs female and car-free/car-light I haven't really taken the time to notice. I have noticed some female commuters in my area, but they aren't "cyclist" per say, they seem to just like to pedal their old 1spd cruiser to work slowly, and that's fine by me :-)

in my experience, most* girls don't support the car-free lifestyle because it takes more work and preparation to pull it off.

* i know there are plenty of car-free girls. but again, most (if not all of the) girls i know have always been very critical of my lifestyle and assume that i'll come to my senses and drive my nice, money burning car everywhere.

On a positive note, my housemate has recently found a nice bike messenger to date. The only rub is that he is moving to Seattle for grad school, but at least you can take your bike on Amtrak for $5. I was at work when he came by, but our other housemate said he seemed deeply happy to have found a car-free female. I hope it works out for them.