Virginia Scharff's Femininity and the Electric Car

Virginia Scharff's "Femininity and the Electric Car"

In "Femininity and the Electric Car," Virginia Scharff examines the electric car, its history, and the targeted customers at which it was aimed.

Five hundred electric cars were produced by the Pope Manufacturing Company in 1897. According to Scharff, this was after Colonel Albert A. Pope, the president of that company, decided not to concentrate "on noisy or smelly gasoline-powered cars, but instead, on clean, quiet electric vehicles." ("Femininity and the Electric Car" p.75) The Pope Manufacturing Company clearly targeted women as customers. This is evident in their advertising strategy. For example, Scharff says, "As Pope suggested in a 1903 advertisement for the Pope-Waverly electric model ‘electrics…will appeal to anyone interested in an absolutely noiseless, odorless, clean and stylish rig that is always ready and that, mile for mile, can be operated at less cost than any other type of motor car.’ Lest this message escape those it was intended to attract, the text accompanied a picture of a delighted woman driver piloting a a similar female passenger." (p.75) With such blatant advertising can be clearly seen that the electric car was targeted at women. Later advertisements which were also directed at women contained Victorian language. According to Scharff, this separate spheres ideology "vastly oversimplified both human relations and social forces." Scharff then gave an example of a man who is stereotypically rugged seeking shelter from the rain and of women who are stereotypically soft-spoken yelling at their children to illustrate this oversimplification.

The main reasons why electric cars were targeted at women was basically because of the misconception that women lacked the ability to drive well and should drive slower, safer cars rather than faster, more powerful gasoline-powered cars. It was also assumed that women should just use a car as a means of transportation for chores and other errands that were associated with short distances, so that the electric car’s lack of range wouldn’t bother women. Perhaps husbands liked the restricted range that their wives would have because maybe they didn’t trust them enough to go on longer trips. In this manner of using the electric car nearly exclusively for chores, the technology seemed more oppressive to women rather than liberating.

In addition to a limited range, Scharff mentions a number of other disadvantages that the electric car had. It was more expensive than a gasoline-powered car. It was difficult to drive on bumpy roads and was unable to climb steep hills.