My Car, My Life: Sex, Cars and Going Green

Sex sells. Is anyone shocked by this statement these days? It pretty much is considered one of life’s truisms.

If sex sells, then “sex influences” can also be seen as true enough. Ever had a horrible fight with someone naked? Case closed…. Skin just seems to change perspective – including the thought of the possibility of getting naked with someone.

Now don’t go blaming this on the loose morality of modern times, lest we forget dear Lysistrata.

Who?

She’s the heroine of the Greek comedy bearing her name, written by Aristophanes in 411 BC. It seems this industrious, ingenious and independent woman figured she had found THE way to bring a quick end to the 27-year long Peloponnesian War: Withhold sex. Her theory – if each woman said no to her man’s advances until the fighting stopped – and held firm – the warring would end

Jumping to the end of the story for the sake of brevity, her scheme worked. It seems 27 years of enmity and conflict was no match for a few nights of no humpty hump. Treaties were signed. Peace was made.

What does all this have to do with women and cars in the 21^st Century? There’s a paradigm shift currently underway and since women have influence over 83% of all consumer goods buying decisions made today (that includes automobiles), you all can play a very important and active role in bringing this shift to fruition.

This is no minor shift, by the way. It will change the way Americans relate to their cars and trucks. It may very well have a significant impact on American culture as a whole.

Since the first horseless carriage started chasing horse carriages off dirt trails, cars have been all about horsepower – the more the better; burning rubber, the fastest quarter mile, the fastest lap, the fastest at the checkered flag.

The fastest man was the alpha male, desired by every woman alive.

The man with the fastest car is the guy who comes out on top, the guy with the power. In the female psyche, this translates into the alpha male perfect provider/protector. “He can have me and I will bear him children because he will protect me and them. He is the strong provider/ protector.”

But that power = alpha male equation is not just being tested in our 21^st century world, it is being transformed. Horsepower is losing its “wow” factor. The question is no longer, “How fast?” but “How far?” And as bigger was better in terms of horsepower, bigger is still better… but the unit of measure is now distance traversed on a tank of gas.

Consider the Prius. A man is no longer looked down upon as the 90-pound weakling geek for driving a thrifty, dorky car. The new test of virility is no longer 0 – 60 but how many miles per gallon.

This change of focus has brought with it a whole new techno-quest. The challenge is no longer making it faster, but making it less thirsty. How many more miles per gallon can we coax out of this design? He who meets this challenge attains bragging rights. And with bragging rights come challengers – to beat what he just did. The winner of this next level of challenge is, well, the victor and “to the victor go the” … women -- because alpha women want alpha men. Winners.

As the driver of a Smart for Two, the question I hear most often is “how far?” When I answer 40 mpg around town to the mileage question, those asking respond with looks of admiring envy. Women flash that little twinkle in their eyes. I become the mileage stud.

When all is said and done, such a paradigm shift is not only a good thing, it is the one thing that will finally make this swing to environmentally conscious action take hold. Making a gallon of gas last as long as possible has finally become sexy in the eyes of women. And, as we all know, sex sells.

This shift is going to make this new “green activism” finally become a thread that is forever woven into the fabric of our new millennial society. Want to save the planet? Want to see electric and hybrid automobiles populating our highways? It’s up to you, ladies. Let your man know it’s sexy to be such a fuel sipper. Let him know its sexier to have the highest possible mpg than it is to have the highest possible horsepower.

The throw down needs to become not who can get to the next stop signal fastest but who can get to that great corner café 300 miles north – and still have gas to spare. It is no longer about how fast you can go. Its now about how long you can last.

Whether talking about driving, women or sex, longevity is a good thing.