There are many stereotypes that have prevailed through time in our patriarchal society and most of them have to do with gender; our culture has typified some professions, assigning a specific role and appearance to those who practice them; so, we have that hair stylists are classified as gays, pilots as promiscuous, motorcyclists as badasses and rock stars as drug addicts, just to mention a few.
We are not generalizing, it‘s just a matter of common perception, most of the time unjustified. Those prejudices we drag in our patriarchal cultures make us reject everything that doesn`t fit the mold: a truck driver, for instance, is the epitome of masculinity: strong, muscular, manly. In one word, a macho. But ¿what if the driver of a 36 tons vehicle, 12 wheels and load capacity of 200 tons is tiny, longhaired and wears a bra? Women represent 47% of the nation`s labor force and only 10% are over-the-road (OTR) truck drivers, according to ATA (American Trucking Associations) and U.S. Department of Labor. Leaving aside the obvious differences in physical terms, which are not necessarily a disadvantage (their size make them more agile and faster, and strength is not an issue anymore with today`s automation and technology), women are superior to men in other biological and behavioral aspects:
| Higher analytical capacity and intuition |
| Better communication and verbal skills |
| Better performance under stress |
| More conciliatory and diplomatic |
| Better memory |
| More attentive and organized |
| Better leaders |
| Multitasking |
| Good team workers |
| Higher skills in logical rationing |
As if this were not enough, ATRI (American Transportation Research) studies found that men are 88% more likely to have a reckless or negligent driving conviction, 78% more likely to have a seat belt violation, 73% more likely to be convicted of running a red spotlight and 70% more likely to be convicted of speeding one to 15 miles over the speed limit when compared to women.
Researchers from Westminster University (U.K.) have concluded that men represent a “significant higher” risk than women drivers to other road users, after studying official data on road accidentality.
“I do not say that all men are equal in their ability, character or motivations, but I do affirm that they should be equal in their opportunity to develop their own character, their motivation and their abilities”.
John Fitzgerald Kennedy
