Paper short abstract:

Cars were a scarce resource during the Soviet period and their use showed the masculine status of the owner. While the social expression of car-driving is still gendered, increased participation of women in driving and the elevated role of age and wealth have shifted car-driving to become more of an articulation of social status.

Paper long abstract:

Car driving is used as an example to show gender perceptions and their public articulation on the road as micro-model of society. The paper looks at the gender aspect of traffic accidents that appears both in the statistics and common understandings of the behaviour on the road in Latvia. The statistics show a greater involvement of men in traffic accidents and legal offence on the road. Internet discussion forum and interview data analysis show that the behaviour on the road is explained using gender stereotypes. Fast and aggressive driving is labelled "masculine" and opposed to the slow and careful "feminine" driving. However, car driving is losing its gendered face with the increased participation of women and increasing role of the other stratification factors as age and wealth. The "masculine" type of driving has been transforming to the means demonstrating social status and is used by the drivers of both sexes to position them in the society.