This Is All About The Male Ego, Say Pune’s Women Drivers

February 2, 2018

Perils for Pune Woman Riders — Image used for representation only

Women in Pune are often at the receiving end of sexism on a daily basis, be it at work, driving, riding or even at home.

Women are always judged by the way they dress, be the way they speak or even by the number of beers they consume at a social event. For women drivers in Pune. the roads seem completely dominated by men.

“The moment the man see a car with a woman driver, overtaking them becomes a necessity for them,” says Shubhangi Satpute.Intern

Lewd remarks, stalking and misbehaviour by eve-teasers are incidents that most woman experience while driving at night and even during the day, she adds.

I have no clue why despite following the traffic rules diligently, we are always called bad drivers, Minu Paul, Student.

Women drivers in Pune often have to hear comments like, ‘Gaadi chalane nai aati toh public transport use kia karo’. Some male drivers also try to intimidate us with bumper to bumper driving she adds.

Pradnya Bhosale, Physiotherapist says, I remember an incident when I was returning from work and taking a turn towards my home. I was turning at a normal speed, when a car came from the other side at full speed and suddenly stopped near my car. As soon as the people in that car saw that it was a woman driving, they started abusing me. I just said sorry and left.

Men have this egoistic notion on ‘How can she overtake me?’ or ‘why should I wait?’

Almost every day, I hear comments like ‘women can’t drive’, ‘they are the worst drivers’, ‘they take sudden turns’. If a car is parked diagonally, people assume that it must have been a woman driver.” she adds

It is all about male ego, I don’t even understand why people try to prove that genetically women can’t drive as well as the men, says Mrunali Shah, IT professionalst.

We don’t usually get involved in an argument and just say sorry even when we’re not at fault. “Who wants to get into an argument in a city where you know that no man is going to come and help you,” she adds.

Two college going students on bike stopped me and questioned me whether I know how to drive or no? says Persyl D’souza.

“When I asked them, how I was driving, they said, ‘Garden nai hai madam road hai, log rukhe hai aapke wajah se’.

Later they started abusing me, but, when I abused back, the people on the road started defending those guys, as I was a woman driver,” She adds.

#All views expressed in this article are those of the individual respondents and Pune365 does not necessarily subscribe to them.