Defying Expectations

"Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection" (itsalwayssteve)
08/08/2016 at 09:11 • Filed to: zr1, bias

Stereotyping is bad, y’all. And sometimes we all do it, even despite our efforts to see the world beyond our biases.

This morning I pulled up behind the ULTIMATE C6

just like this

It was a cyber gray ZR1 with chrome wheels. I started to salivate a little because I could hear the rumble of the blown LS with just a touch of blower whine as I pulled up beside it.

I looked over at the driver, expecting to see a dude in a suit or a racing team’s polo, or a bro in gym gear and wraparound sunglasses - despite the fact that it was too cloudy to need shades this morning.

Driving was a 40-something black woman, wearing a purple halter blouse with a business skirt. She had a suit jacket sitting in the passenger seat. Her hair was a short natural Afro and she had very subtle makeup. Based on her appearance I’d say she was a lawyer or executive at one of the banks.

Now - there are two stereotypes that came into play here:

The car - Usually, in my mind, there are just a few kinds of people who buy a ZR-1, and they’re all male. Typically involved in some sort of automotive industry, or just had to have the fastest Corvette that existed.

and this is a little harder to admit - is the racial and gender stereotype. Now, in my mind, a black woman with high income would drive a luxury import - or if it’s an American car, it’d be a full-size luxury SUV. Never a 600-horsepower, manual transmission brute of a grand-touring/sports car.

So, woman in your ZR1, thank you for reminding me that my biases exist and that I should continue to challenge them.

DISCUSSION (25)

JR1 > Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection
08/08/2016 at 09:14

I adore the ZR1

Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection > JR1
08/08/2016 at 09:15

That car was gorgeous and the sound it made was glorious

JR1 > Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection
08/08/2016 at 09:19

Good god that sound is outstanding

EL_ULY > JR1
08/08/2016 at 09:37

here is one me and a friend recorded in San Antonio a couple years ago. Pullies, slicks, exhaust and a tune.

shop-teacher > Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection
08/08/2016 at 09:39

We all need to admit to this fact, that woman is cooler than all of us.

Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection > shop-teacher
08/08/2016 at 09:44

Possibly combined. Although we do get visits from Bill Caswell and Stef Schrader occasionally

DrScientist > Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection
08/08/2016 at 10:14

just curiously... how could you tell she was in a skirt?

Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection > DrScientist
08/08/2016 at 10:23

Meepster sits kind of high. The Vette sits kind of low. She was on my left. I looked over and saw in the car and could see the whole driver seat and part of the passenger seat.

DrScientist > Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection
08/08/2016 at 10:33

derp.

my car sits really low, and nearly as low as my previous car. i can barely see people’s shoulders as they sit in their cars.

also... dont worry about your stereotyping. at least you didn’t think there was going to be an old white haired grandpa in the car.

shop-teacher > Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection
08/08/2016 at 10:48

Point taken.

yamahog > Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection
08/08/2016 at 10:53

+1 good takeaways. I forget if you’re one of the Michigan Oppos, but this is the place to be if you want to see car/owner stereotypes shattered.

Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection > yamahog
08/08/2016 at 10:59

I’m in the Charlotte area. Lots of NASCAR money and banking types.

Future next gen S2000 owner > Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection
08/08/2016 at 10:59

I may ruffle a few feathers but stereotypes exist mainly because our experiences have proven them to be accurate. This isn’t to say that a person can’t go against stereotypes.

Just food for thought.

Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection > Future next gen S2000 owner
08/08/2016 at 11:12

Media portrayal plus confirmation bias tends to lead to more stereotyping than experiential accuracy.

con·fir·ma·tion bi·as

noun

the tendency to interpret new evidence as confirmation of one’s existing beliefs or theories.

Bourbon&JellyBeans > Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection
08/08/2016 at 11:19

Money on it being her significant other’s. I don’t want to be that guy, but I have to be.

Having said that, I do agree with the gist of your post.

PetarVN, GLI Guy, now with stupid power > Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection
08/08/2016 at 11:47

I’ve driven one of these things. Fucking hell, does it fly . The one I was in wasn’t stock either. Damn-near 700 wheel horsepower redefines what pant-shitting acceleration is.

Oh and ya, the stereotype thing? try putting two 18 year old boys in a ZR1. we drew a lot of confused faces, and fat grins as we ripped around in that car

yamahog > Bourbon&JellyBeans
08/08/2016 at 12:26

No, you really don’t have to be.

Bourbon&JellyBeans > yamahog
08/08/2016 at 13:12

Related: My dad has a definitely-not-stock 2002 Mustang GT convertible. In perfect condition, completely babied for the last fourteen years. My mom drives it all the time. It’s a stick and it sounds like thunder, so people get all weird in the head when they see my mom driving it. And maybe someone somewhere else in the vast webiverse is posting on a car blog about how he saw a 50-something year old white lady wearing a business casual outfit driving a pristine, heavily modified, manual Mustang GT. And to that I would also say; it isn’t hers.

/anecdote

Why are you so sure that this is different?

yamahog > Bourbon&JellyBeans
08/08/2016 at 13:26

Why are you so quick to dismiss any other possibilities and confirm your own biases?

Anecdote: sometimes my fiancé drives my manual SS 1LE Camaro to work, therefore any time I see any other dude driving a manual V8 Camaro, it must belong to his female partner.

yamahog > PetarVN, GLI Guy, now with stupid power
08/08/2016 at 13:30

I imagine I got similar looks when I was driving a CTS-V coupe around age 23 :)

Bourbon&JellyBeans > yamahog
08/08/2016 at 13:43

That’s what a stereotype is; the dismissal of other options or possibilities for the one option or possibility which the stereotyper deems to be the most prevalent or simple. It’s not that I don’t think that this woman could own a Corvette, it’s just a matter of probability.

yamahog > Bourbon&JellyBeans
08/08/2016 at 13:58

So you’re going to let the point of “don’t make shitty assumptions” fly right over your head just so you can be that guy. Got it.

Bourbon&JellyBeans > yamahog
08/08/2016 at 14:38

Ugh. Yep, pretty much.

PetarVN, GLI Guy, now with stupid power > yamahog
08/09/2016 at 03:45

probably hahah!

us blasting music out of it in downtown Bellevue probably aided our WTF factor ( and the music wasn't the typical faux-gangsta-rap, we chose some funky stuff from the 70's!)

Shoop > Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection
02/11/2018 at 14:48

My mom doesn’t like my dads C6 because its “like driving a penis”.

The car is definitely aimed (lel) at men.