Why the man always drives

Statistics show that when couples drive together, it's usually the man behind the wheel. Aren't we past that?

Even now, the man still drives.
(Image credit: Corbis)

Men spend more time in the driver's seat than women — it's a fact. That means that when a couple gets in the car, it's overwhelmingly the man who's behind the wheel. Eric Morris, in The New York Times' Freakonomics blog, crunches the numbers and finds that the stereotype holds true even in self-described "feminist" households. The question is, why?

The answer's obvious. Sexism: The only reasonable explanation is sexism, says Amanda Marcotte in Slate's Double X. "Letting women take control is considered emasculating in our culture and even pro-feminist men are not immune." Obviously, women drive just as well as men — if men are secure enough to let them.

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