Some women are Ferraris, some are Fiats

[Traumdeuter]

I do know that essays on Medium are often complete dross but this came through in a round-up email today.

medium.com/hello-love/why-would-a-man-leave-a-ferrari-for-a-fiat-10280fed809

This doesn’t sit right with me in the same way that the steak/McDonalds analogy doesn’t. Women aren’t consumable goods. I see the point they’re maybe trying to make - a long-term relationship needs more nurturing than something casual - but am I over-sensitive or is this incredibly distasteful?

You're right. It's ham-fisted and gross.

Doesn't the same apply to men as well though?

There are some men that are catches and some that are not.

I once encountered a revolting little man who told me getting a woman pregnant was like driving your most beloved sports car into a wall. It ruins them. I had no words.

@CocoCookieCream

Doesn't the same apply to men as well though?

There are some men that are catches and some that are not.

True, but it is far more common for people to talk about women like this, I think. Trying to recall an example where men are compared to cars, food etc. being ‘a catch’ is different (although still objectifying, I suppose.)

@ThackeryBinks

I once encountered a revolting little man who told me getting a woman pregnant was like driving your most beloved sports car into a wall. It ruins them. I had no words.

Ah jaysus, that's disgusting

@ThackeryBinks

I once encountered a revolting little man who told me getting a woman pregnant was like driving your most beloved sports car into a wall. It ruins them. I had no words.

Ew. I have heard (although thankfully not in real life) the gross jokes about men watching their partners give birth being compared to watching their favourite restaurant burn down. It’s vile.

In fact thinking about this and @ThackeryBinks post it is the comparisons that bother me. It seems OK to say that people have different attributes. It’s OK to say that pregnancy can change a woman’s body. It’s the comparison to objects that weirds me out.

@CocoCookieCream

Doesn't the same apply to men as well though?

There are some men that are catches and some that are not.

The key difference being that the entire biological class of women have been actual property whereas men have not. I cannot imagine writing a piece that compared Black people in the US to Ferraris and Fiats, for exactly the same reason.

I do think these types of analogies can be used with all good intentions, e.g. when a friend is trying to be supportive 'why would he go and have a burger when he has steak at home'. It's just a well-known analogy.
I've heard the Ferrari one before as well and didn't have a problem with it.

What utter nonsense. Oh well, I've never wanted a Ferrari anyway!

I must be a dump truck.

There's something about this that makes you want to turn into a steam roller.

And then a JCB to bury the evidence…

CBA to click the link but it sounds like actual objectification of women, so it’s natural to find it unpleasant and distasteful.

Reminds me of this

@ThackeryBinks

I once encountered a revolting little man who told me getting a woman pregnant was like driving your most beloved sports car into a wall. It ruins them. I had no words.

My god. I wonder if he wonders why women avoid him …

Once at a class in a professional setting one if the male students in his late thirties told me that I was a Mercedes and the other women in our class were dingy Skodas. Apparently this wonderful compliment was supposed to make me forget my wedding vows. Instead I and all the other women in the class found him to be a creep. He found this to be surprising.

Some of us are neither

Wow! I read it, and it’s a woman comparing herself to a Ferrari and the woman her DP cheated on her with to a Fiat. The internalised misogyny! 🤦🏻‍♀️

It was Robbie Williams who made that comment about watching his wife give birth was like watching his favourite pub burn down. It was widely considered to be a hilarious bon mot at the time, but I remember thinking it was gross and childish.

I love that graffitied poster.

Ironically, FIAT owned Ferarri until recently.

Wow! I read it, and it’s a woman comparing herself to a Ferrari and the woman her DP cheated on her with to a Fiat. The internalised misogyny!

Yeah, shocking isn't it? Would probably come as a shock to everyone else in this thread who, instead of discussing instances of women comparing themselves to cars or other inanimate objects, decided to vent their frustrations with men instead.

It's objectifying and dehumanising, of course it's wrong.