A while ago, on the Car Talk Web site, there was a list of the top ten cars for gays and lesbians. Apparently, the top gay car was the Volkswagen Jetta; the top lesbian vehicle was the Subaru Outback.
It doesn’t seem like there’s anything inherent about these cars that would say “alternative lifestyle,” but based on my observations, whenever I see a woman driving in an Outback or Forester, a disproportionately large number of them look butch and serious, many with a passenger that also has the same look. Whenever I see a Jetta driven by a man, a disproportionately large number of them look very attractive and very well groomed, at least compared to normal-looking guys like me.
I know not all female Outback and Forester owners are lesbians, and not all male Jetta drivers are gay. Still, though, what is it about certain vehicles that causes them to be popular among the alternative lifestyle community?
I’m not gay, but I considered buying a Jetta several years ago. I’ve noticed that there are a loarge number of Subarus up here (a higher number per capita, it seems to me, than in L.A.), and I have not noticed any stereotypical indications of their drivers’ sexual orientations. However, there was a girl in my SCUBA class (which I completed yesterday) who drives a Suburu, and who is apparently straight. (There was also a couple who drove a Suburu.)
I’m a lesbian and the Subaru Outback is my top choice for my next car. I have no real idea why though. I could grasp at straws: An older, butchish (straight) woman at work drives one, and I’ve noticed what a cool car it is. The Car Talk people recommend Subarus to everyone who will listen because of their price and reliability, those things are important to me. I’m currently driving a 98 Nissan Sentra, which is incredibly reliable, and I want something similar, but bigger. My grandparents drove a Subaru station wagon for years, and it was my favorite car to ride around in when I was little. I have sense-memories that draw me to Subaru. Perhaps the Subaru Outback is the suburban pickup truck? It seems like a very practical car.
I’ve never equated my sexuality to my car choices, but apparently I fit a demographic, and that’s spooky.
Hmmmm…I consider myself to be a very attractive well groomed man, but I would also say I am normal-looking. I drive a Jeep Wrangler and am heterosexual.
Hmmm, I’ve got two female friends who drive Outbacks. Both look kinda butch on the surface (short hair, solid muscular builds, they wear khakis and not much make-up). Both are actually really het nymphos. (literally, their husbands are always bitchin’ about their sex drives) So maybe the Outback drivers just look like lesbians…
Well, in Subaru’s case, it’s probably due to their advertising; I believe that the “lesbians drive Subarus” pre-dates the advertising scheme, but the ads could certainly increase the trend.
For more Subaru’s ads, and how they rate as gay-friendly, you can look here.
Also, not every manufacturer advertises in “our” magazines, but I know that I’ve definitely seen Subaru and Volkswagen in the Advocate (Newsweek for gay people). As mentioned in the above article, many gays and lesbians (including me) will make an effort to purchase from companies that reach out to the gay and lesbian market. Some of us (again, including me) will even write to the companies in question to let them know why we made the purchase. Being seen as normal, valid people in this society includes advertising targeted at our demographic, so I support it.
To look at how various companies use / abuse gayness in their advertising, I suggest you visit Commercial Closet, which catalogs this sort of thing – again, because gays and lesbians tend to be loyal customers of companies who treat us like fellow human beings.
Up here on the snowy North Coast, Subarus have long been wildly popular because they were the first inexpensive four-wheel drive cars. If there is any other pattern to their ownership no one I know has ever mentioned it.
A corellation between female Outback drivers and tough-looking females seems quite plausible. After all, it’s a car designed for outdoorsy activities, and outdoorsy folks tend to be tough (and tough-looking). But I see no reason to suppose a correllation between tough-looking females and lesbians.
FWIW - my wife is good looking and not gay and drives a Forester. And for that matter so do I; it’s a damn good car, and whatever I learn to do on mine in terms of repairs/maintenance works on her’s.
I noticed on the cover of Ward’s auto magazine either this month or last month was the “Fab Five” from the show Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and their big GMC SUV.
Here’s some links to free articles on their site about gays and car advertising:
On the other hand it wouldn’t surprise me. Cars and trucks are quite deliberately marketed to people based on sexuality, fear response, and other very fundamental drives; SUVs in particular have often been deliberately marketed to play on white people’s fear of black people and inner cities. Wouldn’t surprise me at all if Subaru and Volkswagen were playing to the 'mo market.
On the other hand we could also be seeing a mere coincidence. Jettas, to my observation, seem to be especially popular among people between 20 and 35 living in urban areas, which is the group of people most likely to be open about their homosexuality, thereby driving up the statistics.
I just sold my Forester. When asked why, I’ve been responding “because I was tired of chicks trying to pick me up.” Which gets a huge laugh about a third of the time. So I don’t know if there is statistical truth to “Lesbians drive Suburus” but its common enough knowledge to make a good joke.
There are probably different cars that are most popular among straight men, among straight women, among married men, among southern white men, and among French speakers from Maine. Is it possible that what strikes you as odd about gay and lesbian’s car preferences is that they are not “normal” like you?
Bambi’s conjecture is interesting. When I lived out in LA, I knew a woman who worked in A Big-Name Car Company’s (I won’t identify it, but it wasn’t Subaru) marketing department. She was a lesbian, and once complained that her company didn’t do enough to advertise to “her demographic.”
Straight male here, not especially tough-looking or well-groomed.
When my 11-year old Honda Civic finally bites the dust, I’ve got my Subaru Outback picked out.
My reasons are the strong record for reliability at a good price, plus the higher clearance and AWD for getting around in moderate snow. (I’m definitely no off-road enthusiast, but although my Civic handles OK, it’s so low that a 6-inch snowfall will box it in).
One thing that may be a bit of a factor in Jettas being disproportianatly gay cars is that among straight guys(at least in the areas I’ve been in) they are considered chick cars. Volkwagens in general, and most extremely the Golf, the Jetta and the new beetle, just have the rep for being made for, and owned by chicks. Guys I knew in college and High school who drove one of those got a fair ammount of teasing for drving a chick car. And it just may be that most straight guys just subconsciously don’t want to drive one.
As for the Subaru thing, I have been in a Subaru family for my whole life. My dad had one of the first Subarus in Colorado, and has had 3 others since. I have owned 2, my sister and brother in law have owned 3. We all have one now, and all have gone over 200 miles. And in general we of the old-school Subaru club consider the Outback, and the Forester poser Subarus. I really never noticed any lesbian tendency toward the Outback however, just more a rich suburban wanna-be outdoorman vibe.
Not really. I’m a straight male, and several years ago I owned a Jetta. I thought it was a terrific car, and I’d certainly consider owning one again. Right now, I drive a Passat.
I really never noticed any lesbian tendency toward the Outback however, just more a rich suburban wanna-be outdoorman vibe.