Pinking & Shrinking: Design For Women Gone Wrong

Many of you undoubtedly read about Honda's newest woman-focused car "She's". Honda replaced the apostrophe in the name "She's" with a heart, because they realized that secretly all women would prefer that their vehicles were designed by Lisa Frank.

Honda Fit 'She's'

After getting past the name, which was a bit of a struggle, I took the time to learn more about it before passing judgement too early. Then I read about the features that made She's a truly feminine vehicle according to Honda:
"available colors: pink and eyeliner brown"
"UV protective windshield to prevent wrinkles"
No mention of She's performance, fuel efficiency, engine power, or safety features (beyond the ones that maintain facial beauty).

Judgement passed.

Its been a tough couple of months for us women, between all of the 'legitimate rape' rhetoric of late, 'women in binders', and now a car geared towards women that touts superficiality over actual performance and reliability. Its become exceedingly difficult not to become frustrated as a woman who was raised to expect so much more from society and herself.

Honda is not releasing She's in the US, because they're familiar enough with the market to know it may not go over so well in a country where female subservience is less acceptable.
Maybe that's a small victory in disguise, but the fact that they've still manufactured a vehicle under the assumption that She's (with all of its cosmetic treatments and superfluous features) is what women would prefer is disturbing on many levels.

Not to say that automotive design shouldn't consider the needs and interests of female consumers, because there are differences between men and women...but also between women, and between men. Human factors including height, weight, reach, grip strength, reflexes, and reaction rates, apply to every human that operates a car. Also, why is UV protection only touted as a feature in the She's? Don't men like protection against skin cancer too? And are gender roles still really so separate that the color of a car defines whether a man or woman drives it?

When "pinking & shrinking" effects the quality or performance of a product, its not only often poorly done, its bad business. 

Honda isn't the only company guilty of pink washing products in an attempt to woo women. Maybe some women do feel more feminine and beautiful when holding a pink rifle, and that's fine. Just don't insult that woman by selling her a rifle designed to double as a handbag, that improves her ability to attract men,
when all she's really trying to do is shoot with accuracy.