For a long time, women in the automotive industry were confined to the role of hostesses at trade shows. Do you find that cartoonish? Yet this is what Clémence de Bernis, a car journalist, had to face when she landed in this environment ten years ago. A woman who talks about cars? Who would have relevant arguments to judge the performance of an engine, the handling of a sports car or the reliability of a crossover?
Founder of the site Hubcaps, a news and essay site for women by a woman, and columnists in M6 Turbo, Clémence de Bernis affirms, she “had to impose herself”. With some of his colleagues (men) already very established who passed it “systematically to the question”, but especially with the general public. “That was the most hurtful thing. I was insulted in a very virulent way on social networks as soon as I drove a car other than a family car, that is to say a woman’s car ”.
However, affirms the journalist, “it is crucial to feminize the automotive world. Women are more and more interested in cars, but almost no one addresses them. And let’s not forget that in the majority of households, the final choice of buying a car is up to the woman. »