Must not mock women drivers

Fiat has been forced to withdraw a handbook in Argentina which assumed drivers would be exclusively male and was packed full with sexist language.

The booklet, handed out to owners of new Fiat cars, enraged women by referring to 'short skirts', 'nice legs' and 'wandering hands'.

The handbook, written in Spanish but handed out only in Argentina, is written on the basis that the only women in the cars will be passengers and drivers will be male.

Women are referred to as 'co-pilots' and it advises them: 'If a lady's skirt is too short, we recommend that she travel in the backseat to keep our (driver's) concentration. 'If the skirt is not that short but you tend to have a wandering hand, she should also travel behind.'

Feminists were also apoplectic about another excerpt which says women who intended to sit in the front 'must at least have nice legs'.

Carolo LaFleur told Mail Online: 'The worst thing about Fiat was that they didn't apologise for what they said. They don't think they were wrong. They only apologised for our interpretation. And that's sick.'

The author of the booklet seems to have missed his true vocation writing 1950s-style romantic fiction.

At one point he writes that the driver should 'behave like a gentleman' and adds: 'You should know that if your partner, girlfriend or squeeze travels with friends, you should become the chauffeur for each and every one of them, taking the spot of the alpha male and dropping each one of them safe and sound at their resting place.'

Last week a massive demonstration took place in the capital, Buenos Aires, aimed at drawing attention to sexist attitudes in Argentinian society.

The group that organised the protest published a photo of the handbook on its Facebook page and called it 'a summary of stereotypical and misogynistic messages'.

Silvina Quintans tweeted 'If this is their sales strategy, it would be good to remember that women also drive.'

SOURCE