Many women have excellent dexterity with their hands and if they acquire automotive knowledge become excellent mechanics. With less working space in today’s automobiles, I think there is a real place for women mechanics.
I wish I could interest my wife in acquiring automotive knowledge. She has a great analytic mind and very good manual dexterity. If she would do the work on the cars and other engines around the house, it would leave me with more time to go fishing.
Thanks for the encouragement! 
I do not perceive that I have a handicap or anything, it just urks me sometimes when someone tries to take advantage or talks to me like I’m a child. But hey, because of Firestone’s mistake I now know all the ABS components and where they are.
But yes, I do get the added benefit of being smaller! I’ve been doing most of the minor stuff on all the family cars such as light bulbs (I’m the only one who can reach them), fluid changes, battery changes. No one else wants to do it and I cant stand the idea of wasting the $. Out of financial necessity I’ve changed out a radiator (easy!) and transmission filter+gasket (didn’t go well). As of late I’ve felt this determination to take an autoshop class. I’d love to do more than just the little stuff.
I’ve told this story before. We were on vacation at Disney and our son drove down from school to meet us there. When he got there the car was running terrible and no way he could drive it back to Minnesota. Being on deadline we ended up at a Firestone. I’ll have to say they found the main problem OK, the coil for $300, but also wanted to do the plugs, wires, etc. for who knows how much more. I said no thanks and just did it ourselves. While I was waiting though a lady came in complaining about the $800 brake job they had done for her. Pads, rotors, calipers and heaven knows what else. I don’t blame them for trying to sell up and do a complete job but had to wonder how much extra they routinely did for unsuspecting people. The guy did say it was their slow time until people got their tax returns and could fix their cars.
A few years back, I was “deployed”, and the wife went to visit my brother in Germany. He’d had no end of problems with his car. Once day, she asked him to show her the problem, which he did, and it turned out he just needed a new (er, replacement) radiator. They hoofed it to a local junk yard, got a used rad from a car there, and she installed it in his car for him. She had him buy a few tools to do the job (I think he left them in Germany when he came back to the US).
So it’s not just gals who have problems with cars, there are just as many auto-ignorant men out there. Women just seem to have a harder time with it, as they’ve “traditionally” been the stay-at-home person, who takes care of the home and kids, the cooking and cleaning. While I think it’s a laudible, extremely under appreciated occupation, I also try to treat the women (and those other men) as I would want to be treated. The automotive work I do is generally for people I know (I’m not a pro mechanic now), and I usually do it for a 6 pack, some conversation, and a good time in my garage. Saving a friend a few bucks is always a good thing, anyway. It’ll come back around in the end, and I’ll get more than whatever may - or may not - be due me.