NEXT WEEK, KEVIN Burke Tyres in Athenry, Co Galway is holding a ‘Ladies Tyre Awareness Evening’ to inform ladies about, er, tyres.
The garage took out a full page ad in the Galway Independent this week to advertise the event, and it certainly got noticed – though probably not for the right reasons.
A spokesperson for Kevin Burke Tyres tells DailyEdge.ie that they don’t think they event is sexist – they just wanted to help women be more confident about going into a garage.
The evening was organised by sales manager Shirley Halvey to teach women some of the basics: how to change a tyre, some motoring lingo, and the difference between premium and budget tyre brands.
“It certainly wasn’t my intention for it to be sexist,” Halvey told DailyEdge.ie.
It’s an awareness evening, informing ladies of what to do when they walk into a garage, so they won’t be intimidated by the male-dominated surroundings.
“It’s about empowering women,” she added.
Halvey has worked for Kevin Burke Tyres for 12 years, and says the motor business is very “male-oriented”:
If you look at any motoring sections [in magazines] it’s very rare that anything is aimed towards women. I go to events for the company and I’m the only woman there out of 4o people. Men come up to me and say, ‘I need to speak to a man about tyres’.
She hopes the event will give women the information they need to be more confident about taking care of their cars.
“Ladies come in here and feel intimidated,” she said. “But next time they’ll know what they have to do and won’t need to ring their husband or boyfriend about it.”
- By Valerie Loftus, originally posted on DailyEdge.ie
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