The 'Great' WEC Grid Girl Debate

[Deleted]

Never understood what's supposedly so sexist about grid girls, they're just voluntary/hired "performers" getting paid there aren't they? What's wrong with that? No more sexist or so called "out of date" than cheerleader girls in football or baseball game, or light dressed gals in commercials, or wherever. It is just business after all.

With the unisex drivers and competition, motor racing is actually one of the LEAST sexist forms of sport out there. Including our cheerleader counterparts.

[Articus]

Interesting and I tend to agree. It's just business. It's not as if a female crew member of one of the actual teams is being asked to dress scantily and stand in front of cars. The women are hired, know exactly what they are doing, and it's a commercial sport.

[rich07]

I have to agree with Chiana and Articus on this. No ones forcing the grid girls to be there, it's a job that from what I've heard is well paid and everyone who does it know what they're there for, and taking all that on board I can't see why it's massively sexist. Nothing's changed in that regard so why change now? I just don't get the outrage.

That said I'm not massively phased if they are there or not, now that they are indeed gone how about we do what someone posted earlier and pick a fan for each car? That'd be pretty cool. Besides there are more important things for the organization to be taking a deep and meaningful look into like the future P2 regs.

[Jam3s]

People will work where there is a job available, it doesn't make it any less tacky though. It's objectification to the tee and it's about time it disappeared from motorsport imo.

[YorkshireLad]

I really don't see the problem, what's wrong with a pretty lass holding a sign showing a bit of skirt or cleavage? It's how it's always been isn't it? Racing has always had a lure of women. Even my wife would comment if Bob from Wigan was holding the no.8 audi sign on the grid.

[Akrapovic]

Well done to WEC for being progressive. Hopefully the teams will follow this lead and not use women as billboard adverts too. It's tacky, objectifying, sends a bad message to women, and has no place in what is a very progressive sport. Well done WEC!

[Spyderman]

Once again "politics" is rearing its ugly head in our sport. Unavoidable I suppose; but distasteful all the same.
I suppose "progressives" will not rest until we are all brow-beaten into sexless , silenced automatons . Group-think rules!....apparently.

[Ospi]

Never thought I'd see the day when the removal of woman dressed in bugger all allowing men in the stands can gork and wolf whistle as they objectify them would be considered distasteful, but there you go. Such a backwards step for motor racing!!1!1

[Spyderman]

Originally Posted by Ospi

Never thought I'd see the day when the removal of woman dressed in bugger all allowing men in the stands can gork and wolf whistle as they objectify them would be considered distasteful, but there you go. Such a backwards step for motor racing!!1!1

Would it not be more appropriate to remove the gun that was being held to their heads forcing them to parade around semi-nude?..Oh! Wait! There was none. Oops!

[Ephaeton]

I think it's a great step. I was wondering whether it was april fool's myself, and hope it wasn't.

I remember coming back from a race (ALMS @ VIR) and talking about the beautiful curved objects I'd seen.
But when I wanted to show pictures of said objects, a quick googling brought up women as the first hits.

I'm looking forward to seeing more curvy objects and less curvy subjects in the photo streams of professional media reporting about WEC events.

[Spyderman]

Hopefully the next steps would be to require a dress code for all women attending races (especially the more attractive ones), banning shorts, short skirts, plunging neck-lines, etc. That should keep the wolf whistling Neanderthals in their place.

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by Spyderman

Hopefully the next steps would be to require a dress code for all women attending races (especially the more attractive ones), banning shorts, short skirts, plunging neck-lines, etc. That should keep the wolf whistling Neanderthals in their place.

Or we could just respect them as people rather than use them as decoration. If we introduced men in underwear wandering around then there would be an uproar.

[Spyderman]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

Or we could just respect them as people rather than use them as decoration. If we introduced men in underwear wandering around then there would be an uproar.

Really!? No uproar from me. As long as there was no gun firmly against their head forcing them to parade around in their underwear, I would have no objections. You see, I'm from a generation that believed in individual rights and freedom.
Anyway, Where do you draw the line? Is a semi-clad grid girl not a person whereas a semi-clad spectator qualifies as a person?
My take is that what qualifies us as "people" are not our clothes or the lack thereof.
If you have an issue with the behavior of some idiots, then surely you should address the behavior ?

[deggis]

Originally Posted by tyronnezx

i cannot believe WEC is stupid to allow the FIA to do this.

It's funny how literally everything has been automatically FIA's fault ever since Jan 1, 2012.

[tyronnezx]

Originally Posted by deggis

It's funny how literally everything has been automatically FIA's fault ever since Jan 1, 2012.

No Deggis. It's their fault since killing group C off

[Paradise City]

I'm in the motorsport zone when I'm watching motorsport. When I'm in the motorsport zone women don't feature on my radar.

I see alot of high principled commentary across the net about how backward it all is from people who think they see this issue through some kind of feminist lense. Frankly, I see the gradual fall from grace of the "grid girl" as symtomatic of the information age in that we are bombarded with images of dolled up women and therefore the grid girl has become jaded and ordinary for people.

[deggis]

Originally Posted by tyronnezx

No Deggis. It's their fault since killing group C off

Don't get me started on that semi-myth.

[Holt]

I dont see the need to get rid of them alltogether.

NASCAR does it right with 'Miss Sprint Cup'. Basically they are NASCAR's gird girls but the difference is they are modestly dressed. No mega cleavage or revealing mini skirts.

Theres nothing wrong with having beautiful women being on the grid. A woman's beauty and charm is one of her assets, in the same way a man's physical strength is one of his.

This doesnt surprise me though, some people nowadays are offended by any media that portrays a woman cooking or cleaning.

[Deleted]

Originally Posted by deggis

It's funny how literally everything has been automatically FIA's fault ever since Jan 1, 2012.

How many times have you posted this same message to the forums?

[deggis]

Originally Posted by Chiana

How many times have you posted this same message to the forums?

Less often than you rant for the sake of ranting.

[Acid09]

Originally Posted by tyronnezx

i cannot believe WEC is stupid to allow the FIA to do this.

If this was a FIA initiative you'd see it happening all across their series. The fact that the WEC is at the forefront of this should tell you that the series organizers are behind it and not the FIA.

I can only applaud the decision. The WEC has a fantastic female role model in Leena Gade who shows that female racing careers can be more than holding a board in a short dress for the enjoyment of men.

Last but not least, the decision makes plenty of sense marketing wise. The WEC wants to be seen as the progressive and modern series who does things differently and in a way that is relevant to today's society. This decision perfectly fits the bill.

[garcon]

Originally Posted by BudLightJaguar

Just a moment, I'll prepare my popcorn maker.

Big bucket of salted, please. Do you do bacon flavour?

[GTfour]

Originally Posted by BudLightJaguar

Just a moment, I'll prepare my popcorn maker.

Why, because you think these developments are entertaining? Personally, I can't see the funny side of a vast totalitairian group infiltrating in, what once was, our open and enlightend societies. To then see armies of politically correct governments and governing bodies(ACO) bow down in dhimmitude to even meat them in their backward and women degrading ways, is just downright shocking.

We all know that these grid girls have a right old laugh when performing their duties at Le Mans or any race(except for chillingly freezing wet days at some English circuits ) and get some very nice pay for it as well. Don't forget it's quite the thing to boast about among young ladies to be able to say you were on the grid of the famous Le Mans 24 hours.
So, at least 24 women are not gonna have a handsome wad of cash thanks to the hypocritical ways of yet another badge of board derictives who think they can fool us into thinking that enjoying our eyes on pretty ladies is a very, very bad thing to do.

[Peat]

Originally Posted by GTfour

So, at least 24 women are not gonna have a handsome wad of cash thanks to the hypocritical ways of yet another badge of board directives who think they can fool us into thinking that enjoying our eyes on pretty ladies is a very, very bad thing to do.

It's not a bad thing, it's the time and place that is in question.

Would it be appropriate to have girls revealing outfits handing out flyers at the supermarket for example?

People seem to be confusing WEC's decision to not have grid girls at their 'family friendly' events with a worldwide ban on smut. Come on chaps, it's not as if we are short of ways to look at T & A.

[Maelochs]

Originally Posted by Peat

Would it be appropriate to have girls revealing outfits handing out flyers at the supermarket for example?

As one of Chinna's earlier posts demonstrated ... scantilly clad women are a feature of every aspect of our society.

To me that is not the issue---it is that sexual interaction is used so widely in marketing that bothers me, whether it features men, women or men and women.

The sickness I see (at least in North America) is that we wonder why we have so many issues with sexualized children and early pregnancy, when sex or the lure of sex or intimations of sex are literally flooding out of every media from TV to radio to billboards to magazines ...

Personally I see a a divide between using beauty or sex as an appeal. Not every picture of an appealing person is an erotic picture, but mild eroticism is so much a fabric of our advertising atmosphere I am not sure most people even notice.

One other small point---a supermarket is considered to a open to the general public, while a motor race is open only to people who have voluntarily paid for the right to be there. it is assumed that visitors accept a certain amount of responsibility if they go to a private event (for instance, the real physical danger to which spectators are exposed at a race.)

Not many people who go to a race would be shocked to see grid girls, while yes, they would seem possibly out of place at a public supermarket (though I have never seen a grid girl who was so inappropriately dressed that she would attract undue interest on the street. The common costume seems to be tights (go to any gym) or somewhat short skirts (walk by any high school and you will see worse.)