The 'Great' WEC Grid Girl Debate

[Spyderman]

Originally Posted by Gingers4Justice

Taking out the sexist and objectifying nature of it for a moment, I've always found the idea of grid girls strange. Do you really have that little faith in your product that you have to put a scantily clad lady in front of it? And is your target audience seedy men who can't show an interest in anything without a half naked woman in the vicinity? And as deggis said, they're always used in highlights reels, and I'm thrilled that the director will now have to spend more time on the racing rather than tilted shots of grid girls waving at the camera in the name of "glamour" (although in reality it probably means more shots of Dr Ulrich watching himself on a screen).

The Cowboys obviously have no confidence in their product (and all those seedy men watching American football)t:

Originally Posted by Gingers4Justice

I remember walking around the paddock at Le Mans with my sister and mother a couple of years ago, and there were a couple of "Strakka girls" posing in front of the team trailer, surrounded by men taking pictures. I found it gross, and more than a little embarrassing...as an endurance racing enthusiast, I really don't want to be lumped in with that sort of crowd.

I also dont want to be lumped in with this crowd:

Originally Posted by Gingers4Justice

So there are my selfish reasons for hating the concept of grid girls, but I also consider it to be sexist. I get some girls want to do it, and that's fine

Apparently not.

Originally Posted by Gingers4Justice

Apologies for the rant, but this is something I feel passionate about. I adore this sport and I find it infuriating when I'm left embarrassed by elements other sports and forms of entertainment left behind when my parents were still at school. I want to be able to take my girlfriend to a WEC race without that feeling of embarrassment.

You obviously have not been to a boxing match, American football, Basketball, etc.

Originally Posted by Gingers4Justice

Well done WEC, and I hope the rest of motorsport follows suit. There, I've paid my lip service to your good news. What about these P2 regs then?

I don't like the P2 rules either.

[Deleted]

Sorry, but I have to give BIG LOL at Gingers comment of other sports having left these practices long time ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ku1lJlYTeDg

[Miguel]

It's always men telling what women should wear and how to behave. And we still wonder why there are barely any women in motorsports. People might change their minds if they'd delve into the psychological repercussions to women and girls who might be interested in working in motorsports themselves, of having halfnaked women parade around race tracks and hardly any other female role models at the races. But that's all science and facts.

That is all, carry on (without me, not getting into this discussion. Well done FIA WEC for taking your responsibility in breaking down stereotypes).

[tux]

Does it really matter?

[Spyderman]

The next step will be to ban Chinese food in the WEC:

[Deleted]

And cars. It's environmentally unethical to showcase air polluting, resource wasting items live on track while masquerading them as entertainment products. Other forms of sport have moved towards climate change friendly solutions a long time ago. Furthermore, showing kids expensive sports cars are cool is bad influence, as it might make them want to be come illegal street racers when they grow up and/or waste their money on sport cars instead of education, or other useful things in life. And don't even get started on giving them influence about behaving in real life traffic!

I, nor anyone around me surely wouldn't dare to show faces on paddock - you know in case someone noticed I supported such cult.

[Spyderman]

Indeed! This is all about the "Illuminati" feeling good about themselves.

[Bandicoot17]

Dunno why this has sparked so much discussion.

[Spyderman]

Because some of us ( freedom loving knuckle dragging Neanderthals) see it as yet another assault at individual rights and liberties. When I was younger, I kept quiet and really didn't understand the repercussions of the cumulative effects of these "do as I say, not as I do" measures that are imposed on all by some.
Now-a-days I allow myself the pleasure of at least providing my opinion. (They will soon take away that right too). It makes no difference, but since they are allowed to take measures that makes them feel good about themselves, I (for the time being) reserve that right for me too.

[bella]

Originally Posted by Chiana

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.

you don't think it's a bit weird that in this day and age it's still ok for companies to hire pretty women to do nothing other than look pretty?

i'm not criticising these girls at all, i admire their hustle. but it's so funny when boys are drooling over them like a pack of teenage girls meeting a boyband. have a look at yourselves, guys! why are you so emotionally invested in having pretty ladies at racing? is the sport not good enough without them? do the hot cars and great racing not interest you enough?

in summary, what gingers4justice said.

edit: fwiw, cheerleaders spend hours training and perform some serious acrobatic routines. but i personally find their presence a bit odd too. anywhere where women - and men - are used as some kind of token window dressing looks pretty pathetic to me.

[J Jay]

Originally Posted by Bandicoot17

Dunno why this has sparked so much discussion.

It's an emotive issue on both (all?) sides. It also segues very well into wider discussions on equality and individual freedoms which are already contentious issues where most people have deeply-held beliefs shaped by personal experiences.

I do wonder what Fillon or Neveu would think if they stumbled upon this thread

[BudLightJaguar]

Originally Posted by bella

you don't think it's a bit weird that in this day and age it's still ok for companies to hire pretty women to do nothing other than look pretty?

Airlines still do that, though it depends on the airline and nationality. Finnair doesn't do that, but more likely Qatar Airways does.

[Spyderman]

Originally Posted by bella

you don't think it's a bit weird that in this day and age it's still ok for companies to hire pretty women to do nothing other than look pretty?

The point here is not whether I or you think it is weird or not. The point is the girls have a right to not think it weird, and accept a job that has been offered to them.
On the other hand, you of course, have every right to think it is weird, but do you have the right to impose your ideas on others? Where do your rights end and someone else's begin?

Originally Posted by bella

i'm not criticising these girls at all, i admire their hustle. but it's so funny when boys are drooling over them like a pack of teenage girls meeting a boyband. have a look at yourselves, guys! why are you so emotionally invested in having pretty ladies at racing? is the sport not good enough without them? do the hot cars and great racing not interest you enough?

in summary, what gingers4justice said.

We admire them so much we want to ban them.

Originally Posted by bella

edit: fwiw, cheerleaders spend hours training and perform some serious acrobatic routines. but i personally find their presence a bit odd too. anywhere where women - and men - are used as some kind of token window dressing looks pretty pathetic to me.

Perhaps if we can get our grid-girls to do a couple of cart-wheels we will be allowed to keep them. No?

[GT6]

Well whatever people think, they are gone and the WEC will move on, the girls might look good on the television and yes the careers they have chosen mean that they get paid very well for standing around, but from the stands they are not really very visible. Perhaps the WSEC will spend the money on other things now

[Fogelhund]

Originally Posted by Bandicoot17

Dunno why this has sparked so much discussion.

This.

Four pages of discussion, on something everybody will have forgotten about as soon as the green flag for the first race drops. How many people will be sulking in their chosen place to watch the race, depressed they didn't see the grid girls before the race?

[BudLightJaguar]

Originally Posted by Spyderman

The point here is not whether I or you think it is weird or not. The point is the girls have a right to not think it weird, and accept a job that has been offered to them.

Correct. If we ask "is it ok to hire somebody to do something" then we have to remember that every employer hires staff to make profit. And if they feel that grid girls can somehow do more profit than average grid girls' price per weekend is, then it's ok from employer's point of view.

No one, who wants to make profit does hire somebody just to be present at the facilities.

[Spyderman]

Originally Posted by GT6

Well whatever people think, they are gone and the WEC will move on, the girls might look good on the television and yes the careers they have chosen mean that they get paid very well for standing around, but from the stands they are not really very visible. Perhaps the WSEC will spend the money on other things now

You are of course, correct. They have gone along with another little slice of freedom. Tomorrow it will be another little slice, and some weeks /months later another slice will follow. All done whilst the masses are kept amused and distracted.

[Gingers4Justice]

Originally Posted by Chiana

Sorry, but I have to give BIG LOL at Gingers comment of other sports having left these practices long time ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ku1lJlYTeDg

That's one sport. That I don't watch. I live in England - no idea how I'd even go about watching the Dallas Cowboys on TV?

Footballers (soccer) come on to the field with mascots, not pretty women, and that's the equivalent.

Engage in the discussion by all means but no need for that tone.

[Bandicoot17]

Originally Posted by Spyderman

Tomorrow it will be another little slice, and some weeks /months later another slice will follow..

Anything to back that up??

--------------------------------------------------------------------
Grid girls serve no point other than to be looked at.

If that isn't objectification at it's worst than I'm not sure what is. Has no place in the 21st century imo.

[Spyderman]

Originally Posted by Bandicoot17

Anything to back that up??

--------------------------------------------------------------------
Grid girls serve no point other than to be looked at.

If that isn't objectification at it's worst than I'm not sure what is. Has no place in the 21st century imo.

Look around.

[ATLFalconsFAN]

I find the notion that just because you can appreciate a beautiful woman and are happy to be in the midst of one that it makes you a "neanderthal" quite ridiculous.

My brother in law is a professor at Stanford University. I took him to an ALMS race at Laguna Seca a few years back. He enjoyed having his photo taken with many of the grid girls, seeing as how those girls would generally not pay any attention to him under normal circumstances. So does this make someone who is an educator at arguably one of the premier institutions of learning in the world a neanderthal???

Heck, women do the same thing, how do you think Chippendales stays in existence and why do they come out with a movie called Magic Mike and then make a sequel to it? Political correctness for the sake of political correctness won't get us anywhere. There are much more important things to worry about or make policies over than women being paid to stand there and look pretty.

[Akrapovic]

Any fan who won't watch this series because it doesn't have grid girls is not a fan of the series.

There is a time and place for sexualness (male and female). A family motorsport event is not it. This is no longer a little boys club. I'd like my wife and daughters to enjoy motorsport too.

[Ginaro Zukovsky]

Originally Posted by Spyderman

You are of course, correct. They have gone along with another little slice of freedom. Tomorrow it will be another little slice, and some weeks /months later another slice will follow. All done whilst the masses are kept amused and distracted.

So the WEC doesn't have the freedom to remove the grid girls?

[Spyderman]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

Any fan who won't watch this series because it doesn't have grid girls is not a fan of the series.

There is a time and place for sexualness (male and female). A family motorsport event is not it. This is no longer a little boys club. I'd like my wife and daughters to enjoy motorsport too.

So, no American football, female gymnastics, swimming, basketball for them either?

[BudLightJaguar]

Originally Posted by Spyderman

So, no Amercing football, female gymnastics, swimming, basketball for them either?

Swimming has lost part of it since the LZR suits.