Formula 1 bans "grid girls". Feminism/political correctness gone too far?

[bigdaddy1204]

Formula 1 racing has decided to get rid of "grid girls" from it's races, saying that the tradition is outdated and sexist.

Sean Bratches, managing director of commercial operations, said the change would be made "so as to be more in tune with our vision for this great sport".

"While the practice of employing grid girls has been a staple of Formula 1 grands prix for decades, we feel this custom does not resonate with our brand values and clearly is at odds with modern day societal norms," Bratches added.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/42890261

What are your thoughts on this? Are grid girls an outdated symbol of sexism, as some suggest? Or is this move an example of political correctness gone mad, with real women's lives upturned and jobs destroyed, all for the sake of an elitist ideology that proclaims loudly that it is saving women, while destroying their livelihoods? Do these women need to be "saved"?

As someone who is aware of the way the Taliban and the Islamic republic of Iran have enforced draconian rules around women in public, I find this decision by F1 disturbing. Is western society in danger of censoring itself into a rather dull, joyless autocracy in which women are banned from work that upsets the "morality police"?

While I don't agree with the way western advertising uses women to boost profits in a cynical exploitation of sex appeal, I think banning the harmless grid girls is a step too far. And before people accuse me of sexism, i have women in my own family who have done modelling and they think this decision by F1 is crazy. It is destroying women's choice and their jobs. Discuss!

[sumskilz]

I'm sure the models who are losing their jobs feel empowered. Having "grid girls" sends the wrong message to young women making them think they can only be valued for their appearance, because young women are essentially children without agency who can only imagine themselves as part of a female collective aspiring to be exactly like other women, rather than considering themselves individuals each with their own interests and goals regardless of what other women do.

[mishkin]

Girls supporting an umbrella forced to go dressed as if they were going to the beach no matter the temperature for the enjoyment of a population with serious deficiencies/lack of empathy. We usually worry that people have decent jobs / can perform their jobs with dignity. I guess we can ignore this if we're just talking about some "hot chicks".

And yes, a pity for those girls whose vocation is to be seen as sexually desirable objects. I wonder where they could find a work alternative.

[sumskilz]

Girlst supporting an umbrella dressed as if they were going to the beach no matter the temperature for the enjoyment of a population with serious deficiencies/lack of empathy.

That does sound bad. Just imagine if there was a sport that involved watching a couple guys beat the crap out of each other for the audience's entertainment. Surely we'd have to put an end to that, lest young men think they're only valued for their violence.

[mishkin]

That does sound bad. Just imagine if there was a sport that involved watching a couple guys beat the crap out of each other for the audience's entertainment. Surely we'd have to put an end to that, lest young men think they're only valued for their violence.

Thats going a little bit off topic imo, but I was thinking about the association of professional (women) tennis players demanding that the players leave a minimum percentage of their flesh uncovered or prohibiting unadjusted clothes.

[sumskilz]

Thats going a little bit off topic imo

If you can't see the connection, it may be due to benevolent sexism. My point is that if lack of audience empathy is the major moral concern, being punched in the head by a heavy weight boxer seems worse than being cold sometimes.

That aside, if the organizers of events want to do away with any part of their presentation, that's their business. My guess is that it's mostly under pressure of people who aren't actually fans, but I doubt that their audiences will abandon them over the change.

[Sir Adrian]

Girls supporting an umbrella forced to go dressed as if they were going to the beach no matter the temperature for the enjoyment of a population with serious deficiencies/lack of empathy. We usually worry that people have decent jobs / can perform their jobs with dignity. I guess we can ignore this if we're just talking about some "hot chicks".

And yes, a pity for those girls whose vocation is to be seen as sexually desirable objects. I wonder where they could find a work alternative.

Pssst. Let me tell you a secret. Nobody was forcing those girls to do anything. They chose to. And they got payed more than both us combined do in a week. Now they will get payed 0.

[mishkin]

Ok, I withdraw my "lack of empathy" accusation.

Its not just their business (not concerning anyone else) to exploit people as mere sex appeal. if the work of those girls is simply to hold some umbrellas, they could do it with any clothing, not necessarily dressed in adjusted minidresses (to call it somehow) in any weather conditions. The same if they are hired as "models" (an excuse that is usually used to justify that an employee dresses in a certain way and has a certain physique).

[Gallus]

Eh. I disagree with their reasoning, but if grid girls are against their vision for F1 then fair enough, get rid of them. I thought they were kind of cute but whatever, I haven't watched F1 in years anyway so my opinion is irrelevant.

[Sir Adrian]

They could but why should they? They are there to look pretty and add to spectacle. Besides the whole point behind the hiring thing is that they are told before accepting what they will wear. And they like it.

[mishkin]

Pssst. Let me tell you a secret. Nobody was forcing those girls to do anything. They chose to. And they got payed more than both us combined do in a week. Now they will get payed 0.

Pssst. Let me tell you a secret. The man scrapping ships in India for a miserable salary also does so "voluntarily" (many, many quotation marks). Also the prostitute on the sidewalk and the employee working 48 hours in a row. You are saying that any work condition must be accepted for being better than nothing.

On a side note, If the only work alternative for many people involves resorting to their sexual attractiveness, we have a lot to do to improve this society.

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I hope they are not the same ones who complain that we live in a hyper-sexualized society in which traditional values have been lost those who now defend that some girls must dress like whores (sorry) to make a sporting event more attractive. (comment not particulary addressed to any of those who have participated in this discussion).

[Ἀπολλόδοτος Α΄ ὁ Σωτήρ]

This is a private company we're talking about. They're not banned by the law, but removed by an private entity owning the races, it's their right to do that for whatever reason, if fact they can replace them with something else, personally I'd suggest dancing koalas wearing F1 hats...

Also, I don't think this belongs in the political mudpit, this isn't a decision made by the government.

[Big War Bird]

Part of the appeal of sport is the spectacle. Shiny cars, steely eyed men, hot women, these things go together as the spectacle.

[sumskilz]

Its not just their business (not concerning anyone else) to exploit people as mere sex appeal.

It literally is just their business, as in a perfectly legal arrangement between an employer and employees. It is also their business to end the practice if they prefer.

[Mithradates]

So hot young girls, who btw work a LOT to look that great shouldnt earn money with their looks, because reasons.

[Diamat]

Pssst. Let me tell you a secret. The man scrapping ships in India for a miserable salary also does so "voluntarily" (many, many quotation marks). Also the prostitute on the sidewalk and the employee working 48 hours in a row. You are saying that any work condition must be accepted for being better than nothing.

Yeah, tell an Indian person that Amazon will leave their country because wage demands are too high. Indians would revolt.

And are you seriously comparing being an F1 girl to being a prostitute? Mind you, in Germany, prostitution remains legal; you can get social security from being a prostitute in Germany...but apparently not as an F1 girl.

[Pontifex Maximus]

Sounds like they forgot who their primary viewers are.

THey should replace the girls with a single woman screaming at the crowd about feminist issues, occasionally breaking down in tears over how unfair being female is. I think that would be a lovely way to bring Formula 1 into the 21st century.

Clearly the best way to honor women is to fire several dozen of them. It's always a delicious irony when feminism bites its own tail like this. Isn't feminism about women's liberation? My body my choice sort of thing? Shouldn't these women be able to shake their bodies around for money if they want to?

[mishkin]

It literally is just their business, as in a perfectly legal arrangement between an employer and employees. It is also their business to end the practice if they prefer.

it is "just their business" in a totally liberal economy in which the state has no obligation to protect the dignity or working conditions of its citizens and in a society that does not care that women are still shown as mere pieces of meat whose only value / potential is their sexual attractiveness.

So hot young girls, who btw work a LOT to look that great shouldnt earn money with their looks, because reasons.

The way in which you express yourself expose you. Could you refer to any of my arguments?

We can open another thread about prostitution or about how far the employer can go in your utopian market where anything goes.

[Princeps]

Not only is it out of touch with the times to have grid girls and the like, actual marketing research has started to show that having pretty girls around your product or your show doesn't actually draw in anywhere near as many people as was previously thought. I think this is especially true in an age of readily accessible pornography.

[Mithradates]

The way in which you express yourself expose you. Could you refer to any of my arguments?

We can open another thread about prostitution or about how far the employer can go in your utopian market where anything goes.

Open it haha

...

Grid girls and hostesses are not sex workers. They are not forced to do this, its their free CHOICE to earn money this way, and nothing is wrong with that. Its a job, just like any other job like baking bread, driving a bus, or in their case, to look sexy in an event.
Its a job.