once their bodies feel the effects of gravity, they need to switch careers. WEC's move is just hastening their transition to skill-based roles. Apparently, schmoozing – which is surprisingly hard to do – isn't a legitimate skill for this group.
4. The tradition shows women as sex objects
Grid girls are present solely for male pleasure. They are never given coverage that shows their love of the sport, their technical know-how, or any of their skills. The women who graduate from being grid girls to performing more technical roles in the industry constantly fight the misconception that they succeeded because of their looks rather than their brains.
5. The tradition sends negative messages to young girl fans
By flooding the coverage with grid girls, it takes screen time away from skilled female personnel, who are held up as role models to girls who aspire to become engineers or racers. It sends a subliminal message that there's no room in motorsport for women
who would prefer to be valued for their
skills not their beauty.
6. Grid girls are not representative of the female population.
How many 'average sized' women are grid girls? How many women with disabilities are grid girls? How many women of colour are grid girls? If we're honest, it's mostly thin, pretty, white women who get hired as grid girls – even in countries like Malaysia that have very few natural blondes in their population. There are beautiful women in each subset mentioned, and yet they receive little or poor representation.
7. The tradition teaches young boy fans unhealthy ways of relating to women
The arguments put forward under this sub-heading are too diverse to sum up in a few sentences. They range from the inaccuracy of the 'conquering hero' trope (man wins battle; man gets girl), to more complex arguments about how, by making women unattainable in men's minds, we are reducing men's confidence and/or increasing the incidence of gender-based
violence.
8. Grid girls' outfits are too revealing for a family audience
A surprisingly wide range of people expressed this opinion. This is perhaps the one point that the political far right and far left agree on. While in principle this is an extension of the 'sex object' argument, enough people expressed it to warrant its own heading.
In Conclusion
With such a wide array of arguments for and against grid girls, is it any wonder that Gerard Neveu took the decision to end the fight once and for all? It's hard for a CEO to please everyone all the time, especially when every alternative suggested is met with complaining from at least one sector of the community.
I think that dispensing with grid girls altogether might be throwing the baby out with the bathwater. There must be a happy middle ground that will keep the majority happy, while still respecting the views of the minority. Perhaps to achieve this we as a community need to learn the basics of peace-making, and see what needs the other side is trying to meet with their arguments.
Nevertheless, it took courage for Neveu to make a decision that would alienate some of the series' drivers and supporters. The justification he gave for his decision was, 'For me that is the past. The condition of women is different now.' Regardless of whether we agree with Neveu, he should be applauded for taking such a big risk with the series.
V8 Supercars has built their brand heavily around the male gaze.