To ask what you think about 'Grid Girls' no longer being used?

[Sallystyle]

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

I think it is a great thing.

Some people on my FB clearly don't.

Page 3 is GAWN

If they replaced all the grid girls with grid boys, I would not be up in arms. How odd.

Often the younger drivers race finishes just before the main race so they aren’t an option though I’m sure having young boys to ogle would be an attraction for some! It just seems a case of fixing something that isn’t broken the grid girls aren’t complaining not a single one, yet they are being saved by the moral few from their life of degradation and being put out of what is probably a very lucrative line of work.

I think it is shit as I recently applied to be a grid girl. Well, when I say girl, I mean middle aged slightly tubby mum. I was a shoe in.

Someone said down thread that its her choice if she wanted to be a playboy bunny or a grid girl. Then says she's overweight and 40.

I hate to break it to you but no its not your choice if you wanted to do those "jobs". The men that put grid girls and playboy bunnies at events don't want fat and forty. They want young, hot, sexy, barely dressed girls hardly out of their teens so that older men can leer at them as a sideshow to the main event. The men do, the women decorate.

I don't want my children growing up learning that message even if you "pc brigade feminists are evil" people are fine with it.

Sends a terrible message that men do and women decorate.

This sums it up. It is small steps like this move that gradually, gradually change society's perception of women. As things stand, too much emphasis continues to be placed on the way women look, to a far greater extent than how men look.

I mentioned on the darts thread that my pet hate are the dolly birds who stand alongside the podium at the Tour de France who serve no purpose whatsoever.

It's annoyed Piers Morgan and Julia Hartley Brewer and the Daily Mail so that's good.

Anything that annoys those two gets a big thumbs up from me.

I'm happy with what Liberty are doing so far. They've gotten rid of Bernie, are dropping grid girls. If they could stop Ferrari collectively whining every time a decision doesn't go their way I'd be the happiest person in the world.

I didn’t completely agree with the work that these women do, but I think it’s a shame that many women are losing jobs that they enjoyed.

I had a friend at uni who used to work at the boxing matches, wearing very skimpy clothes and parading around holding up the scores etc. She absolutely loved the job, and it certainly paid a lot better than my part time job, and for less hours too. I can definitely see the attraction that these type of jobs hold for some women.

I do really worry about our society though on many levels, and seriously wonder if we’ll end up being like Iran soon? There are increasing restrictions on freedom to choose - such as this F1 example, and when a woman needs emergency contraception and is told by pharmacies that they don’t stock it as they don’t agree with it. Add to this that most people seem to have had a sense of humour bypass, and everyone feels too scared to make a joke or say something as it always seems to offend someone. Our freedom of speech is becoming something of the past.

Shall we stop all forms of modelling next? What about the Chippendales and butlers in the buff? Mini skirts, bikinis, crop tops? Where do we draw the line?

I supported myself and funded an education by doing this sort of work, not just at car sport but other sports and shows and events.

It was fun I enjoyed it I was paid a fair amount for doing it and I didn’t have to fuck anybody to get the work.

Granted my feet didn’t always thank me but it was my choice and I don’t regret it

Can we stop with the "poor women have lost their jobs" nonsense?

F1 use local models when they go to each country, so each group of women have lost one day's work (maybe two, if they're also there during qualifying, which I don't think they are).

No one is now hideously unemployed - I'm pretty sure that day's work isn't their only employment in a year.

They can now spend that time doing actual modelling work as opposed to decorating a sport, with no purpose whatsoever.

I think it’s a shame that many women are losing jobs that they enjoyed.

It's occasional weekend work. Grand Prix only take place every 2-4 Sundays during the competition season and are in such differing geographic locations that it isn't the same women at each Grand Prix. It's very unlikely that anyone earns a living from being a "grid girl".

And can you really, honestly be comparing removing grid girls to women to the lack of women's rights in Iran??

@Argeles Liberty Media making a commercial decision to drop "grid girls" is not one step on the way to the UK becoming like Iran. No one has banned anyone from doing that kind of role, feminists have not passed any laws to force women to do only certain jobs or wear only certain clothes.

You have freedom of speech. That doesn't mean freedom from people disagreeing with you or not finding your jokes funny.

x-post with Tammy

They can now spend that time doing actual modelling work as opposed to decorating a sport, with no purpose whatsoever

There are still plenty of events where men do seem to need pretty young girls to look after them and serve them food and drinks.

If by this point people do not understand how this sort of activity perpetuates our inherently sexist culture, I don't think it's possible to explain it to them.

Hiring women to do work like this isn't done in a vacuum. It all plays a part in a much larger issue, and thank goodness these things are finally being questioned by some, even if the rest don't want to think too hard about it.

And I find it highly entertaining to see twitter's endless stream of broflakes, who treat women like excrement, trying to argue for the employment rights of these women. Yeah, that's definitely your main concern!

Completely agree. How many other sports can you think of that have an equivalent?

Any that have cheerleaders?

I have no idea how it works these days but back when I did it the big ticket events like f1 used to almost guarantee you a decent amount of work at lesser known events or shows so it was never really about just that one days work

at lesser known events or shows so it was never really about just that one days work

Tech shows?

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/ces-booth-babes_n_1202320

Yeah, like the presidents ball, right?
Or those awful PR events I used to have to attend where the companies would hire models to wear miniskirts and give shoulder massages to journalists?

All of these things add weight to a system wherein women exist to be attractive and men exist to be successful. These things do not exist in a vaccuum.

Too many feminists are far too keen on trying to dictate to other women what they should think, what they should wear, how they should behave and what work they should do.

THIS with bells on.

I think it's the more aggressive feminists that tend to get themselves heard, but then leave people with a very negative view of feminism. Almost leaving them with the impression that feminists are militant.

However, I'm sure the majority are less vocal, but far more rational.

Whilst accepting the countless travesties and mistakes that 'man' has made towards women, it's a crying shame that some extreme feminists seem hell-bent on repeating them by treating men with the same disdain they've received.

No tammy nothing like the presidents ball. At no time ever during my time carrying out that employment was I ever asked or expected to place myself in a position to be sexually assaulted and I have never been expected to touch up anybody reporter or otherwise

The men do, the women decorate.
I don't want my children growing up learning that message even if you "pc brigade feminists are evil" people are fine with it.

This, with bells on.

Such nonsense. I care not one bit what other women choose to wear, how they think or behave.

It's staggering to me that anyone thinks that removing sexist institutions and traditions amounts to oppressing women.

Needs I'm really glad to hear that you never had to do anything like that. I've seen it on many occasions, and in the scheme of things I haven't attended or worked at that many events.

This is a cultiral issue, not an issue of individual instances of employment. If people can't step back and see the bigger picture of which this forms a part, I doubt this discussion will change their mind. Decades of having women decorate every instance of a particular sport's event, on indeed many sports events, has a cumulative effect.

I can't imagine how degrading it must feel to have someone look me up and down and judge whether my figure, my body, my smile is good enough to be on show! Yuck!!! NeedsAsock, how on earth did you even get through the interviews, have you no pride in yourself?