Women in Motorsport continued

The Representation of Women in Motorsports

Motorsports, especially the elite levels such as Formula One, fosters a 'glamorous' image which celebrates and reinforces the socially constructed norms of masculinity and femininity. The predominant image is of men in 'active' roles - racing and working whereas the majority of female images shown are in 'supportive' roles - wives/girlfriends and models. Motorsports is often associated with 'beautiful' women, reinforced by the employment of models in a number of roles. Teams may hire or associate themselves with models as a publicity tool, this may be to highlight a sponsorship partnership, for example, the Benetton Formula One team have often used this tactic to highlight the link between the team and the Benetton fashion company. Models with a high personal profile will further increase attention, this was seen when the Jordan Formula One team held photo shoots at Grand Prixs with well known British models Melinda Messenger, Emma Noble and Jordan - this ensured a high level of interest from the British tabloid press.

One of the most common sights at races is that of the 'grid girl'. These women form part of the pre-race grid formalities, their role typically includes presenting the flags of all the competitors for the national anthems or similar ceremony, following this each women takes their place to mark each competitors grid position. Over the years these ceremony's have included the women marching with umbrellas emblazoned with the sponsors logos leading to them to be often referred to as 'brolly dollies'. Dressed in the race's sponsor's colours 'grid girls' are famous for their short and revealing outfits. The models represent the Western ideal of feminine beauty - tall, thin, attractive and the majority are white. In fact, the physical attributes for a 'grid girl' mirror those discussed by Jay Coakley regarding cheerleaders in American sports (Coakley 1994:220-222). The terms used to refer to these women also reflects the ideal of feminine beauty as youthful - grid girls and pit babes. Without doubt their role is predominantly decorative and reinforces the sports image as a male, heterosexual pursuit, unlike American cheerleaders they are not depicted in a supportive role.

The images of 'grid girls' and 'pit babes' is regularly shown in both the broadcast and print media. Especially in the specialized print media for motorsports pictures of these are regularly used on the front covers with such 'taster' headlines as 'all the girls, all the glamour' as a selling tool. When photography montages are used to show the highlights of a race weekend along with the winning car shot, humorous shots there will be a photograph of a grid girl with a caption such as 'the scenery here is breathtaking'. It is not only the professional models who may be photographed but any woman present deemed attractive, including drivers wives and girlfriends. Sometimes whole articles are dedicated to grid girls and other glamorous women under such titles as 'Thanks for the Mammaries'.

An annual post-race party held at a local nightclub after the Portuguese Grand Prix in the 1980's and early 1990's was advertised as 'Formula One is in town . . . come and join the hype of the racing world coupled with the delights of Miss Topless'. The Miss Topless event was judged by F1 drivers.

A feminist viewpoint would point to this as a way of portraying and reinforcing the view of women as sexual objects judged by their physical attributes and age. A number of feminists would view this portrayal of women as exploitative. Such presentation could be interpreted as reinforcing an image in motorsport of men are judged by what they do whereas women are judged by what they look like. With little other portrayal of women in the sport in the media the portrayal of 'glamour' women becomes the dominant image of women in motorsports and some feel this trivializes the participation of other females, female spectators often voice their belief this is one reason they are 'not taken seriously'. The glamorous image is highly sexualized and could this be partly responsible for the often voiced complaint of female spectators that they are branded 'groupies' or of only supporting the sport because they 'fancy' the drivers? The imagery of women in motorsports may make current and potential female participants feel uneasy or discouraged. Sharon Hopkins, who works as an electrical engineer, notes:

"I don't understand why there aren't more women I Formula One. Maybe it's because they know it's a real male environment and the only women they see on television are the glamour models"

(The Daily Express 1997)

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  Bibliography (or Go to my Book Reviews Page)

The Daily Express 1997

Jay J Coakley - 'Sport in Society: Issues and Controversies' Mosby 1990 Go to my Sociology Book Reviews Page for news of an updated edition of this book available from Amazon.co.uk

(c)RH PR 2007