Grid girls, grid kids, what’s the issue here?
Why is everyone up in arms?
Formula 1 (F1), or indeed any other motorsport, will still, or should be about the cars, drivers and races, with or without the presence of grid girls, mascots or flag bearers, call them what you will.
With racing these days more down to who can manage tyres better, pitwall strategy and lack of overtaking (a sweeping generalisation there as I realise that some tracks allow more overtaking than others), surely the bigger issues are the problems within F1 itself?
Apparently not, according to social media over the last couple of weeks.
Reaction has gauged between “it’s objectifying women and portraying that the only role they have in motorsport is looking pretty” to “hopefully by removing them it will pave the way for more women in other motorsport roles” to ‘thank goodness, it’s so out dated”.
Let’s face it (generalisation number two coming up) in life there are always going to be men who only see women as objects. No, it’s not right, it’s not PC, but unfortunately nothing society does will ever change that.
Will removing them pave the way for more women in other motorsport roles?
Really? Is that even a question?
The presence of grid girls is hardly the main focus of F1, and looking around the paddock during the broadcast programmes you see plenty of women working ‘behind the scenes’.
The problem isn’t grid girls, its education and girls, especially, being turned off STEM subjects at school.
Is it out dated?
Possibly.
The first grid girl was, apparently Rosa Ogawa. She appeared at motor races in Japan in the late 1960s to represent the winners. As such, she cemented the grid girl as a symbol at race tracks.
According to a blog post I read on the Austin Grand Prix website, grid girls, unofficially, were the ambassadors for both F1 and the races’ host countries. As well as holding the racer number before the race their job was to welcome and cheer the drivers on their way to the podium. This firmly placed grid girls as a promotional asset for the sport.
But 50 years ago the only ladies you were likely to see at a race track were the wives or girlfriends of drivers and the grid girls, feminism was in its early infancy and a woman’s place was still seen to be as firmly ‘in the home’.
Today, women can and are able to do anything they want. Thanks to the feminist movement we are actively encouraged to reach for the moon. Whatever we want, we can achieve.
However, some of the reaction to grid girls also included “I wouldn’t want my daughter to aspire to that”!
Oh really? Isn’t that just a little bit of reverse feminism? It’s OK for you to shoot for the moon sweetie, but just not that particular moon.
Grid girls, might not be everyone’s dream job, but who are we to be judge and jury?
I digress, so to get back to the point, yes, maybe the place of grid girls in today’s world is an outdated practice but what, if anything could replace them?
Enter, the concept of grid kids.
This seems to work in Formula E and you’d think this would be a great thing for F1, but no.
Cue a barrage of outrage ranging from child slave labour to some very dark suggestions as to the type of people that would attract!
By offering the opportunity for kids to attend the Sunday race in the paddock, with their immediate family and have the chance to stand alongside their favourite driver seems a great move by the F1 organisation. I’d have loved it.
But, reading the official blurb it seems that the only youngsters who will be in with a chance of getting put into the lottery to be a ‘grid kid’ are those who are already participating in junior motorsport series.
This has been seen, rightly or wrongly, as fuelling the ‘elitism view’ about the sport. Only those rich enough to take part can get the chance. Forget little Robbie, who sits at home with his parents every race, cheering on his favourite driver, wishing that one day he could attend a race.
There were also rumblings about the risk of having unsupervised children on a race track.
Not to mention the fact that before a race most drivers are trying to ‘get into the zone’, how easy would that be with a child desperate to converse with their hero. Can you imagine the media frenzy the first time a driver tells a child to ‘shut up’?
Grid girls, might be seen as just an adornment, but they had strict rules to adhere to including not interacting with the drivers. If the driver talked first they were allowed to be cordial, but that’s it.
Could an over-excited child do that?
So, does this then exclude children under a certain age?
Personally, and this is my personal opinion why not have both, grid girls and grid kids working together. This would ensure that etiquette standards are maintained and the children would have a responsible chaperone.
If it’s the name that is the offensive weapon, simply rename them to something more 21st century?
This article was first published on 'Girl in the Pitlane', 10 February 2018