Modern feminism has done it again, negatively impacting the lives of women. On January 31, 2018, Formula One, which is high-class single-seat auto racing, banned grid girls from its tradition.
A grid girl is similar to a restaurant hostess. Their duties can comprise of holding umbrellas for drivers while he or she works on their vehicle. They promote sponsored products through their attire. For award ceremonies, they accompany the winning drivers and engage with the fan base. These women have a particular interest in racing and in modeling. To sum it up, they get paid to travel around the world and look pretty.
The managing director of Commercial Operations at Formula One, Sean Bratches stated, “Over the last year we have looked at a number of areas which we felt needed updating 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 One 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. We don’t believe the practice is appropriate or relevant to Formula One and its fans, old and new, across the world.”
In my opinion, Bratches made this statement in reaction to the rising tides of feminism, and the many sexual harassment allegations in the media. I can’t see a different good reason to end a tradition that many people loved.
It first began with the eradication of the walk-on girls employed by the Professional Darts Corporation. Walk-on girls accompany the players on their way to the stage after talks with the broadcasters. This happened a few days before Formula One made its decision to ban grid girls. The root cause of this is not Formula One or Bratches, it’s feminism.
Feminists are praising this ban because they believe occupations like grid girls and walk-on girls objectify women. The definition of objectification is to degrade someone or something to the status of a mere object. If that were the case, then why do the women in this industry feel empowered and beautiful? Being objectified means that the girls would feel degraded, but they don’t because, to them, their job is glamorous.
On YouTube, former grid girls were invited to speak their minds concerning the ban on channels like Loose Women and Good Morning Britain. These women were disappointed and shocked that feminism is failing them and I am too.
I wish this wasn’t a controversial issue because just standing there and looking pretty brings happiness to some women. Not all women need to be involved in the STEM field and not all women want to. Can feminists please grapple this insane idea?
These women lost their jobs. For some, it was their only source of income. The attire might be skimpy at times, but compared to how the average woman dresses today I don’t see much of a difference.
No one forced these women to become grid girls. They don’t feel oppressed, threatened, objectified, or sexually harassed. They are capitalizing on their attractiveness, which isn’t a bad thing, its’s actually smart. So, why are the women that are not in this field so bothered by this?
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