2018 F1 Grid Girls are gone

[hobbsy777 0]

Political correctness gone nuts? Bet the girls who lost a very well payed, perfectly respectable job are really thankful.

[UberGP 0]

f1 grid girls are part of glamour!  liberty media are going to take formula out of f1 i grantee they will kill the sport! we need to clone bernie

[mceci1 20]

UberGP said:

f1 grid girls are part of glamour!  liberty media are going to take formula out of f1 i grantee they will kill the sport! we need to clone bernie

So much for F1's saviour, I haven't seen a good thing proposed by Liberty yet

[FRACTURED 30]

Makes no difference for me. Not why I watch it.

Probably a bit OTTPC

[kevinkirk 35]

fans complaining and jumping off the deep end on social media about the halo and logo is one thing. Complaining about what amounts to a one second glimpse of a girl holding a sign as the camera walks by her on tv is just beyond silly. Womens groups have been complaining about stupid things like this since the 70s. If liberty doesnt want them then they dont want them. No discussion about it required. 

[peyt0n89 2]

For me, the girls never added anything to F1. I don't tune in to F1 to watch women, I tune in for the races. So what if grid girls have been a part of F1 for decades? 

[ImDyingYouIdiot 0]

Is it OK not give a toss about that decision either way?
It's the decision of Liberty Media, it's their business. It won't affect the racing so I don't care. If you want to make it political, so be it, though it isn't. It won't liberate anyone. Neither did the position of the grid girl discriminate anyone.

Also, I'm the sort of of bloke who at auto shows has asked models to move out of the way so he can get a good picture of a car. So, yeah. If I want to look at a good looking woman, there are other options, you know.

[lolschrauber 2]

I really don't care. You can watch pretty girls on the internet 24/7. :P

[Naznak 0]

Grid girls would be holding the wrong number sign anyway.

[jennyannem 41]

Hey, however you feel about grid girls, and F1's announcement that they're going to be dropped for 2018, I'm going to move this one into World of Motorsport!

[haydn23 5]

I feel like it was a kinda stupid decision despite that a one that doesn't really matter. Like personally I didn't even notice the lack of grid girls in Monaco, or say in Singapore with McLaren till after when it was shared on social media.
However imo it is stupid, women had one main way into f1 and that has now been taken away from them. Those women wanted to do that job and wanted to represent their gender like that if they didn't want to they wouldn't do it. Would they?

[FRACTURED 30]

haydn23 said:

However imo it is stupid, women had one main way into f1 and that has now been taken away from them. Those women wanted to do that job and wanted to represent their gender like that if they didn't want to they wouldn't do it. Would they?

Shouldn't we prefer they aspired to be the designers, team bosses, drivers, engineers, analysts, commentators etc. If the main way to get into F1 for a female is to represent your gender by looking pretty and standing quietly holding an umbrella or number board, maybe this isn't a bad way to try and increase female representation in the way they wish... In actual roles like Claire Williams or Kaltenboorn (sp?), or some of the analysts and commentators. 

Having grid guys as well seemed a better alternative on this topic, as some people will miss the attraction, and maybe having some male eye candy on show would have helped bring in some more female viewers. Or at least been equal enough that someone flicking through the channels sees the grid walk and doesn't think "typical, bit of eye candy for the lads, and nothing for the ladies"

It's the way things are going, and mostly it's all good. But sometimes there are less draconian ways to do it. 

[mceci1 20]

I don't go to races to see women, but its the principal of what liberty has done. What is apparent to me is there are a lot who don't want women on the grid. What they wear is another story, and has been mode more tame as the years have passed. Point is, these were people paid to represent sponsors, who now because of one tool in liberty have been made redundant and are jobless. In what country is it fair to say women are in our customs of sport and firing them due to gender (don't argue that's not the reason because it damn well is and we all know it)

[Jiggy 5]

FRACTURED said:

haydn23 said:

However imo it is stupid, women had one main way into f1 and that has now been taken away from them. Those women wanted to do that job and wanted to represent their gender like that if they didn't want to they wouldn't do it. Would they?

Shouldn't we prefer they aspired to be the designers, team bosses, drivers, engineers, analysts, commentators etc. If the main way to get into F1 for a female is to represent your gender by looking pretty and standing quietly holding an umbrella or number board, maybe this isn't a bad way to try and increase female representation in the way they wish... In actual roles like Claire Williams or Kaltenboorn (sp?), or some of the analysts and commentators. 

Having grid guys as well seemed a better alternative on this topic, as some people will miss the attraction, and maybe having some male eye candy on show would have helped bring in some more female viewers. Or at least been equal enough that someone flicking through the channels sees the grid walk and doesn't think "typical, bit of eye candy for the lads, and nothing for the ladies"

It's the way things are going, and mostly it's all good. But sometimes there are less draconian ways to do it. 

The problem with that is that it implies a woman is worthless if she wants to make a living out of anything that involves her visual appearance. It's actually ironic how demeaning the concept of "at least now they can get a real job" is, given how people are saying being a grid girl is demeaning in itself.

What's even more ironic is that we've had actual grid girls come out and state they used this gig to pay for their educations.

What's even MORE ironic is that the complaints against grid girls came partly from the same direction that advocates against slut-shaming, which is the principle that a woman should be allowed to flaunt her sexuality and her body without being branded as a harlot over it. But then they go and judge grid girls.

It's a dumb situation. I can't imagine the people Liberty Media are doing this for, are representative for the audience F1 attracts in the first place.