Fair Play for the Fairer Sex

by Rebecca Hobbs

Like all sports, indeed life, motor racing is brimful with stereotypes and as a female spectator and sociologist of sport I'm all to well aware of how these stereotypes affect women in motorsport.

I remember Australian broadcaster and self proclaimed F1 fan, Clive James's programme on the Adelaide Grand Prix 1995. One of the 'insiders' he interviewed was Andrea Murray, David Coulthard's girlfriend at the time and television producer's favourite backdrop. Who did Andrea think the women attending races were? Her answer illustrates the classic stereotypes - wives/girlfriends, workers and 'groupies'. Personally, no-one in race overalls has declared undying love for me and I leave race tracks with less money than when I arrive which only leaves the last group (no pun intended!). All too often female spectators find themselves having to validate there presence. A man saves his hard earned cash to go to as many races as possible - he's a die hard fan. A woman in the same position - well there must be some ulterior motive?

Sports Marketing Surveys found the number of female television F1 viewers grew by 10% between 1994 to 1996,a trend which is continuing. To ignore this growth area and potential money pool would be commercial suicide. Therefore in recent years there's been a boom in merchandise, notably clothing, specifically aimed at the female fan. Sponsors catch on fast. Glance around the grandstands and you'll see one of the more even male:female ratios of any sport audience. Take a peek around the fenced in world of the pit lane and paddock and it's a different story.

Whilst the touted figure of 50,000 racing related jobs in Britain alone is, even by Max Mosley's admission, prone to exaggeration, it is true to say the nature of related professions is varied. Technical, administrative, medical, media, marketing and logistics, to name but a few, are possible routes into the sport for women. Many of these job are 'back at base' and women in the front line remain few and far between. Women in technical jobs are particularly conspicuous by their low numbers. Women who've 'crossed the line' in the past decade include Elf technician Valerie Jorquera, Goodyear tyre engineer Janet Melia and electrical engineer Sharon Hopkins who worked on Damon Hill's Arrow's race car in 1997. Indeed, Sharon Hopkins achievement, coupled with the fact she was working with the British reigning World Champion, merited a page long article in a national tabloid under the heading 'Girl Power'. Few engineers receive such media attention. Being a female in a male dominated profession can be a double edged sword, negative and positive discrimination. Despite these women's achievements, women in technical roles remain the exception not the rule and always will be whilst low numbers of women train in the sciences; it is purely a reflection the grassroot intake into scientific and engineering education.

The areas women have made the most progress workwise can be largely attributed to three further stereotypes of female ability and eligibility: (a) to talk, (b) to nurture and (c) to look good which loosely translates into (a) public relations, (b) hospitality and (c) models, especially the mandatory grid girls. Ah, grid girls! And some men dare accuse women of lust fuelled interest! I was once privy to a conversation many of us wonder about - the words between a driver sat expectantly on the grid and his engineer. Just what do they say to one another at this stressful time? Well, here's my exclusive eavesdrop:

Driver to engineer "you should see my view, my grid girl's got a great behind!"

I shall refrain from discussing the possibility this is a genuine form of stress management! Suffice to say, the driver's basic observation was as astute as it was obvious - grid girls are there to be decorative. The epitome of the brolly dolly is as cloned as her namesake sheep. Eternally youthful, they are never classed as women or even ladies but always remain in the timewarp of girls and babes. Beautiful women are 'needed' to balance out the red-blooded, brave, strong and, of course, heterosexual men (don't forget they are just as prone to being stereotyped too). Pit lane popsies adorn the pages of glossy racing magazines under such inventive titles as 'Thanks for the Mammaries'. 'Equality' comes in the form of the odd 'just out of the shower', black and white arty shot of drivers because, full circle, the female readership want to drool (would I be cruel to suggest drivers are rarely oil paintings but more like Picasso's - odd to look at but strangely alluring and worth a mint?). Draft in a women to write an article 'confessing' on behalf of women everywhere, that the main attraction of the sport is the fanciable drivers, QED. Print the odd dissenting letter from a woman (surely in denial?) but don't change the winning format. I'm not advocating a radical rewrite of all that is racing culture but, risking sounding like a politician, a dose of common-sense wouldn't go amiss. Formula One is glamorous but glamour is more than the t&a rut some would have us believe.

As a female spectator, like many others I know, I've experienced comments from the mildly amusing to downright offensive and this is the crux of the matter. No-one wants a situation where female spectators feel uncomfortable or shy away from attending, especially on their own or with other female spectators. Motor racing isn't a unique sport in this respect. Female spectators of many sports considered 'male sports' will tell you similar stories and feelings.

Personally, the most gratifying sight I see at racetracks is the sight of families, the span of generations, all enjoying the same sport. For the majority of racing fans I've met their first point of contact with the sport was with their family and I'm no different. But it wasn't a father, a brother or an uncle that introduced me it was my grandmother and mother. For my grandmother's generation a pit stop consisted of drivers stretching their legs and having a bottle of pop. She listened to races on the radio, it was a treat to see a minute of race coverage during the cinema Pathe news and to attend a race a rare luxury. It was by the radio she sat and wept when the news came of Jim Clark's death. For my mother's generation the greatest threat to aerodynamics were James Hunt's flares and if you were a night owl you could stay up and watch race highlights in the comfort of your own home.

A few years ago for my grandmother's ** birthday (to reveal a number would be ungallant and dangerous to my health!) we went to Silverstone - three generations of female race fans. It had been thirty-two years since she'd been to Silverstone and though she admitted the circuit had changed beyond recognition the atmosphere was the same. A week later her hairdresser asked what had been the most exciting part of the weekend - the start? the noise? the speed? With a wry smile my grandmother replied, "Oh, Gerhard Berger's ever so good looking in the flesh!"

Rebecca Hobbs is a freelance writer and sociologist of sport who has specialised in Motorsports.

Click here for her website that covers motorsport from a sociological viewpoint including women's participation