Umbrella girls

[Humphrey Appleby]

2 hours ago, uk_martin said:

And sad to say, wherever you go, whether it's in the pit lanes of MotoGP or F1, or speedway, none of the jobs that involve getting a bit of dirt under the finger nails seems to attract the women in.   F1 & MotoGP has some female Press & PR people, probably for their "people skills", but you don't get that in speedway much, do you?

Do you go to motor sport much? Plenty of women involved in it, especially in car racing - including doing the 'dirty jobs'. 

Certainly nowhere near as many as men, but then if you look at Communications & Marketing then the situation would be different. 

[racers and royals]

8 minutes ago, iris123 said:

Funny being in this section because wasn't one of the press people at BSI a woman?Nicola something...

And also in this section have you seen the news that Team GB have been taken over by a male/female duo?

Then there was a Polish female promoter?Marta something....

Brokstedt have had a female team manager for a decade or more in the Bundesliga

And the press boss or one of them at Russian ice speedway team,Ufa was/is also a woman,although I think she has just taken a job as a press officer for the Russian Football World Cup

Nicola Sands(don`t know married name) and Marta Poltorak 

[uk_martin]

1 hour ago, iris123 said:

Funny being in this section because wasn't one of the press people at BSI a woman?Nicola something...

And also in this section have you seen the news that Team GB have been taken over by a male/female duo?

Then there was a Polish female promoter?Marta something....

Brokstedt have had a female team manager for a decade or more in the Bundesliga

And the press boss or one of them at Russian ice speedway team,Ufa was/is also a woman,although I think she has just taken a job as a press officer for the Russian Football World Cup

The fact that you are scouring the world in order to quote exceptions kind of proves the rule.

[Icicle]

4 hours ago, BWitcher said:

Right wing? Think you are getting your left and right mixed up there.

No I am not--the Right wing- Corbin bashers 

[iris123]

1 hour ago, uk_martin said:

The fact that you are scouring the world in order to quote exceptions kind of proves the rule.

Wasn't that the point you were making or were you only talking about Birmingham,the Midlands or the south of Scotland?

[BWitcher]

24 minutes ago, Icicle said:

No I am not--the Right wing- Corbin bashers 

Ok, you're simply wrong then.

You couldn't be more wrong in fact.

Complaints about 'grid girls' and 'walk on girls' most certainly aren't coming from right wingers.

[uk_martin]

5 hours ago, iris123 said:

Wasn't that the point you were making or were you only talking about Birmingham,the Midlands or the south of Scotland?

Pretty much. In a world where the women make up more than 50% of the population, the number of women involved involved in speedway, and in the hands-on end of the sport is tiny. Yes we know about Marta in Poland, like we know that Peterborough, Buxton and Somerset have (or had) a female involvement in the promotion, and we know of 3 or 4 female referees. Add them all up and you still have some spare fingers on your two hands. The place where women are most visible are on the start lines. Take them away and to the untrained eye, speedway becomes a big boys club. where the only women you'll see to do with the running of the show will be those selling 50-50 tickets, those serving behind the bar, and those cleaning the loos. Charming.

I've heard from some ladies for whom "promotion" is a job and a way of life that they actually enjoy. They earn good money, get to travel to places that you and I can only dream about, and live in some comfort. Has anyone ever asked them how they would feel about being handed their P45's because someone elses socio-political values deems their work to be non-grata any more?

[RobMcCaffery]

My feelings on the matter aren't based on which newspaper I read or who tries to tell me what to think, whether on social media or in the real world. I'm old and ugly enough to make up my own mind and not idiotically follow others.  

I appreciate the sight of most women and a touch of glamour always brightens up the world.

However seeing girls young enough to be my granddaughter blowing false kisses at me as they have their 'assets' closely zoomed into by TV crews leaves me uncomfortable. It just comes across as phoney and crass. Do they really think I'm stupid enough to believe they're sincere? 

Much depends on how it's handled and it does seem that the further east in  Europe you go the cruder the handling. I feel it's run its course and if a sport like F1 feels the time has come to move on then I suggest it might be intelligent to follow suit.

As for P45s I'm sure those who are professional will easily find other glamour work in more appropriate situations, or their agents will for them. 

I find it baffling how this issue has been turned into political-based rants, but then given some of the participants perhaps I shouldn't be. 

 

Edited April 4, 2018 by RobMcCaffery

[SPEEDY69]

I see nothing wrong with Grid Girls or whatever you want to call them.  This is part of the whole industry called modelling/marketing.  When Beckham wore tight pants to advertise the brand it was seen to be ok, when TV shows feature titillation such as Love Island or BB they get viewers.  How many 'celebrities'  promote themselves/their industry  with revealing outfits/wardrobe 'malfunctions' etc.  There were two shows on British TV just last week where men and women got their kit off to 'raise awareness' of cancer - was it strictly necessary?  The fact is that image and sex sells - this applies to both men and women so does there need to be a ban in speedway?  I find that offensive to my intelligence in that I can't be expected to make the decision for myself of whether to watch or not.

[BWitcher]

You've hit the nail on the head Speedy69.

People keep trotting out the line of 'It's 2018, not the 1970's' just because they've read it somewhere.

Actually stop, engage your brain. What is happening is minority groups with no interest are dictating what others should or shouldn't be doing and embarking on hate campaigns if companies don't tow along with their views/policies. 

 

[New Science]

I think grid girls are the least of the worries for Formula 1 and Speedway. Both sports facing a decrease in footfall and TV audience. Many in F1 and speedway  failing to connect with a sport they no longer recognise.

[waytogo28]

I think "sex sells" or rather sex appeal sells but in these gender fluid times perhaps we need attractive humans at the start line who do not have a label of M / F? now that being LGBTQ etc is all the rage and being straight ( which is still overwhelmingly popular ) is not a hot topic or is being driven underground.  In 20 or 30 years time will people be outing themselves as straight? Umbrella people may be the way forward and we guess or decide their possible gender ourselves? TIC.

[f-s-p]

1 hour ago, waytogo28 said:

I think "sex sells" or rather sex appeal sells but in these gender fluid times perhaps we need attractive humans at the start line who do not have a label of M / F? now that being LGBTQ etc is all the rage and being straight ( which is still overwhelmingly popular ) is not a hot topic or is being driven underground.  In 20 or 30 years time will people be outing themselves as straight? Umbrella people may be the way forward and we guess or decide their possible gender ourselves? TIC.

WTF?

[PolskiZuzel]

On 4/3/2018 at 5:36 PM, uk_martin said:

The fact that you are scouring the world in order to quote exceptions kind of proves the rule.

There is no need to " scouring the world"...ask Ipswich fans...they you could tell you a word or two about.... Magda Zimny-Louis

[uk_martin]

On 04/04/2018 at 10:06 PM, New Science said:

...Many in F1 and speedway  failing to connect with a sport they no longer recognise.

Maybe we should go back to riders in black leathers riding Douglas's and Rudge's around cinder tracks then? That's what most fans on the terraces would recognise.

Maybe the old timers not recognising the sport any more isn't the problem, maybe the sport not being attractive to a newer and younger audience is the real problem?

[New Science]

On ‎06‎/‎04‎/‎2018 at 8:02 AM, uk_martin said:

Maybe we should go back to riders in black leathers riding Douglas's and Rudge's around cinder tracks then? That's what most fans on the terraces would recognise.

Maybe the old timers not recognising the sport any more isn't the problem, maybe the sport not being attractive to a newer and younger audience is the real problem?

I'm sure that we can both agree that speedway was far more popular in the times your describing , the sport must have had something going for it to draw crowds like it did. Mostly in sport and in life children are introduced to a pastime / sport by their parents or family, I'm sure most of us are in that boat. These days instead of becoming hooked like we did, kids are being introduced and then are drifting away. Never before have I seen so few kids at speedway, 20 years ago there used to be loads, the announcer had to remind them to keep their legs the right side of the wall about 4 times a night. I've said it about a dozen times on here, the  things that hooked me as a kid are largely not present in the sport now, the noise , the smell for 2. Throw in largely processional racing and the kids are bored, for that matter so are most of the adults. Its no secret why the sport is dying On a broader note motor sport fans want raw motor sport. Not sanitised, not quiet, not green. This is currently tripping Formula 1 and Speedway up. The owners of Formula 1 know they have made a mistake going down this route and will eventually make changes to rectify it , unfortunately speedway wont be able to do this , it wouldn't surprise me if speedway sanitises further and  eventually lurches towards electric. Also expect the grid girls to return to Formula 1

[Bavarian]

The President of the Monaco Motorsports Federation has said that he is all for retaining the tradtion of having glamorous grid girls. He said that there will be grid girls at the Monaco GP this year, come what may, in one form or another. If F1 demands Kids to hold the umbrellas and/or name plates for the drivers, the grid grils will be get other things to do  but they will still be there at Monaco!   

[Icicle]

Good on him!

 

 

 

Edited April 8, 2018 by Icicle

[waytogo28]

On 4/7/2018 at 6:40 PM, New Science said:

Throw in largely processional racing and the kids are bored, for that matter so are most of the adults.

It is certainly what has almost killed my interest in watching speedway live. Most of the mega thousands of fans in the good old days have now passed away or are getting too unwell health wise to attend. This century has seen an enormous decline in interest which seems irreversible unless you introduce gimmicks. 

[Trees]

Seems to me the girls just get in the way of the guy trying to get interviews with the drivers etc in F1.  For the blokes and lesbians they are good to look at regards speedway I guess but I’d rather see stuff like slo-mos, emotional scenes from the crowd and pits, anything but boobs and bums lol  Luckily there are a whole lot more guys watch speedway than women eh!!