Grid Girls in F1 1950-2017 R.I.P

[Joestlaachmkr]

www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/42890261

Do you think Liberty media are going to kill the sport of Formula 1?

[Tazio]

it feels like an appropriate decision for the times, and one that F1 had to make.!
http://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/42890261Not for this, as it will not affect the competition in any way, shape or form.

[A FONDO]

Those normal white girls were not in correlation with modern american style. New ones must be black, lesbians and having some kind of disability.

[A FONDO]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DU7wh-pXcAAcTP4.jpg:large

[Nitrodaze]

I tried to not care much about this. But l wonder what the reason is for the grid girls becoming politically incorrect? Was it because they were girls or simply because the human held position pole [whatever you call it] is no longer required?

I am concerned for the girls that make a living from this type of work. Also, this has become a mainstay tradition for motor racing the world over. Hence, l kind of think Liberty are fighting a pointless battle here. If they feel strongly about it, they could have also have some men pole bearers as well or a combination of. Some men would love an opportunity to earn money from this sort of work.

The decision would not win them any favours, because if they are seeking to appear pro-women dignity, they would be punishing women that earn a living doing this sort of work to make that point. I think it would have been more thoughtful to recognize that this is a form of earning a living and to expand it to make it available to men. You cannot argue that it lowers the dignity of women if men are also doing it.

That said, what would you rather happened? Men pole bearers or no pole bearers at all?

[Bagwan]

It's hard to know upon which side to stand on this one .

Generally , these girls are models , and make their money based on their looks .
This is the glamour industry , and it's not hard to argue that adding beautiful people to any event adds glamour .

I'd like to know just how many girls apply for these few positions , as it would show just how much the postings are coveted .

The sad messages being sent from ex-grid girls right now speak of great times , no harassment , and good pay , so , hardly an indictment of any exploitation .
More a stab at the politically correct landscape , where the "casting couch" sits central in the room , pushing "sleeping your way to the top" to the side .

Perhaps a polling of the crowd that watches F1 would have been the most truly politically correct way to do this .
Some good debate would put the very same message out . It would show concern , but at the same time , ask the very people watching if that's a part of what they wanted to watch .

It would have , and perhaps still could , put F1 in the limelight for provoking the discussion , rather than jerking it's corporate knee .


I get why the practice isn't universally liked . It's kind of obvious .

But , if it's OK to be a model , to stand pretty beside a shiny car , to strut a runway , or , indeed , to put on make-up at all to enhance one's looks , then surely there must be some degrees of what is considered to be good and bad in it all .

Maybe I'm a dinosaur , but I'd rather watch a grid girl deliver the hats and champagne to the podium than some dirty mechanic or some baggy pants dignitary .
It's all a part of the cache , where the drivers take the risks , to be rewarded with the money , the glamour , the excesses of the position , and the envy of every young man(or woman) who's ever sat beside another car revving the engine at a red light .


And , after all that rant , I think I do know upon which side of the fence I'm sitting .
As long as they are not forced in any way to do it , I think they add to the show .

[SHO]

www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/42890261

Do you think Liberty media are going to kill the sport of Formula 1?

It won't help matters.

[Tazio]

Those normal white girls were not in correlation with modern american style. New ones must be black, lesbians and having some kind of disability.
Don't kid yourself, I'm sure plenty of those "normal white girls" are full on 'barnacle bumpers' :laugh:

[schmenke]

Liberty's future vision of formula 1...?

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4667/39331779654_6276aa4582_z.jpg

[gm99]

What will be next? No more playing of national anthems for the winners as this is deemed too nationalistic?

[Joestlaachmkr]

What i find annoying about this matter is the fact that Liberty Media listens more to a small vocal minority instead of the actual F1 fans, 90% of F1 fans wants the grid girls the remain within the sport.

[AL14]

Oh I see that also you F1 guys are good on making storms on tea cups.
Who cares of grid girls. lol

[N. Jones]

Don't really care.

[Tazio]

Don't really care. I don't give a crap either.

[AndyL]

I think they'll be missed more at some races than others. For example in Austria their colourful dirndls are part of the local flavour. But at some other races they don't really add much to proceedings.

[donKey jote]

Liberty's future vision of formula 1...?

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4667/39331779654_6276aa4582_z.jpg
Hey schmonkey, long time no see!!
you haven't aged one bit! :wave:

[N4D13]

I don't particularly care much about this, but if I had to go for one side, I'm with Liberty here.

A quick mental exercise: how would you people feel if at, let's say, the Spanish Grand Prix, we replaced grid girls with young attractive boys? Would you feel that it's ridiculous and a silly way to bring straight women (or gay men) into the sport?

Well, so that's exactly what having grid girls at any other race is like. The fact that we're used to it doesn't make it any less ridiculous when you stop to think about it. And if you think that they serve a vital purpose other than being just sexual eye candy for straight men, ask yourself when was the last time when you saw an ugly grid girl.

[Nitrodaze]

I don't particularly care much about this, but if I had to go for one side, I'm with Liberty here.

A quick mental exercise: how would you people feel if at, let's say, the Spanish Grand Prix, we replaced grid girls with young attractive boys? Would you feel that it's ridiculous and a silly way to bring straight women (or gay men) into the sport?

Well, so that's exactly what having grid girls at any other race is like. The fact that we're used to it doesn't make it any less ridiculous when you stop to think about it. And if you think that they serve a vital purpose other than being just sexual eye candy for straight men, ask yourself when was the last time when you saw an ugly grid girl.

WOW Come on dude you are smarter than this. So male models, male ballet or concert dancers etc are gay guys by your estimation. Besides, it would not matter if they were or not. The grid person role is an opportunity for each country to demonstrate their cultural heritage. And this ought to be done by both sexes of that culture. Austria and the USA take this aspect very seriously, l wish other nations had done the same.

I think you just exemplify why Liberty lacked imagination on this matter. We live in a more emancipated and intellectually liberated world where people are constantly pushing the envelope. Traditional barriers are being torn down daily and a new world order is emerging. In this new world, men can do anything previously typecast for girls and girls can do anything that men can do, including racing a formula 1 car, running for president, flying a fighter jet or running a fortune 500 company.

The liberty side of this discussion is one that would never see females racing in F1 if they cannot see men doing the grid person job.

[Bagwan]

If political correctness is to be the way to go here , then perhaps the number should be held by a nice sturdy tripod . It could be carbon fiber , so it fits in .

But , we'll have to have someone who can put it there at the appropriate moment and then take it away before the start .

Rather than grid girls , we could call them , collectively "grid folk" .

All the drivers are men , so unless the driver requests , perhaps because he is gay or maybe because he just doesn't want to be around women at that particular moment because he was forced by his mother to eat broccoli when he was a kid , he can have a grid folk guy , instead of a nicely dressed , good looking grid folk girl to move the number sign tripod .

While he or she waits for the cues to move the sign , rather than just stand there like a slab of meat , being ogled by one and all lasciviously , perhaps they could be doing some important job like rubbing the driver's shoulders to relax them before the race .
Many of these folk are models who have done the car show circuit , so they would be used to draping them selves over the cars to get the right angles for the massage without having to have the drivers get out .



Hemingway said something about prizefighting , auto racing , and bull fighting , didn't he ? What was that ?
Liberty brought boxing's Buffer to the F1 stage , where the grid girl is put to shame by the number bunny , in terms of being the gratuitous sexy , every round vignette .
Rumbles are that there may well end up being a race in the land of the tassels , Vegas , so I surely hope Liberty will champion the move to stop all those showgirls from being so exploited before they grant a race there .
It's only right .

[Nitrodaze]

If political correctness is to be the way to go here , then perhaps the number should be held by a nice sturdy tripod . It could be carbon fiber , so it fits in .

But , we'll have to have someone who can put it there at the appropriate moment and then take it away before the start .

Rather than grid girls , we could call them , collectively "grid folk" .

All the drivers are men , so unless the driver requests , perhaps because he is gay or maybe because he just doesn't want to be around women at that particular moment because he was forced by his mother to eat broccoli when he was a kid , he can have a grid folk guy , instead of a nicely dressed , good looking grid folk girl to move the number sign tripod .

While he or she waits for the cues to move the sign , rather than just stand there like a slab of meat , being ogled by one and all lasciviously , perhaps they could be doing some important job like rubbing the driver's shoulders to relax them before the race .
Many of these folk are models who have done the car show circuit , so they would be used to draping them selves over the cars to get the right angles for the massage without having to have the drivers get out .



Hemingway said something about prizefighting , auto racing , and bull fighting , didn't he ? What was that ?
Liberty brought boxing's Buffer to the F1 stage , where the grid girl is put to shame by the number bunny , in terms of being the gratuitous sexy , every round vignette .
Rumbles are that there may well end up being a race in the land of the tassels , Vegas , so I surely hope Liberty will champion the move to stop all those showgirls from being so exploited before they grant a race there .
It's only right .

Baggie, l cannot argue with your assessment. I share the fact that it should not be a glamour thing with scantily dress girls. It should be more of a cultural thing with girls and guys dressed in the cultural attire of the hosting nation. The choice is theirs if they wish to make it a sexy attire. Picture girls and guys in morris dancer attire as grid people at Silverstone. Besides the tripod idea would be hazardous with all those celebs, cameramen and microphone bandits doing grid walks.

[Bagwan]

Baggie, l cannot argue with your assessment. I share the fact that it should not be a glamour thing with scantily dress girls. It should be more of a cultural thing with girls and guys dressed in the cultural attire of the hosting nation. The choice is theirs if they wish to make it a sexy attire. Picture girls and guys in morris dancer attire as grid people at Silverstone. Besides the tripod idea would be hazardous with all those celebs, cameramen and microphone bandits doing grid walks.

You're right , cultural attire is far too hazardous .

If they were naked , they would cause too much commotion , and it would not be safe .
But , if we have to have it that way , then at least let them be good looking .


By the way , I've just read that "grid kids" will be used .
I hope they aren't naked .

[truefan72]

yeah, grid kids seems to be the best outcome here.

[Nitrodaze]

You're right , cultural attire is far too hazardous .

If they were naked , they would cause too much commotion , and it would not be safe .
But , if we have to have it that way , then at least let them be good looking .


By the way , I've just read that "grid kids" will be used .
I hope they aren't naked .

Now that is funny LOL.
I can't think of any hosting nation in the current calendar with bare skin cultural attire, except Australia if they go native with Aborigines. The culrural thing is to promote tourism. Hence, l am sure each hosting nation would be tasteful in their approach.

[Nitrodaze]

yeah, grid kids seems to be the best outcome here.

It wouldn't be long before someone criticize with child labor complaints on this one. A AI robot would probably be the safest option.

[Bagwan]

It wouldn't be long before someone criticize with child labor complaints on this one. A AI robot would probably the safest option.

They could make the robot look like a naked grid girl .

[Nitrodaze]

They could make the robot look like a naked grid girl .

he he :-)

[A FONDO]

yeah, grid kids seems to be the best outcome here.

Yes the paedophilic lobby was strongest! :laugh:

[truefan72]

It wouldn't be long before someone criticize with child labor complaints on this one. A AI robot would probably be the safest option.

it is essentially the same thing that occurs before the start of every football game across europe and most of the world with the kids coming out at the beginning and standing with the teams.
If i was still 9-12 when i was already in love with F1 and back in Austria, I would have died and gone to heaven if i was selected as a grid kid.

[Nitrodaze]

it is essentially the same thing that occurs before the start of every football game across europe and most of the world with the kids coming out at the beginning and standing with the teams.
If i was still 9-12 when i was already in love with F1 and back in Austria, I would have died and gone to heaven if i was selected as a grid kid.

From the kids perspective you are quite right. Any kid with racing in their blood would love the chance to be a grid kid. However, l don't think it is a good comparison to the football scenario. In football the kids go on to the pitch with the players. Wait for the very brief photo session and the handshake and get off.

In the F1 scenario, the time they have to stand with the place marker boards is around an hour to an hour and half. Then, you have cars being pushed into their places while at the same time you have engineers with tyres, toolboxes, engine startup device etc, plus celebrities, cameramen and microphone bandits milling through the grid. This is potentially a hazardous environment really. Though it sounds glamorous, it is not a good place for kids.

The grid person role is a professional position for these reasons. To have kids do it will eventually raise negative comments. I think there are better ways for Liberty to galvanize kids interests and to motivate them to aspire to an F1 seat. Giving them exposure to the garages and talk time with engineers and drivers during the weekend would be a better way l think. They can make an hour for kids during Saturday practice. That would not be too disruptive to the team's preparations l think.

We all have opinions, l fail to see how grid kids is a good idea. Especially when there was a more competent crew doing the job previously.

[AndyL]

It wouldn't be long before someone criticize with child labor complaints on this one. A AI robot would probably be the safest option.

They could use Asimo - probably the only way we'll see a Honda at the front of an F1 grid.

[Warriwa]

F1 can't stop with just the removal of the grid girls, they must also cancel the races where women are repressed, like Bahrain, United Arab Emirates and Azerbaijan. Why stop there, Russia and China's human rights records are not the best, cut those races also. But wait, there's more, the American race must get the chop also, marijuana is legal somewhere over there. Hell, if the world is not perfect, we shouldn't race at all!!!

[Jag_Warrior]

F1 can't stop with just the removal of the grid girls, they must also cancel the races where women are repressed, like Bahrain, United Arab Emirates and Azerbaijan. Why stop there, Russia and China's human rights records are not the best, cut those races also. But wait, there's more, the American race must get the chop also, marijuana is legal somewhere over there. Hell, if the world is not perfect, we shouldn't race at all!!!

Excellent post!!!

This knee jerk ("jerk" being the operative word) reaction to satisfy political correctness won't permanently damage the sport. But it certainly says to me that the new American owners believe in putting forth superficial PC solutions to make believe PC problems and complaints (and let's be honest, most buttercup types wake up looking for something to be offended by every single day).

I'm eagerly waiting to see how FOM addresses the things that you mentioned, as well as income inequality... at the team, driver and fan level. And what about the issue of race? Apart from Lewis Hamilton, most F1 races look like a meeting of the Global Association of Caucasians. How many openly gay drivers are there? And how about Jews? Now that Barrichello is gone, are there any Jewish drivers???

Look, there most certainly is sexism, wealthism (is that even a word?), cultural elitism, racism and anti-Semitism in the world. But the quickest way to shoot F1 in the head is for the ownership and management to run around, trying to satisfy the whines and whims of safe-space/participation trophy people, who will search out a new problem the split second after a superficial bone has been tossed to them for an old (make believe) problem.

It's a sport, not a social science experiment. Develop and put forth a rule set that gives current and prospective fans a reason to watch and/or attend races. Do the same for the teams and sponsors. With that, I promise you, the rest will take care of itself.

[steveaki13]

I think regardless of what people want F1 and Liberty felt they had to be seen to be joining the bandwagon or campaign (whatever you call it) and following the current trends. It does not bother me asuch but I do feel it is a bit like everyone is trying to do what is seen as the right thing.

I think F1 needs to worry more about the sport.