Formula 1 has banned grid girls from the
sport.
Getty
Images
Formula 1 has banned grid girls from the
sport.
The women, now unemployed, are taking one final stand
on social media.
A five-time F1 grid girl says the ban is "political
correctness gone mad."
A stunt driver and former grid girl added that "a lot
of women have lost their jobs because feminists think they know
best."
Formula 1 grid girls have been told to leave motor sports, but
they're making one last stand on social media.
Just a few days after the Professional Darts Corporation banned its walk-on
girls, Formula 1 followed the same path by banning the use of
promo models, commonly called grid girls, commencing with
the start of the 2018 FIA Formula 1 World Championship
season.
In a short statement on the Formula 1 website on
Wednesday, commercial operations director Sean Bratches said
the custom of using grid girls "does not resonate with [the]
brand values [of F1] and clearly is at odds with modern day
societal norms."
"We don’t believe the practice is appropriate or relevant to
Formula 1 and its fans, old and new, across the world," he added.
Now, the women who have been left out of work as a result are
fighting back on social media.
Rebecca Cooper, a five time F1 grid girl, said on Twitter that it is
"ridiculous that women who say they are 'fighting for women's
rights' are saying what others should and shouldn't do, stopping
us from doing a job we love and are proud to do. [It is]
political correctness gone mad."
Cooper also implied that grid girls have been misrepresented and
put together a photograph collage to highlight that women who
work in her trade are not "scantily clad furniture" and that the
outfits are more modest.
— Rebecca Cooper (@rebeccageldard) January 31, 2018
"Scantily clad furniture", "sexualising women", "provocative", "Id never let my daughter wear a grid girl outfit"... just some of today's comments, yet people clearly haven't dont their research as these are my outfits from my 5 years in F1 #gridgirl #gridgirls pic.twitter.com/etbcCPnCC1
For Michelle Westby, working as a promotional model in
motorsports led to a successful career as a stunt driver and a
drift racing driver.
On Facebook, Westby said:
"If it wasn't for grid work / promotional modelling, I wouldn't
be where I am now in a 'male dominated' sport and job as a stunt
driver and drift competition driver, inspiring and influencing
females into this 'intimidating male environment.' I get girls
messaging me all the time saying how I inspire them and made them
want to get into racing and drifting when they didn't think they
would be accepted… What people don't realise, is that the girls
have knowledge of the products and teams they are promotion —
that's part of the job. We get a brief on the uniform but it's up
to us if we feel comfortable in it. We are more clothed than what
teenagers wear down the supermarkets. I'm now retired but to
think girls have lost a lot of important income because feminists
think they know best, when they really haven't got a clue, is
frustrating."
The Formula 1 season begins on March 26.
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