Grid girls send the wrong message about sport
I'm unsure why it's so hard to go to a sporting event without having a beautiful person to look at.
OPINION: His biceps bulge from beneath the arms of his T-shirt. In his early 20s with tussled hair, all eyes are upon him as he walks down to his seat at the cricket. ‘‘What’s underneath the T-shirt my man?’’ ‘‘Give us a smile sweetheart!’’
He does smile, nervously, unsure what else to do faced with a crowd of huge, drunken men whistling and clapping him. On the field a group of topless men in tight shorts are flipping and tumbling to entertain the crowd. Now the players are coming out, led by two muscled men wearing a bow tie and tight suit pants. The crowd roars. Yeaaaaah! They love the glamour and class these men bring to the game.
What is this bizarre parallel universe you may ask? Outrageous isn’t it?! But knowing the way men like to be the best at everything, it wouldn’t surprise me if, in future, men take over an area of sport that we women had to ourselves. I knew they’d been eyeing up those grid girl and dart walk-on girl positions, jealous of all the attention those model women were getting. Until they can walk in stilettos men have no business busting in on our career opportunities!
I feel for the women who have lost their jobs. It’s no fun being made redundant when you enjoy your work. I reckon the tabloid papers were right when they placed the blame at the feet of the feminists.
The F1 owners Liberty Media spouted some rubbish about ‘‘We don’t believe the practice is appropriate or relevant to Formula 1 and its fans, old and new, across the world.’’ Pffft, whatever. We know it had nothing to do with trying to grow their audience by not alienating half of the population.
The decision has also put the drivers in danger. F1 will start using kids to inspire them by being around their heroes.
This is a CRAZY idea. As former F1 owner Bernie Ecclestone pointed out, the girls were necessary so that drivers knew where to stop on the grid.
Now it will be carnage because kids will get distracted and be running around on the grid trying to get autographs. Is no-one thinking about health and safety?! Bernie made another great point the man is a genius – when he asked how a good-looking girl could be offensive to anybody?
Unfortunately the danger does not stop with F1. Now that walk-on girls have been cut from darts tournaments, the players will be wandering around for hours trying to find the stage, surviving only on beer fumes. It’s a relief that boxing is standing strong and keeping the ring girls otherwise we’d lose count of what round it is and boxers will be smashing each other for hours on end with punters unsure of when to go and buy more beers. Dehydration is the enemy.
When I attended the Joseph Parker-hughie Fury fight last year in Manchester I saw what a calming influence the ring girls could be. The atmosphere was at fever pitch after a few rousing homophobic chants and brawl or two in the crowd. But as soon as a ring girl came on, there was some lovely supportive whistling and compliments about the way she carried the card. You could tell they really respected her.
At least one good thing has emerged from all this PC madness. It’s given some men a chance to speak out about their concerns for women’s employment opportunities. Usually these men are unable to show their support for equal pay and gender equality because it’s not their business.
But this sporting travesty has tested their limits. No longer could they stand by and do nothing while beautiful women’s rights were being ignored. Their outrage filled the talkback lines and comments sections. I’m told they are now clearing their calendars for the next women’s rights march. A group are knitting pink hats to show solidarity.
It’s no joke really, except that it is. I’m unsure why it’s so hard to go to a sporting event without having a beautiful person to look at. And if sporting bodies and fans are so worried about missing out, why don’t they let male models participate to satisfy everyone’s eye candy needs? By continuing to have only women as the hostesses it supports the view that men are there to participate and women are just there to look good. A great message to beam to thousands of impressionable kids who look up to their sporting idols.
I don’t want men to have to go through what many women have, a future where men are harassed at cricket is not my idea of a good time. I know what that feels like to have a drunken pack pick you out. The only way I can help men understand the vulnerability and fear women feel is to describe a situation where a man might feel unsafe and powerless. Imagine that feeling and now tell me that our society doesn’t have a problem with how it treats women? Sport is part of the problem but it can also be part of the solution.