Comments on: Stop The Gender Comparisons

By: Craig

Craig — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 12:45:03 +0000

If you’re basing Danica’s ability on results…..then I wonder what you think of Simona? I can’t even remember the last time she finished on the lead lap of an oval except Indy last year…

By: meeshbeer

meeshbeer — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 22:00:55 +0000

Exactly Steph. Hell the series itself singles out Danica with her own press conference at EVERY race. It’s mindboggling. At each race, when you’ve got a room full of not only the regular racing media, but also a plethora of regional and local media, from all genres, that is the time to introduce them to the rest of the field. Single out the drivers that have accomplished something or are on the verge of accomplishing something, not the one with the highest paid PR team. They miss the opportunity EVERY season and EVERY event to start to nurture and create some new faces for the series in the mainstream. All anyone knows right now is Danica (the Nascar driver)(no word of a lie I’ve heard that more times than not over the last year) and Helio (the dancing guy)

Treat the drivers as drivers, regardless of their anatomy, and praise them or fault them for their performance on track, not for their gender

Nice write up as usual George.

By: Friday Favourites: 22 April 2011 | I Watch Too Much Racing

Friday Favourites: 22 April 2011 | I Watch Too Much Racing — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 21:36:38 +0000

[...] Oilpressure: Stop The Gender Comparisons George makes the great point that TV coverage, reports, the written media, fans, and even the drivers themselves should stop acting as though women racers are taking part in a sub-class of the main race. It is time for driver comparisons to be based on ability alone. [...]

By: Pat W

Pat W — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 21:07:39 +0000

Excellent post, George. You’re right, it is more appropriate to compare Patrick to Briscoe than to Beatriz or whomever.

I fear if (when!) a female racer or two eventually make it to F1, everything we’ve seen in IndyCar will be repeated all over again. They won’t be judged on talent there for a long time. It is nice to see a series like IndyCar take the lead.

By: JohnMc

JohnMc — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 00:37:28 +0000

Real racers do whatever they want to do and if a real racer wants to pose for FHM and can while also gaining sponsors, then they do it. Case closed.Danica, by the way, has had no trouble with any of that and to deny the fact that she is a real racer is absurd.

By: Brian

Brian — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 17:53:06 +0000

Simona fan had said. “It’s an issue of trying to convince the racing media/public that women in racing are more than just sexy trophy girls. And routinely finishing out of the top 10 while appearing in sophomoric (ads) doesn’t help the cause.”
If one is all-hat, no cattle, one is not taken seriously by USA Today or Us Weekly or Good Morning America or wherever consumers’ attention is. They’re viewed as novelties – ‘Look at what she’s wearing in that GoDaddy ad’ and ‘Did you see her in FHM? Wow!’
Real racers don’t strip down to pose to try to win attention. They race hard, they’re seen and photographed while winning, they gain sponsors, and people don’t say, well, (s)he races pretty well for his/her gender.

By: Simon Garfunkel

Simon Garfunkel — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 14:59:01 +0000

Actually, the fact that George goes off-topic is the reason I go to oilpressure. Everyone else has the predictable “Helio should be penalized” rant. George tends to give us off-beat subjects that actually make us think. …just sayin’.

By: SkipinSC

SkipinSC — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 13:04:24 +0000

I have only one problem with your logic: That is that while Danica may be a marketing machine, she is also one of the few that there is in the INDYCAR series. That, in and of itself, is GOOD for the series as a whole.

Aside from Helio’s excursion into the DWTS universe, name me one other current INDYCAR driver that has crossed over into other demographics. Sure, Mario has, but he’s been long since retired. Marco is trying, but it’s hard to be believable selling razors when it appears you barely shave. Dario has a famous wife, but as yet, he’s not a pitchman for anything significant.

Sad part is, when Danica makes her exit to NASCAR at the end of this year, who’s going to take her place representing INDYCAR?
Sure, SImona is a talent on road courses, but is she ready to step up and be the face of the series? Is ANYONE?

By: PC

PC — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 12:53:49 +0000

All this discussion about Danica in GoDaddy ads and SI and whether the guys would do this etc… We all have a problem with any driver who reaches a level of celebrity totally disproportionate to their results on track. If you are a guy without a famous last name and you are best known for one fuel mileage win and leading a few laps at Indy, you might get a season or two and you are out – at least with the top teams and if you are not a ride buyer. Same results from a cute, young, American female, you become one of the biggest celebrities in sports – bigger than any of the very most successful IndyCar drivers of the last twenty years! I have a problem with that. Of course, the media, spnsors, and advertisers did this. Most fans are over it, we are way past the novelty – we don’t judge her as a female, we judge her as a driver – by results. She doesn’t get a pass from us from being a mediocre at best driver because she is female. The media shouldn’t either. I guess that’s why I find Simona so appealing.

By: JohnMc

JohnMc — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 02:01:06 +0000

I have no problem with Danica posing in Sports Illistrated or vamping in the Go Daddy commercials. She has proven her moxie to me as a driver and I think she is very easy on the eyes. With that said, why would any race fan want to see Dario in a Speedo spread-eagle?