Sunday, March 10, 2013
Women in Racing
I don't know how many of you follow nascar, or any racing, but this weekend my dad and I rewatched some of the race from a few weeks ago. Like most girls I always enjoy watching Danica Patrick race, seeing how she's one of the first women drivers. Knowing that this used to be an all male sport, I am very pleased to see more women getting involved. And until this weekend I thought that women seemed to be treated like exact equals in the racing world. But unfortunately I found this not to be completely true. At the beginning of every race we hear, "Gentlemen, start your engines." Lately, I have heard of this race tradition upsetting some people since it is no longer only a gentlemens sport. From my point of view, because it is no longer only a gentlemens sport I think the race should begin with "Ladies and Gentlemen, start your engines." It seems fair and still captures the dramatic beginning of races as the drivers fire up their cars.
I noticed that this race however, began with "Gentlemen and Danica, start your engines." I was very taken back by this. On one hand its great that Danica is being recognized, but on the other hand it seems a little extreme that she is recognized by name just because she is the only girl.
To me it seems they do this to make people happy by not includung her in the 'Gentlemen' part of the phrase. But it also continues giving men the upper hand in the sport.
Does anyone else have any opinion on this? Do you think a race would be better started with
"Gentlemen and Danica, start your engines" or "Ladies and Gentlemen, start your engines"?
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I think it would be better if they started with "Ladies and Gentlemen, start your engines". On the one hand its great that they recognize Danica personally. And I'm sure if there were other women in those races they would start with "Ladies and Gentlemen.." But separating her name out seems to be drawing too much of a clear distinction between the sexes. And, because the other drivers are men, it's making it seem like it's "Danica against the boys" (which in a sense it is), but all drivers are fighting for that first spot, and I think it puts too much of a personal emphasis on Danica by starting the race in that manner. If nothing else this should be an incentive for other female drivers to train hard and be in these races as well so it's not just Danica, and then they should start it with "Ladies and Gentlemen"
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