Formula 1 'grid girls' lose their jobs, blame feminists

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This article, nor FIA's official statement really goes into detail about exactly why they came to this decision. However, based on the reaction from the girls, it's not hard to imagine. Some self-righteous do-gooders decided they know what's best for these women and lobbied FIA to stop "taking advantage of them". From some of the tweets I've seen from the girls, they've been facing this kind of PC nonsense for years and it looks like it finally came to a head and FIA caved. As if these adult women aren't smart enough to decide what jobs they feel comfortable doing.

I'm an F1 fan and my first thought when I heard about this was WTF? You'll see high school girls dressed more provocatively at your local mall. Former grid girl Michelle Westby happens to agree with me:

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."

And she strikes on something else annoying about these types of activists. As usual, expecting them to actually be informed on the issue is asking too much.

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.

The irony is some of the people who were complaining are likely parents of the same high school girls I was talking about, but it's ok for them to go to the mall wearing skin-tight leggings as pants with nothing underneath because it's "empowering" and she's "expressing herself".

Just to be clear, I'm fine with activism if it's for a good cause. Getting a bunch of women to lose good jobs because you don't think they should be doing that job is not a good cause. How bout taking on a real issue, like human trafficking where women really are exploited and abused. Because that might require more than the minimal effort that's all most of these "activists" want to put in today. So they go after low-hanging fruit like this so they can feel like they accomplished something. And what was accomplished here? A bunch of old men at the FIA mansplained to these young women what they should and shouldn't do for work? That's "empowering women"?

Can we just finally admit feminism has jumped the shark?

a reply to: face23785


Damn, first, Ferrari lost to Mercedes again last year, and know they are taking away grid girls!

Can F1 get any worse?

Go Kimi!
Go Seb!

I, for one, am sick and tired of being Told what I can and can't do...NOT by any man, but by stupid, uninformed, jealous (YES! Jealous) feminists..... STOP silencing MY individual voice, I enjoy it when my man opens a door for me, and if I decide for myself to wear fishnet stockings and a miniskirt? (LOL!! I don't but...) it is still MY choice as well...They just need to go away already!

originally posted by: rockhndr
jealous (YES! Jealous) feminists.....

I'm sure it's pure coincidence a lot of the women you see complaining about # like this couldn't squeeze into one of those outfits to save their lives.

The only women who could possibly have any room to complain, would be the drivers wives, crews wives, etc....and I don't see them complaining, What's next? The removal of the "Round" girls holding the signs in Boxing??? Some of us are secure in our person, let him look-he's still going home with me

Noooo! Not my grid girls!
God dam feminist bitches, now you've gone too far!

The first thing I click on this morning and now my whole day is ruined.
How crappy is this world going to be when the feminists and all the other virtue signalers are done with it?

Is age the issue?

It's about time. I'm a man and agree with equality. How can these women hold their heads up high getting paid $20000 to hold an umbrella, whether it's raining or not. And while we're on the subject sack all female secretaries because,,, eerrr, the title has the word secret in it and everyone knows if things are secret there is bound to be a sexual connotation to it.

a reply to: face23785

As an F1 fan for most of my adult life I've seen the sport deteriorate over the last decade or so , rather than address the core issues with F1 the new owners decide to capitulate to rabid feminists riding a wave of righteous indignation and take away something that has been part of F1 for as long as I can remember , F1 is dead , not because of this but because it's become boring.

Who will the drivers spay with campaign for lols now ?

Nobody has 'lost their job' over this, a small number of models in a few cities have lost one paid afternoon of work a year.

If anybody was making this one day of work their 'career' then they need to sit down and look at their life.


Personally I think they should have employed an equal number of male models and female models, then the sexist imbalance could be addressed and a handful of models would still get an awesome day out at the races standing right next to the cars.

But hey. Anybody outraged over this is probably just a leeeeeeetle bit sexist, and really ought to realise it's not the 1940s anymore.

Or in other words, 95% of ATS's readership.

originally posted by: ShadowLink
Noooo! Not my grid girls!
God dam feminist bitches, now you've gone too far!

The first thing I click on this morning and now my whole day is ruined.
How crappy is this world going to be when the feminists and all the other virtue signalers are done with it?

Dude, if this has ruined your whole day, there's this thing called the internet. You can look at nearly naked girls all day long if you want. You don't need to wait for F1 race days to see some pretty girls.

Can't wait for an all male staff at hooters...

a reply to: Painterz

You truly are an idiot aren't you.

I thought it would be obvious that I wasn't being completely serious.
It was more along the lines of fake outrage, something you should be familiar with from what I understand.

In fact I had a great day today. And thanks to your Internet pro-tip about nearly naked girls it just got a whole lot better.

a reply to: Painterz

Feminism .... It's all about we women doing the things we want. Right? Unless those girls happen to be doing something other feminists don't think they should do.

Go to a Slut Walk! OK! Wear a pussy hat or dress up like a giant vagina and howl at the sky in anger? OK!

Decide you want to dress in a tight dress and stand next to a race car? Oh, Hell NO! You're being exploited and *we* won't let you!!

originally posted by: gortex
a reply to: face23785

As an F1 fan for most of my adult life I've seen the sport deteriorate over the last decade or so , rather than address the core issues with F1 the new owners decide to capitulate to rabid feminists riding a wave of righteous indignation and take away something that has been part of F1 for as long as I can remember , F1 is dead , not because of this but because it's become boring.

Who will the drivers spay with campaign for lols now ?

For once I'm in agreement with you.

originally posted by: Painterz
Nobody has 'lost their job' over this, a small number of models in a few cities have lost one paid afternoon of work a year.

If anybody was making this one day of work their 'career' then they need to sit down and look at their life.

That's misleading. We're not talking about a salary position, we're talking about people who essentially freelance. Every steady source of work is important to their income. And many of these ladies were frequent repeats, so no it wasn't just one afternoon of work per year.

originally posted by: rockhndr
I, for one, am sick and tired of being Told what I can and can't do...NOT by any man, but by stupid, uninformed, jealous (YES! Jealous) feminists..... STOP silencing MY individual voice, I enjoy it when my man opens a door for me, and if I decide for myself to wear fishnet stockings and a miniskirt? (LOL!! I don't but...) it is still MY choice as well...They just need to go away already!

THIS. I'm not a fan of motor sports, but if other women are, AND they want to have a roll in it as grid girls, SO BE IT. The same goes for cheerleaders of other sports, models in general, porn actresses, etc. Feminists are no longer "friends" to women and are long overdue for a harsh backlash -- I don't hold back letting them know they hold ALL of us back with misguided notions, it's well past time for women to step forth and put them back in their place. They are not needed as "champions" when our freedom of choice suffers or winks out of existence because of them, they're our greatest enemy. Not men.

Some"body" Smack Crazeed..

That is all..