Girls, Motorsports and Aggression
The topic came up on barf recently as to whether or not a woman might ever be racing in Moto GP, the world's premier motorcycle roadracing circuit. One of Moto GP's recent world champions, Valentino Rossi, is the 7th highest earning sports personality in the world (2nd outside the United States), earning an estimated $30 million a year, according to Sports Illustrated. In the thread, someone made the statement "then there has to be some deficiency in women, other than the societal to explain why there aren't any top level women in motorcycle racing. Or is the answer, because they never wanted to?"
Now, I'm not sure that I believe it's possible for women to race or ride as well as men. There don't seem to be any physical limitations, like in football, but there might be a fundamental lack in the aggression necessary to dominate. I was really tempted to reply, just because I'm interested in the topic, and I put together the following unposted response:
Images in the media totally support the societal ideal of the man that kicks ass and comes home to supportive woman. Everything from the television shows we watch to the commercials that are shown to the print advertising we see in magazines support this, with a few notable exceptions.
Case in point: a Bridgestone ad that's been running on Speed channel all the time lately features a squirrel running out into the road to get a nut. Car approaches. Squirrel screams like a little girl. All the other forest creatures scream like little girls; the deer, the owl, the praying mantis, the female human passenger in the approaching car. But her big, strong man smiles knowingly and swerves the car deftly around the helpless squirrel, saving the day. It's a really cute ad, but would you EVER see a woman driving the car? NO! There isn't a single car ad out there that features a woman behind the wheel of a performance car.
Popular culture seems to be more supportive of men and women who fall into these stereotypes, and often don't know how to handle people who don't. Society has always had fiercely held ideals about the role of motherhood and what proper behavior for a female constitutes. Parents, usually wanting the best for their kids, and intentionally or not, typically encourage their boys to do boy things and their girls to do girl things. They want their kids to fit in. God bless Mr. Myers [father of a local 14 year old girl who many believe represents one of the only current possibilities for a female Moto GP rider] for being so supportive of a little girl who wants to race.
There might be a lot of nature to it - maybe the average girl will never be aggressive enough to race at the top. But that's the beauty of average...there are always individuals out there who are not...
Now, I'm not sure that I believe it's possible for women to race or ride as well as men. There don't seem to be any physical limitations, like in football, but there might be a fundamental lack in the aggression necessary to dominate. I was really tempted to reply, just because I'm interested in the topic, and I put together the following unposted response:
Images in the media totally support the societal ideal of the man that kicks ass and comes home to supportive woman. Everything from the television shows we watch to the commercials that are shown to the print advertising we see in magazines support this, with a few notable exceptions.
Case in point: a Bridgestone ad that's been running on Speed channel all the time lately features a squirrel running out into the road to get a nut. Car approaches. Squirrel screams like a little girl. All the other forest creatures scream like little girls; the deer, the owl, the praying mantis, the female human passenger in the approaching car. But her big, strong man smiles knowingly and swerves the car deftly around the helpless squirrel, saving the day. It's a really cute ad, but would you EVER see a woman driving the car? NO! There isn't a single car ad out there that features a woman behind the wheel of a performance car.
Popular culture seems to be more supportive of men and women who fall into these stereotypes, and often don't know how to handle people who don't. Society has always had fiercely held ideals about the role of motherhood and what proper behavior for a female constitutes. Parents, usually wanting the best for their kids, and intentionally or not, typically encourage their boys to do boy things and their girls to do girl things. They want their kids to fit in. God bless Mr. Myers [father of a local 14 year old girl who many believe represents one of the only current possibilities for a female Moto GP rider] for being so supportive of a little girl who wants to race.
There might be a lot of nature to it - maybe the average girl will never be aggressive enough to race at the top. But that's the beauty of average...there are always individuals out there who are not...