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Gender Issues: A Discussion This past month, we received two very interesting messages from women drivers about gender issues in motor sports. The first message is from a driver who is serious about communicating with other women in the sport, but is frustrated by the lack of trust. The second message is from a driver who talks about the positive and negative aspects of a women-only race series. We'd appreciate your thoughts.
[This message was in response to T.W.'s comment about the difficulty in generating an ongoing discussion in either the chat room or the discussion group.] Hi T.W. The majority of the folks who inhabit the other [discussion] lists I belong to are men. The discussions range from technical set-up and racing reports, to where is the next event, with a little good natured, tom foolery thrown in for good measure. For the most part, everyone is at ease, even if they don't get along. They don't need trust to communicate with each other. Their ego system is different. I think women who are into racing fall mostly into 2 groups, A) women who love motor sports because it appeals to a deeper part of the self, and B) those who go to spend time with husband/boyfriend/father (poseurs fit in here, too). I belong to the "A" group. I know many "B's". Neither group is better than the other (I give anyone who goes out there a lot of credit), just a different mindset, and this is where the mistrust starts, in my humble opinion (IMHO). The "A" women are usually fierce, and hold little regard for the "B" group,
IMHO, competition does not always bring out the best in women. It is something we've been taught in our culture to play down. Any woman who gets out on a race course, has had to go against the grain of what expected "womanly" behavior is, especially if they are interested in winning. Other women look at us like we are aliens. We are not used to having support from other women, and we don't know
Once one woman puts another one down, there is really no going back, because that's how women are. One thing I think speaks volumes, are the web sites of some of the [Discussion Group] list members. They use the word 'woman' too much. First woman, only woman, can you believe it's a woman....it seems to me that they are concentrating on the wrong thing. Do they want to be "Women Racers" or "Racers who happen to be Women"? I rather be the latter... What do you think?
[This message is from a driver who is responding to a column T.W. wrote about the WGGT.] Dear T.W., In your last column regarding the WGGT, you said: "The question is: how can we make it better? How can we make it do what it must do to further the acceptance of women in the sport?" I want to let you know that there is another series that has a [successful] showcase class for women: autocross. It has for the past thirty years. At the Solo II Nationals this year, out of 900 competitors, probably over 20% of them were women, and all but seven competed in parallel Ladies classes. In terms of attracting women, Ladies classes do their job. They also keep the peace in a lot of competitive homes (read: husband and
If you look at the results year after year at the Solo II Nationals, except in cases of rain, or drastic changes of conditions, the winning Ladies class time is usually a great deal slower than the Open class winning time. Often times, the Ladies winner wouldn't even get a trophy in the Open class. This has helped shape the perception that women just aren't as fast. The truth is, not only are there often differences in the pavement conditions, the mental requirements are different. With maybe 7 competitors instead of 23, it becomes an entirely different game. But you know, I think, seriously speaking, most often our biggest limits are in our head. That's the polite way of saying I think women are often times more sexist to THEMSELVES than men are. Does this make sense? The only thing that kept me from running in the Open class 14 years ago, when I first started, was my perception of myself. When THAT changed, my whole world changed. I think the WGGT is a great event for ATTRACTING women into racing, just like Solo II Ladies classes. And I also think that it gives the winners of WGGT races some really good publicity, which will hopefully open some doors. So, maybe the full positive effects have yet to be seen. I mean, now I know who Davina Galica is, and Allison Duncan, and Cindi Lux. Personally, it's really exciting to know that in a sport that is just so filled with stereotypes, that there's a series where the doors are WIDE OPEN for me. That's a good feeling! But as far as "furthering the acceptance of women in this sport," segregation isn't going to do it. And I think a lot of really talented, experienced women drivers know this, and are choosing to spend their sponsorship money on more proven series. Thank you for your time.
Editor's note: I'd be pleased to hear from you on this topic.
Send an email message to me at Or, better yet, join the Discussion Group, at
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