Saturday, 8 June 2013

Avoid tokenism

Watching the qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix one is struck by the invasion of women in all the reporting of sporting events. Football is riddled with female commentators who fill our screens with "crafted" insights on the general event. You will understand the term crafted to mean that they are learnt not from having taken part but from the info that the players and past players bring to the party.   The women who handle the microphone are there for some other reason.
Glamour has to play a part in what the media controllers feed us as part of a healthy diet but when we need to know the technical reasons, or the experience of the game, a man has to be called to give his opinion.
There are no women, (other than the drop dead, gorgeous drivers girl-friend), taking part in the business of driving a GP racing car. The designers the mechanics, the drivers and management are all men. They are an interesting and communicative lot so why do we have women in the mix at all ?
I watched the female Cup Final the other day. It was school-boy stuff and showed the gulf between the men's game and the female equivalent and yet at a media level the girls are to the fore with their pretty faces and long legs speaking a different language.   
Feminism speaks for equality but it should always avoid tokenism.    


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