Podium Girls

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addictfreak

addictfreak

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oldroadman

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User482 said:
In the UK at least, the top women track cyclists are household names, so as you say, there's no intrinsic reason why the same shouldn't also be true on the road. Were podium girls ever used in presentations for the track?
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Not at UK track meetings I have been at. Various people carry medals/jerseys on trays or cushions, and others then present them. But no "PGs" actually on the podium. Which is OK. That way it's just the riders up there, which is right. Check pictures of track championships and see.
Anyway, the question was arePGs an anachronism, opinions have been stated, and some have sought to divert discussion into gender politics, which is only to be expected, I guess.
The next thread might be about the excellent race I witnessed last weeked, with attacks, breaks, long chases, more breaks, a winning break, good speed in strong winds, gutsy efforts, and a tough finish won by a very promising young rider. Altogether what the sport should be about. Ah, forgot to mention, it was a womens road race on a lumpy and exposed course.
 
thom

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oldroadman said:
Anyway, the question was arePGs an anachronism, opinions have been stated, and some have sought to divert discussion into gender politics, which is only to be expected, I guess.
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My gob has been smacked. How is it possible to pretend to have a sensible discussion about Podium Girls without reference to gender politics ?

Convince me that you're not behaving like an Ostrich ?

ostrich-head-in-sand.jpg
 

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Rob3rt

Rob3rt

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oldroadman said:
Not at UK track meetings I have been at. Various people carry medals/jerseys on trays or cushions, and others then present them. But no "PGs" actually on the podium. Which is OK. That way it's just the riders up there, which is right. Check pictures of track championships and see.
Anyway, the question was arePGs an anachronism, opinions have been stated, and some have sought to divert discussion into gender politics, which is only to be expected, I guess.
The next thread might be about the excellent race I witnessed last weeked, with attacks, breaks, long chases, more breaks, a winning break, good speed in strong winds, gutsy efforts, and a tough finish won by a very promising young rider. Altogether what the sport should be about. Ah, forgot to mention, it was a womens road race on a lumpy and exposed course.
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There were podium girls in the form of girls who carried the medals onto the podium when I was at the Track World Cup in 2011 (I was there collecting riders from their team areas and shepherding them to the podium). They didn't have their bits hanging out and having to kiss the riders though.
 
U

User482

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oldroadman said:
Not at UK track meetings I have been at. Various people carry medals/jerseys on trays or cushions, and others then present them. But no "PGs" actually on the podium. Which is OK. That way it's just the riders up there, which is right. Check pictures of track championships and see.
Anyway, the question was arePGs an anachronism, opinions have been stated, and some have sought to divert discussion into gender politics, which is only to be expected, I guess.
The next thread might be about the excellent race I witnessed last weeked, with attacks, breaks, long chases, more breaks, a winning break, good speed in strong winds, gutsy efforts, and a tough finish won by a very promising young rider. Altogether what the sport should be about. Ah, forgot to mention, it was a womens road race on a lumpy and exposed course.
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Thanks. I'm a casual follower of professional cycling so wasn't sure, but I certainly couldn't ever recall seeing podium girls at a track event.

I'm not at all sure why you think a discussion about "gender politics" is a diversion -surely it's the heart of the matter?
 
U

User169

Guest
Picture from 6 day racing in Rotterdam Jan 2013. Podium girls (or flower girls as they call them here) for the women racers.

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thom

thom

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Spinney said:
So the podium girls are there for the male viewers, not the competitors...
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They're there as if the average viewer needs an apology as the reality of the actual competitors perversely represents something unpalatable.
 
R

resal

Veteran
Linford said:
Just throwing this into the mix, a survey was don a couple of years ago on the exploitation of sex workers in the UK, and surprisingly, the majority working in the industry didn't consider themselves to be exploited. Now the reality is that we run the risk of projecting our own moral code onto those who chose this lifestyle, and that is as bad as any other form of meddling done in the name of religion or anything else....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-15522279
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Now we wouldn't want to go projecting our own moral code on these poor girls when it is so obviously the career of choice for them- read on -

The brothel worker: 'I regret not working in the sex trade as soon as I got here'

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/apr/15/brothel-regret-not-working-sex-trade
She told me it was the best decision she had made during her time in Britain: her income had gone through the roof and the money she had been able to send home was making a real difference to her family. "In a good week, I can earn £1,500 to £2,000," she told me.

There we go, your point proved. They do want to do it and who am I to suggest that we should try and impose a different level of behaviour on them when they are so keen to take the step up the career and prosperity ladder.

Prostitute, topless lap dancer, podium girl. All of these are about keeping the the status quo as the status quo. Ok we move from the entirely unacceptable to our debating point, but don't put a road block on the argument by saying it cannot be bad because the girls that do it, want to do it. Of course they do. because society gives them such a sloped playing field. And it is about removing those stereotypes that encourage girls to see themselves only as adornment to male activity, at one level that extrapolates all the way down to a young girl thinking that she needs to do due service as a hooker whilst she still has the looks, otherwise she will miss out on the biggest career break she has.
 
Monsieur Remings

Monsieur Remings

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Fab Foodie said:
You mean this Victoria Pendleton?
View attachment 21998
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Didn't see this before FF...and no it doesn't offend me, she's a fine looking woman but it doesn't alter what I said.

What would this picture mean without what she'd achieved as a cyclist? Answer: not a lot. Whilst men would all agree that she was a good looking woman, any deeper respect would be missing would it not? She just becomes another object but the difference is that everyone knows she's Victoria Pendleton - a female cyclist who has achieved what most of us aren't capable of. I wonder whether this would be her choice of career without the backdrop that we all know about?
 
Radchenister

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Monsieur Remings said:
Didn't see this before FF...and no it doesn't offend me, she's a fine looking woman but it doesn't alter what I said.

What would this picture mean without what she'd achieved as a cyclist? Answer: not a lot. Whilst men would all agree that she was a good looking woman, any deeper respect would be missing would it not? She just becomes another object but the difference is that everyone knows she's Victoria Pendleton - a female cyclist who has achieved what most of us aren't capable of. I wonder whether this would be her choice of career without the backdrop that we all know about?
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Waffle, what's your point?
 
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