"must ketch-up"
Got word that Georgia Gould took Natz as the opportunity to toss down some equity-speak. right on.
i haven't even read the petition yet [on equitable pay for the genders in cycling], but I already know i will sign it. may i tell you why?
because i've seen GOuld race ... seen her grimace and grime her way through slicked, wrecking mudsloshes and watched her do the hard-pack humpup over SeaOtter 15%s on lap 2, after 2+.
she races everywhere, races consistently, races and shows off her Luna-ness.
Gould is ... a professional. and only 27 years old.
so, i will sign it. (thanks to the proRoadie who forwarded me Gould's petition ... i see even that apely-imp Stevil of Swobo lodged his voice in unision ... read everything)
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MYSTERY BLOGGERS UNITE
come pee on this website. i still have to ask a couple tappers to come join the ugly, but i'll be contacting and scheduling you other troggles who commit pen to anablogue.
but, i think mystery blogging will start tomorrow.
18 comments:
Yay!
(Although I vaguely remember hearing a quote sommat like "A woman who aims to be equal with men lacks ambition." Or something like that.)
With all the focus on equality, I find it strange that the petition doesn't ask the UCI to make women's events the same distance/time as the men's. Equal pay for equal work...well you gotta do equal work first!
We will need equal "training programs" to do equal work!
fuck that
Chatterbox,
Are you implying by "training program"?
RK
Correction :
What are you implying by "training program"?
Do you really think women are less likely to dope?
equal pay for equal work and equal time and distance - yes.
but the reality of sponsorship based representation (in a capitalist society) is that marketers and sponsors will want (need?) to know that their investment has equal returns. we would need to figure out how to get the spectator and other interest levels as high for womens racing. I guess we'd need lots more women racers and top racing venues.
Tour de CA Feminine, anyone?
"Equal pay for equal work...well you gotta do equal work first!"
thats just silly.... do track and field sprinters get paid less then 10,000m runners because they cover a shorter distance?
It's all about "creating value" to attract investment in the sport. Look what expanding the womens collegiate basketball tournament
1982-1985: 32 teams
1986-1988: 40 teams
1989-1993: 48 teams
1994-present: 64 teams
did. At each expansion it could be argued that there weren't enough "good" teams to fill the spots. But what happened? More schools stepped up their womens basketball programs because the number of "prizes" (aka tourney bids) available went up.
Its that sort of top down view the UCI has to take in mandating that at least the top few women have equal prize money (which gives the womens events greater legitimacy in many peoples eyes) and, in my opinion, that more highly rated MTB and CX events have womens & mens cats (road is another story). The legitimacy those actions would bring to the pro-womens categories will filter down and hopefully create more sponsorship that will allow more women to train full time, hence raising the level of the womens fields even further. Just like expanding the tournament did.
romank - just trying to make a joke. :)
Seriously, though. I do support the notion of 'equal work for equal pay'. However, I'm not sure the promoters are yet willing to put on grand tours for the ladies that are as 'epic' as for the men (but I'd love to see it!). And, how to measure 'equal work'? If it takes a woman 1 hour more to cover an equal distance at the same percentage of maximal effort, did she perform 'equal work'? Or, did she work an hour more for the same pay?
I want to take her out and kiss her all over.
Equal kisses all over her body parts.
I think one big step would be to have more major Women's only events. All the biggest men's events feature just one race for maximum impact. The problem is that when men's and women's races run together the women get the short end of the stick in terms of exposure which = money. Women's racing is great to watch and does not need a men's race to draw a crowd.
Part of the problem is that there are few women promoting races. In fact I can't think of a single one but I am sure there are some. Not that men can't put on a good race but probably identify more with the men's field.
2cents
I believe the same amount of T-shirts are given out and they are uni-sexed!
It is called piecework: you get paid for an action performed. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piecework
Bike racing could be considered piecework...racers are paid to race a racecourse, regardless of the time it takes them.
Chicken or egg?
Get more money, raise the level of competition.
Raise the level of competition, get more money.
I think that it needs to come from the club level as it is more likely that money will come when the level of competition is raised.
So, how do we reach out to potential racers?
Lower the barriers to entry. Affirmative action benefited women the most (even though their inclusion in the civil rights act was intended to sink the bill). Similar programs could lower the barriers to entry into cycling for women. When doling out resources, put women at the front of the line. This means applies to club sponsorship. It is more important to attract new racers through lowering costs then to offer probabilistic benefits through race prize booty. So, when there is money for reimbursement, then split sums equally between mens' and women's categories. If there are half the number of women in a particular category, then it would mean that each women would get twice as much.
Provide a welcoming environment. I suspect that showing up to a group ride full of testosterone pumped (natural of course) males in spandex can probably be intimidating. Men can be patronizing and paternal in a pack, especially toward women. Stop it. New cyclists are new cyclists, regardless of their gender. Provide advice and encouragement for all beginners alike.
The parity in work issue is interesting. I'm not quite sure why there are shorter distances for women. Is there a shorter Iron Man distance for women (Iron Woman distance?). Do male and female marathoners run different distances? Maybe this is part of the patronizing attitude within our sport toward women. Distances should be by category, not by gender.
I think that men have as much to gain in promoting women's racing. The more inclusive the sport is, the more attractive it is to sponsors. More sponsorship means more and better races. We are currently trying to convince the city here that we need to close down the downtown street to have our beloved SLO crit this coming year. It makes it a lot easier if we can argue that our sport is inclusive and provides opportunity for all.
So, there is my white male patronizing opinion.
I agree.
The Women on our team participate in the same training rides as the men and often the same distances. They are training equal or more time than a lot of the men on the team. I see no reason why they can't race the same distances as the men.
From the promoter's perspective I would have to assume that one reason for shorter distances is that the women do ride a little slower than their male counter parts of equal category. It may simply be a time issue and not a capability issue.
I would like to see more women racing there bikes in their G strings.
or Thongs.
Or simply have more naked womens bike racing and then they would get all the money and sponsorship and guys would be the fans on the sidelines and no one would want the guys to race at all.
This is the only way to get the women more attention and more money for their races.
Sequoia Classic in Visalia's Race Promoter is a lady (expert racer in her day to add); with equal distance and equal pay. For 2008, NRC for the ladies only with 10k each day in purse. 40k tt and of course, that fast crit course.
Equality? Sequoia has it....
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