PEDAL TO THE METAL, WOMAN STYLECourtney Jo Atkinson

Department of Business Management and Women and Gender’s Studies, Carthage CollegeCelebration of Scholars 2015: Exposition of Student & Faculty Research, Scholarship & Creativity

Results and DiscussionWomen have been around long enough to be able to be just another racer on thetrack rather than always known as a woman on the track. They do not want anyspecial treatment; they just want to race and do what they enjoy the same as themale drivers. Objectification of women has had such a major impact on howwomen are able to achieve the goal and dream they have to go fast. Whether ornot the objectification is sexual or not, still has an impact. Using these women toonly up the pay is the wrong idea to have. The fight for equality has been going onfor a long time and there are still issues today but sports should not have any partin that. If a woman can prove herself in the racing industry then she is nodifferent than any other driver on the track, no matter what the sex.

AbstractWomen have been fighting for rights for a very long time. It is great that we have accomplished so much, but there are still doubtsabout a woman’s ability; especially when it comes to a woman's ability to participate and live in a “man’s world”. This poster will detailone corner of the man’s world in which women are now active - auto racing.

Auto Racing has been dominated by males who do not always approve of a woman entering into the sport. However, in the history ofauto racing there are many examples of women who have raced against men and won, including some championships. When thesewomen, such as Janet Guthrie, Lyn St. James, and Shirley Muldowney were racing, things were different. They were discriminatedagainst simply because they were women and male racers felt they did not have the guts to do what their male counterparts did. Today,those same prejudices still exist and sexual objectification has been added. Women are consistently thought of as eye candy that boostthe ratings of the races. Women drivers have been promoted mainly through their sex appeal.

This discrimination needs to end. Women drivers are training and marketing other women drivers to promote their skills and talents.The practice of evaluating male drivers separately from female drivers need to be abolished. They are all simply race car drivers.

My project looks at female racers’ strategies for generating financial support (essential, marketing themselves) in an economy where sexsells. Male race car drivers do not earn support through their sexual appeal. What marketing strategies are available to women driverswho want to be recognized for their driving skills rather than their bodies?

The presence of women in auto racing is a very recent phenomenon. These women's stories and their strategies open a freshperspective on marketing and gender equality. These stories are exciting and new.

My strategy was to place women race car drivers into the context of marketing as a means for corporate sponsorship, indicating ways inwhich their situation was unique because, as women, they are disadvantaged by the idea that “sex sells". Then I narrowed my focus todetail strategies used by individual woman drivers. My conclusion is that Lyn St. James is a viable role model in her academy, Womenin the Winner's Circle, and in her mentorship of promising younger women drivers.

IntroductionIn a phone interview with Lyn St. James, she talked a lot on how women need to be very aware of objectification in all forms to protectthemselves. The following are some of her words on the subject. The ways that females play into objectification are very different.Being a woman means that one can play the part in many ways. Some ways consist of being sexualized and dressing in a way thatothers may see as being promiscuous and purposely sexualizing themselves (St. James, Lyn.). Another way is that they can play alongwith the stereotype of women being mentally unstable. This way relates to fighting back, saying things out of anger, etc. One needs tobe a lot more careful when being a woman in handling issues (St. James, Lyn.). People might want to just ignore it and walk away, butthat does not always make things easier (St. James, Lyn.). Not only does it open the door for more negative statements, but it also eatsat the person in such a way that their personalities start to disintegrate.

The racing industry has been changing slowly but drastically. Allowing women into this industry has stirred up many opinions. Themarketing of racing women does not always assist them in moving forward with their choice of a career in racing. This type ofmarketing focuses more on their looks, rather than what it has been throughout history. It is this type of marketing that affects thenewer group of women racers rather than the racers from older generations. The marketing and views of women have changed but notby much, adding new ways of discriminating and using women for profit along with the objectification that has already existed.

ExperimentalTo understand the basis of this experiment one needs to understand the specific definitions of man, woman, and marketing. It wasclear from just the definitions that there are still stereotypes and that the dictionary has not be updated with the times.

The next step was to choose some women in the racing industry. The four chosen have influenced the racing industry more than peoplecan imagine. The best part is that they all influenced in a different way and in different series. Lyn St. James, for example, started herown foundation for women to increase their potential to succeed in the racing industry. Telling the stories of these amazing women isonly the beginning. One also needs to tell the stories of their struggles. Through each woman and each generation the experiences andthe discrimination are all so different. It is unfortunate for Danica Patrick because her story here is compiled with each of the otherwomen’s struggles and a new struggle. This new struggle is the struggle to fight the sexual imagine of women. The other three only hadto fight the position of women stereotype and genetics.

This stereotype of the sexual imagine that women have has done a lot of damage. One woman, Alli Owens, lost her sponsorshipsbecause she would not model in a bikini for a photoshoot. This is beyond ridiculous when men never have to go through this type ofhumiliation.

On Racing-Reference info, there is a list of race car drivers as of 2014. This list does not include all racing series. This specific list had atotal of 1,167 drivers. Of these drivers, only 1.5% of them were women. That totals to a lousy 17 women. 41.2% of these 17 women werebrand new to the professional industry of racing.

The professional racing careers average, between the two sexes, are nearly five times greater for men over women. Also the averagenumber of racing series raced in each career is nearly three times greater for the men.

Acknowledgements & References1.Benson, Michael. Women in Racing. Philadelphia: Chelsea House, 1997. Print.2."Janet Guthrie - Few Women Followed Her Lead." - Indianapolis, Finished, Race, and Woman. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2014.3."Lyn St. James - Foundation." Lyn St. James - Foundation. Web. 5 Dec. 2014.4."Racing-Reference.info - Race Results and Driver Statistics for NASCAR and More!" Racing-Reference.info -Race Results and Driver Statistics for NASCAR and More! N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2014.5."Shirley Muldowney - The Queen Of Drag Racing In Her Own Words - Hot Rod Magazine." Hot Rod. N.p., n.d.Web. 04 Dec. 2014.6.St. James, Lyn. "Lyn St. James Interview." Telephone interview. 14 Nov. 2014.

1972-19861964-2000

1973-2007 2003-Present

LYN ST JAMES DANICA PATRICK

SHIRLEY MULDOWNEY JANET GUTHRIE

• The International

Motor Sports

Association

• The Sports Car Club

of America

• Women in the

Winner’s Circle

Foundation

• British Zetek Ford

Series

• The In Real Life Series

• IZOD IndyCar Series

• The National

Association of Stock

Car Racing

• Graduate of Women in

the Winner’s Circle

Foundation

ALLI OWENS

2005-2011

• The National Hot Rod

Association

• The International Hot

Rod Association

• The National

Association for Stock

Car Racing

• The Sports Club of

America

• The International

Motor Sports

Association

• The National

Association of

Stock Car

Racing