Podium girls

lots of straw men in this thread. Has anyone actually proposed banning anything, as opposed to just stopping purchasing the services of podium girls?

So hands up for those here of the middle aged male fraternity, would you be happy for your daughter to be a podium girl and to be ogled by other middle aged men?

I’m hoping for some nuanced comments…

So any paid activity is acceptable if you can find someone to volunteer for it?

Maybe the question should be rather, if you cannot handle what you see, then you should be questioning yourself, not asking them to hide.

Maybe the question should be rather, if you cannot handle what you see, then you should be questioning yourself, not asking them to hide.

More straw men… how about answering the question?

So any paid activity is acceptable if you can find someone to volunteer for it?

In the bad old days didn’t 30 odd riders die of strokes. I doubt any podium girls did. Who was being exploited?

Don’t understand your point? Both were being used.

Re the daughter question.. I have four and I would have no problem with them being podium girls whatsoever if they chose to do it. I would have more of a problem with people assuming they can dictate what my daughters should or shouldnt do.

I would have more of a problem with people assuming they can dictate what my daughters should or shouldnt do.

So any paid activity is acceptable if you can find someone to volunteer for it?

wwaswas
Or do we say ‘actually, this thing you want to do we as a society (or whatever) have decided is inappropriate for anyone to do regardless of their personal willingness to do it’?

There are many many more subjects at which we could thrown this debate and sadly all lose. It comes down to individual choice…end of!

Who are we to collectively decide the moral compass for a global population.

It comes down to individual choice…end of!

So any paid activity is acceptable if you can find someone to volunteer for it?

I have 2 daughters and would encourage them to do whatever they wished to do in life, if that included being a podium girl, go for it.

I’m for binning the podium girls. It’s not because they are not pleasing on the eye – they are. It’s not even because it’s demeaning for women – even though I think it is. But mainly because it’s demeaning to the event and the rider. It’s just does not needed – the star of the show should be the winner/ class leader. It does not need any more dressing up or aesthetic additions. They are irrelevant fluff that is not needed.

So hands up for those here of the middle aged male fraternity, would you be happy for your daughter to be a podium girl and to be ogled by other middle aged men?

Yes, no issue for me at all. An ex girlfriend of mine was an F1 grid girl/hostess while she was a student – first class travel to Japan/Malaysia, put up in a 5* hotel for a week, stand around looking pretty for two or three days and get paid enough to clear all her fees in two stints.
Most importantly, she got zero hassle from anyone and was under strict instructions to report improper advances to the minders who would happily sort out the gorilla fraternity.

I have 2 daughters and would encourage them to do whatever they wished to do in life, if that included being a podium girl, go for it.

So any paid activity is acceptable if you can find someone to volunteer for it?

So hands up for those here of the middle aged male fraternity, would you be happy for your daughter to be a podium girl and to be ogled by other middle aged men?

And the same question to the female contingent on the forum?

Surely this easy answer to this to have pretty girls on odd days and hunky men on even days, so the winner can get their trophy kiss and flowers. Or both, where the winner gets kissed on his/her cheek by one of each?

Cos if its not about sex and all that then there should be no problem.

I have 2 daughters and would encourage them to do whatever they wished to do in life, if that included being a podium girl, go for it.

So would you be fine if they wanted to be a lap dancer, prostitute, stripper or porn actor?

What happens in motorbike racing?

Surely this easy answer to this to have pretty girls on odd days and hunky men on even days, so the winner can get their trophy kiss and flowers. Or both, where the winner gets kissed on his/her cheek by one of each?

To simplify things, why not just have one male and one female?

What happens in motorbike racing?

People ride motorised cycles round a track. The first to the chequered flag wins.

HTH 8)

So would you be fine if they wanted to be a lap dancer, prostitute, stripper or porn actor?

Well, this is why I keep asking if any paid activity is ok, and I find the silence instructive.

Why have the podium girls with clothes on? I’m sure the TdF could rustle up a naked porn star or two, at the right price, pleasuring the stage winner if he so desires, and surely no-one would object if their daughter was to undertake said employment?

Good idea Jamie! Saves costs too!

What happens in motorbike racing?

They have brolly girls. Except the girl racers like Maria Herrera. She has brolly boys.

So would you be fine if they wanted to be a lap dancer, prostitute, stripper or porn actor?

I certainly wouldn’t encourage it, but I think that you might have misread the podium girls job description somewhere along the way and have become confused about the discussion we are having.

I certainly wouldn’t encourage it, but I think that you might have misread the podium girls job description somewhere along the way and have become confused about the discussion we are having.

The argument made for keeping podium girls is that there’s no problem because they want to do it. So why not a porn star, if that’s what they want?

I think we need to ban all professional sport, except maybe darts, as all the fit athletes are making me body conscious 🙁

So would you be fine if they wanted to be a lap dancer, prostitute, stripper or porn actor?

Those jobs are nothign like working in PR, and nothing like each other – or do you think that because someone can be good at their job, in part. because of the why they look they’re bascially whores?

If that is what they want, then ok. It would make me very uncomfortable and would make me question my calibre as a parent. I am not in the business of telling anyone what to do, but I would not encourage it.

The difference between getting to be a podium girl for a day and having a career as a prostitute is not a subtle one though and I am not sure what relevance it has to this debate.

Those jobs are nothign like working in PR, and nothing like each other – or do you think that because someone can be good at their job, in part. because of the why they look they’re bascially whores?

The jobs all have one thing in common: people are willing to do them.

cinnamon_girl – Member 
What happens in motorbike racing?

See post from Page 2 – Dani Pedrosa (Moto GP) uses a ‘Brella Fella

The difference between getting to be a podium girl for a day and having a career as a prostitute is not a subtle one though and I am not sure what relevance it has to this debate.

Because, again, the argument being made for keeping podium girls is that they’re willing to do it.

The jobs all have one thing in common: people are willing to do them.

I am not sure anyone is fighting this point but you seem to be clinging onto it despite the silence and lack of opposition.

I am not sure anyone is fighting this point but you seem to be clinging onto it despite the silence and lack of opposition. Which is “telling”

The silence is because no-one is prepared to answer the question.

What is the question ransos? I shall do my best. 😆

What is the question ransos? I shall do my best.

So any paid activity is acceptable if you can find someone to volunteer for it?

So any paid activity is acceptable if you can find someone to volunteer for it?

No. People volunteer to be suicide bombers. Still not sure what relevance that has to this whole debate and it was not a point I would attempt to defend.

My problem with podium girls isn’t so much that they exist, more that they’re often the only place where women are visible in cycling. This week the Giro Rosa is taking place with virtually no tv coverage, whereas the podium girls at the TdF are on TV every day. I want to see women in a variety of roles in cycling and elsewhere rather than just acting as trophies.

No, that is a stupid assertion. People volunteer to be suicide bombers. Still not sure what relevance that has to this whole debate and it was not a point I would attempt to defend.

It was a question, not an assertion. That’s why I used a question mark.

If you don’t believe that any activity is acceptable even if the individual wishes to volunteer, then “podium girls must be ok because they want to do it” doesn’t hold water as an argument, does it?

It was a question, not an assertion. That’s why I used a question mark.

..and that is why I edited my response.

If you don’t believe that any activity is acceptable even if the individual wishes to volunteer, then “podium girls must be ok because they want to do it” doesn’t hold water as an argument, does it?

That was never my argument.

Stating the obvious but there are two types of people arguing here:
Those that wish to impose their moral “code” on others and those that allow the individual to maintain their own moral code.

I find some of the comments from fathers who wish to dictate what they would like their daughters to do in life more anachronistic than the continued use of podium fluff.

Personally, I think podium girls
/boys are unnecessary but people with better marketing skills than me will no doubt tell the companies involved whether it’s better for their image and therefore bottom line.

As long as the participants are not being exploited, it’s within the law and safety concerns are addressed (to answer the earlier question about asbestos), carry on as far as I’m concerned….

At the end of the day, everyone has various strengths and weaknesses.Some have brains, some have brawn, some are blessed with good looks and as long as people have the choice to exploit their attributes and are appropriately rewarded, I don’t see any problem.

That was never my argument.

Ok. So what did you mean by:

If that is what they want, then ok.

and

I have 2 daughters and would encourage them to do whatever they wished to do in life

If that is what they want, then ok.

I meant that I would not dream of trying to dictate what my daughters do because of the aforementioned moral agency that they possess.

Now, if they were being abused or exploited, were breaking the law or were doing harm to someone else I might have something to say about it, but I do not believe that “podium girl” crosses any of these lines.