Saturday, July 7, 2018

Natalie Decker Racing: How Women Are Changing Motorsport, One Gear At A Time

By Martha Brown


Motorsport has been for the longest time been a sport where access to it was determined by some dangly bits between your legs. But in recent times, those without these so important dangly bits as Natalie Decker Racing Team, have made a compelling argument as to why they don t matter and what does is how fast you can go around a corner.

In this modern age, however, there has been changing, but not much since men still make up the majority but with changing attitudes the foot in door inserted by Camille du Gast back in 1901 is about to get even bigger with more and more people taking an interest in female motorsports.

Being different in any industry has its perks and its pitfalls, regardless of whether you drive really fast around corners for a living or feeding hay to racehorses. The biggest negative associated with a woman on the track could be that there s always a need to prove yourself, even when they have established themselves to be the best at what they do by competing at the very best level that their industry has to offer. An unnecessary hurdle men don t have to jump over.

However, on the same token, one can use the notoriety of being considered an anomaly to garner attention in the right ways, and become a catalyst for people to discuss the lack of representation woman have in the sport or be used as a role model for those who want to do something where they ll find themselves in the minority.

But the current reality is that males still garner more attention and paychecks than their female counterparts. But it s only a matter of time before such a statement becomes a thing of the past as more and more females continue to race, they will bridge this gap that exists.

What s amazing is that men are being outperformed in a sport that they dominate in. Yes, it s true that those gals who are fortunate enough to have a helping hand in getting into racing are at more of an advantage than those who go at it alone, but not having a male to sneak you in through the door doesn t make it any less difficult. It just simply means it ll take longer and that is a matter of semantics.

One thing female race car drivers regardless of what league they happen to drive in can t avoid is the scrutiny that comes racing. Your every move is under the microscope and all mistakes are usually attributed to sex rather than skill. But those same disadvantages, make it easier to break out and stand out in their field of expertise.

The commentary of why having women in race cars is viewed in a negative light can circle Silverstone at least twice. But even though the animosity shown by people unable to the miraculous things done by females in motorsport, they have managed to persevere and inspire a generation of children who will be undeterred by gender norms and what They re supposed to do.




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