Originally Posted By: 02SE
I regularly hear comments from spectators about how the women competitors in the racing series I'm apart of, should know their place..
Needless to say, their comments (beyond just the sexist ones) usually reveal that they don't have a clue as to what's actually involved.
That's a complete load of dung, and you know it. It's got nothing to do with that old, worn out phrase, "knowing their place". That dog won't hunt. It's called WINNING. And they don't do it, period. Now, in racing I'll give you that a large part of it is because they lacked the equipment their better known, more experienced male counterparts had. Especially back in the 70's when they first arrived on the racing scene. Janet Guthrie, Lyn St. James, Sarah Fisher, Patty Moise and I could go on. All raced with mediocre equipment on a shoestring budget. Even today, "wreck a minute" Jennifer Jo Cobb rarely, if ever, had a decent car. At least one she could somehow manage to keep off the wall.
Danica has been a whole different story. She has had excellent equipment her whole racing career in both Indy Car, as well as NASCAR. She has always been afforded the luxury of driving for big name, high dollar teams. Who, over the years, have ALL provided her with good, solid, dependable, competitive equipment. She has proven year after year she can't do anything with it. Had ANY top male driver had her car as many years, and all but the countless races she's had it, it would have been in victory lane not once, but several times. With several more top ten finishes. That's all but a guaranteed fact and you know it. In Indy Car she used to qualify well, but won a grand total of once. And the only reason for that was because Castroneves ran out of fuel. It's not as if she ever had a chance of catching him. Let alone overtaking him. Winning in racing requires a lot more than driving fast in a fast car. About the only motorsport where they have a chance to compete on equal ground is in the NHRA, where they don't have to turn. And a race lasts but a few seconds.
Danica, along with the rest of her female counterparts through the years would have done well..... If they would have had their own series to compete in. Much like the LPGA, WNBA, or women's tennis. But against men it's always been a running joke, and always will be. It's just the way it is. Regardless of how many times they try to drag "sexism" into it, every time someone brings up their lack of performance, on a playing field that will never be "equal".
What would happen to Serena Williams if she played Roger Federer straight up? She would NEVER return his serve. He would wipe up the court with her. Back in the 70's Billie Jean King barely beat Bobby Riggs. He was a broken down old man with a heart condition. Today a male tennis player ranked 500th in the world would consistently beat ANY of the top women players. That's not a "sexist" viewpoint. It's a FACTUAL one. Again, that's just the way it is. After all, if they were just as good, they wouldn't have to hit from "Ladies Tee's"..... Would they? Sorry to destroy your "feminism" argument with fact.