KEBABBLE Putting the brakes on giraffe women
By Fazile Zahir
FETHIYE, Turkey - Formula One fever descended on Istanbul once again this month
and the TV and newspapers were full of florid previews of what the viewing
public could expect. If the press was anything to go by, what we should expect
is lots of legs. The Sunday television magazine programs provided plenty of
gratuitous shots of short skirts and female thighs as presenters wielding
measuring tapes marvelled over the 110-plus centimeter legs of the "Grid
Girls".
These giraffe-like women, ranging in height from 1.75 meters to 1.84 meters
(5-foot-7 to six feet) are mainly professional models and are employed to hold
up the lap numbers as the cars spin
round the course. Like the girls who parade around boxing rings with round
numbers, the Grid Girls are beautiful ornaments used to glamorize a dangerous
and brutal sport.
As if the pointless Grid Girls were not enough (surely a machine could do the
job just as well?) certain columnists were lauding the arrival of the Formula
Una "trolley dollies". In Italian, Formula One is Formula Uno, so Formula Una
is the feminine version of the same word. It's hardly surprising that a country
whose political leader calls his middle-aged women supporters "the menopause
section", and who has attacked the majority female Spanish cabinet as being
"too pink" (nine women, eight men), has come up with the Una concept.
The Una girls are 10 hand-picked ambassadors for their country - in this case
Turkey - during the four-day racing period. They join drivers, teams, VIPs and
press in the paddock section and their job is to mingle and talk with guests
and participants and answer questions about their home country. Apparent
qualifications for the post are "interest and knowledge of Formula One,
likableness, chattiness, a smiling countenance and excellent spoken English".
They also must be aged between 18 and 30 and attractive. The Una girls are a
project sponsored by the new 90% male Red Bull team who find the lack of women
involved in the sport disheartening and are attempting to redress the balance,
at least in the paddock area. Perhaps free tickets for some Istanbul ladies to
watch the races might have done more to entice women to the sport, but then the
teams wouldn't have had the chance to meet those women or to ensure their
attractiveness.
Red Bull communications director Serpil Cubukcu explains that the 3,5000
applicants were winnowed out over a two-month period after personal interviews
where their knowledge of Formula One was tested as well as their general
knowledge and deportment.
"Their good looks to one side we were looking for girls who can use their heads
as well ... they will be attending every event, every party and be expected to
talk with everyone. In their conversations they should be trying to tell people
about Turkey, Turkish culture and Turkish women," Cubukcu said.
So who exactly are these paragons of Turkish womanhood, the youngest of which
is 20 and the oldest 27?
All of them were either students or had finished university and are working.
They are svelte, well groomed and lithe. Among them are ex-model and actress
Eylem Senkal and actress Selma Merter. A quick glance at the website
www.redbullformulauna.com is instructive in the scrupulous ethics of the
committee who chose them, there's not a single plain girl among them. These
girls are not good examples of Turkish women, they represent a small minority
of Europeanized females and yet they say, "We are here to show how modern
Turkish women are and to change opinions."
According to a report compiled by the Turkish Family Planning Institute in 2007
the average Turkish woman is 1.63 meters and weighs 63 kilos. If this average
woman had the legs of a Grid Girl she would only have a foot and a half of body
left for her torso and head. Average Turks are 48% of medium complexion, 25% of
dark complexion and 27% of fair complexion, the Una girls are 40% of medium
complexion, 10% of dark complexion and 50% of fair complexion. Fifty-two
percent of all Turks have black hair but only 10% of Una girls (that is to say
one girl) have black hair, whilst 50% have brown hair and 40% are blond. While
41% of Turks have never bought a book, all the Una girls are enrolled in or
have attended university.
They are as representative of Turkish women as a Slush Puppy is of an Arctic
iceberg. If Red Bull was interested in presenting a more accurate view of the
cornucopia of modern Turkish women at least one of them should have been
wearing a headscarf and another an Islamic turban.
The marketing idea behind the project - that inviting attractive women to
attend as special dignitaries might encourage more women to enjoy Formula One -
seems entirely fallacious. The Australians have been much more upfront about
how to get women going, this year for the first time they've introduced Grid
Boys, the man-candy equivalent of the Grid Girls. Model and former face of the
Melbourne Grand Prix, Grace McClure, said it was about time there was some eye
candy for the ladies. "There are plenty of girls who love motor sport so why
shouldn't they have something to look at?"
Why indeed? If we can't have real women to stand in the paddock for us let's at
least have the equivalent male bimbos.
Fazile Zahir is of Turkish descent, born and brought up in London. She
moved to live in Turkey in 2005 and has been writing full time since then.
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