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BEHAVIOR BLOTTER: Does Having Rally Girls at an Exotic Car Rally in Coronado Fuel Gender Stereotypes?

I stumbled across a parking lot full of exotic cars at the Hotel Del Coronado this morning: Ferraris, Aston Martins, Lambhorghinis, Bugatti Veyrons, and more. Some of these cars bear a price tag of a cool $1.5 MM. Upon closer inspection, the event wasn't just about gawking at peoples' cars but it turned out to be a charity event, the Cruise 4 Kids.

"Cruise 4 Kids" Sports & Exotic Car Rally in San Diego invites high-end luxury car owners to participate in a 27 mile "cruise." This rally starts at the Hotel Del Coronado and ends at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. At the Del Mar Fairgrounds, C4K drivers will display their vehicles in a car show style for the public to enjoy. All in all, there were about 120 cars.

Cruise 4 Kids (C4K) is an annual event that requires the coordination by police officers and highway patrol, and is captured via video by a helicopter along the journey from Coronado to Del Mar. The cause was founded by Nino Venturella, a private banker from Wells Fargo. Nino joined the Boys & Girls Clubs of San Dieguito (BGCSDTO) Springboard in 2008 and is currently Chairman of Business Development and Marketing. As an active volunteer to BGCSDTO, he saw the opportunity to grow the club's fundraising revenue by creating C4K. Nino was able to combine his passion for cars and his connections through Wells Fargo to develop and produce C4K. His vision was to create an event that brought new excitement to San Diego’s car enthusiast community and to successfully accomplish the first sports & exotic car rally that closed the Coronado Bridge and I-5 freeway in its first year (this is the second year of the rally).

All in all, a colorful event for a wonderful cause....but I was somewhat troubled as well.

As many people would have noticed this morning, exotic and racing cars are often surrounded by attractive women in scantily-clad clothes. This charity event for kids was not different. There were 'rally' girls involved that were taking photos with drivers, in and around the cars, and draping themselves on the hoods of cars. I started to wonder, why is it that 'where there are exotic cars that cost 100s of thousands of dollars, there are attractive women?' So I asked:

Are we not framing women to look like they are objects of desire, just like the exotic car? Are we fueling the stereotype of expensive car = get hot girl? Perhaps I was reading too much into it. But then I saw this:

Although not explicit, our kids watch these events and interpret what they see. In the movie Miss Representation middle and high school children were asked how the media influences their definition of beauty and how they view themselves. Many testimonials were themed on how young girls feel like they need to be skinny, need to have clear skin, and need to have a fair complexion, so that they are not made fun of at school by boys AND girls. The movie tackles tough issues like unequal wages for women in the workplace and why there are fewer role models in media and political positions for young women to look up to.

Although this morning's event was for a wonderful cause, could they have done WITHOUT the rally girls?

What do YOU think?

Akshay facilitates workshops on leadership, communication, and teamwork for adults and children with Ziksana Consulting. Read his Behavior Blotterfor more on his work and his observations. If you have any ideas for stories, please contact Akshay at akshaysateesh@gmail.com

Tags: community, leadership, people

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Comment by Ed Weisbrod on September 10, 2012 at 10:21am: I think is was a charity event with nice cars. Not looking to really get into the fray regarding the topic of this article...but I bet that if the cars were kind of decent looking mid-seventies Pintos and Gremlins there would have been a lot fewer people attend.

Comment by Jim Rohn on September 10, 2012 at 10:46am: ^

ditto

why are the cheerleaders for pro sports teams "attractive"? Why are they female?

This is a great event for a great cause and some one feels the need to try to find fault? jeesch, really???

Comment by Ed Weisbrod on September 10, 2012 at 3:43pm: :-)

Comment by Linda Vause on September 10, 2012 at 6:05pm: Agree. This is sexist & rediculous. Too many women have sacrificed to earn respect & be taken seriously In the business, political world etc to be disrespected like this. Right up there with Charger girls!!

Comment by Rob Hurlbut on September 11, 2012 at 7:03am: No, a car rally doesn't need rally girls any more than a football game needs to serve alcohol. BUT, there are some people that like to look at attractive women as they draw attention to a fast car, just like some people like to drink while watching sports.

Believe it or not, but the women, the cars and the booze are there for people that WANT to see them, not to highlight the fact that most Americans are fat, can't afford the cars or handle the physical appearance of the women presenting them.

Yeah, the cars at the show are better than yours and the women are better looking and thinner than your wife...

How dare any of you assume that a beautiful person has sacrificed less or paid less dues than their McDonald's eating, non exercising counterparts?

Comment by brookers on September 11, 2012 at 1:18pm: This was an event for a great cause, but I agree, the women were absolutely unnecessary. The cars themselves were enough to attract viewers, just as football itself attracts viewers, not the cheerleaders. The problem that is being overlooked by the men who've commented above, is these scantily clad dressed women being an attraction levels them to the exotic car, objectifying them (I do realize the women were not forced to do this).

As a woman, I am used to this model that the media uses to define beauty. Skinny, big breasted-often impossibly unproportional. The issue is that young girls are being spoon fed that this model is what to strive for. And in most cases its impossible to achieve, leaving young girls feeling inadequate and self-conscious often leading to depression and eating disorders.

How would these men feel bringing their daughters to an event like this? How would they explain to them why its necessary to have these women in front of the already beautiful cars. "Look daughter, here is what we strive for---expensive cars, and beautiful women." And to their sons, will they explain that only beautiful women like that are attracted to men with expensive cars? Where is the emphasis on intelligence and personality that really drives meaningful relationships and happiness?

At the end of the day, this was a charity event to raise money for children. And thus children, and their perceptions, not sexy women, should have been the focus.

Comment by Jim Rohn on September 11, 2012 at 3:53pm: I like Rob's reply ...

others need to focus on the positive aspects of life

We can't all live in the Spreckels mansion or of the Hearst Castle - that does not take away the desire to visit or tour through them.

We can't all have uber-exotic sports cars (nor do all of us WANT one), but that does not extinguish the desire for SOME of us to view them in a show.

We all can't be married to Brad Pitt or Jennifer Aniston either, but that does not remove the desire to be entertained by them in their chosen fields (go to a movie, etc).

We are all individuals that deal with life in our own ways.

Unfortunately some people go out of their way to find fault with everything and others roll with the flow.

Al Bundy said it best ...

Comment by Pamela McCollum on September 11, 2012 at 4:31pm: Sad fact of the human condition, and one that will never change........sex sells.

Comment by Jim Rohn on September 11, 2012 at 4:53pm: and that is a two way street ...

Comment by Jimmy on September 11, 2012 at 5:04pm: haha. This post absolutely cracks me up. Criticizing a car show for using beautiful women to attract attention while at the same time using pictures and multiple videos of those women to attract attention to the post. It's like Bill O'Reilly playing the entire Carl's Jr. commercial with Paris Hilton while complaining that the commercial is too sexy for TV.

This isn't to say that your overall point about fueling gender stereotypes isn't valid. I just wanted to point out that you appear to be guilty (or at least complicit) of that which you condemn.

Comment (keep it clean & on topic)