The Lady Racing Drivers of Brooklands

"415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°)" (415s30) 01/10/2016 at 20:06 • Filed to: Brooklands

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http://silodrome.com/lady-racing-dr…

Berang > 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) 01/10/2016 at 20:24

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Gwenda Stewart broke records in this modified Miller. I think the car still exists too.

edit:

http://speedqueens.blogspot.com/2010/07/gwenda…

Matthew Phillips > 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) 01/10/2016 at 20:28

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Can I go back in time and marry one....

this is not matt farah's foxbodymiata > 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) 01/10/2016 at 20:33

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How did this go away. Clearly it’s not a lack of inherent ability, it’s not like driving a car depends on how much you can bench. I’m sure its to do with gender roles and such, ladies are just supposed to be pretty and watch the men do dangerous shit and so on. In the modern age, though, I really don’t get it, especially when the constant complaint is that the wife just doesn’t understand why I spend so much on my car. Wouldn’t you rather have a significant other that gets it and can even share that passion with you?

To me a girl just gets hotter with every tenth she takes off her lap time. Why discourage that?

Berang > this is not matt farah's foxbodymiata 01/10/2016 at 20:52

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You’ll find with most of these women that they came from privileged backgrounds which freed them from the constraints of most gender roles. Since they came from money they didn’t need a job or a husband, which freed them up for less traditional pursuits.

I would also posit that world war I meant there were a lot of women in the interwar period who had knowledge and experience with machines and driving and they weren’t going to just put it away because the war was over. Gwenda Stewart for instance got her start driving ambulances during the war.

yamahog > this is not matt farah's foxbodymiata 01/10/2016 at 21:10

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What do you mean by “how did this go away?” Surely there are a few more women in NHRA drag racing alone nowadays than the handful shown here. Not to detract from the vintage cool in any way, but as the skirts/heels demonstrate, gender roles were still very much in place during that time period as well.

And as for “why discourage that?” - you’ll have to talk to the people who are far more content to see us as arm candy and grid girls than racers with minds of our own.

ETA: exhibit A. I just tried to look up women currently in NHRA drag racing and the first result was 10 HOTTEST WOMEN IN DRAG RACING.

Little Black Coupe Turned Silver > yamahog 01/10/2016 at 21:39

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I literally made a hurking noise when I read the result of your search.

this is not matt farah's foxbodymiata > Berang 01/10/2016 at 21:45

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Yeah that makes some sense. Still, I don’t see a lot of trophy wives asking for GT3 drives for Christmas these days

Little Black Coupe Turned Silver > this is not matt farah's foxbodymiata 01/10/2016 at 21:45

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The women with the passion still exist. They’ve just had to deal with years of hearing and seeing that the only women at a racetrack should be the umbrella girls. But only the attractive ones.

Little Black Coupe Turned Silver > Matthew Phillips 01/10/2016 at 21:50

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Why back in time? Lady racers exist today...

Matthew Phillips > Little Black Coupe Turned Silver 01/10/2016 at 21:52

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Pure class... these ladies have that.

Little Black Coupe Turned Silver > Matthew Phillips 01/10/2016 at 21:55

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Historically speaking, they would have been considered anything but classy due to the drinking and pants wearing.

Little Black Coupe Turned Silver > this is not matt farah's foxbodymiata 01/10/2016 at 21:56

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I would ask for a GT3 in a heartbeat.

But I doubt anyone would ever consider me a trophy wife, so it doesn’t count.

See the problem?

yamahog > Matthew Phillips 01/10/2016 at 21:58

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bruh.

Matthew Phillips > Little Black Coupe Turned Silver 01/10/2016 at 22:00

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I was just thinking that, but I’ll take a woman in pants if she’s willing to get under the car with me...

Modern class

Little Black Coupe Turned Silver > Matthew Phillips 01/10/2016 at 22:04

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And I’ll take a man who doesn’t judge women based on appearance.

Funny how that works.

CB > 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) 01/10/2016 at 22:04

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I miss the days where a cap and goggles were the only racing gear you needed. Seriously, I need a Morgan Three-Wheeler, a tweed suit, a cap, and goggles. Oh, and racing gloves. Nothing but class.

Matthew Phillips > Little Black Coupe Turned Silver 01/10/2016 at 22:11

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Touche, but then again you can’t judge a guy by a few comments, but I get the gist.

yamahog > CB 01/10/2016 at 22:11

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Having spent my undergrad life in a Panhellenic sorority, I am so over the trappings of #class ;)

CB > yamahog 01/10/2016 at 22:14

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I’m not going to lie, I had to Google what Panhellenic meant.

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > CB 01/10/2016 at 23:12

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Yeah, when being flug head over heels from the vehicle was the safest way to survive a crash.

Berang > this is not matt farah's foxbodymiata 01/10/2016 at 23:15

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I don’t think that it doesn’t happen, just that the demand for racing in general is not what it was in that era, and what is left has pretty much congealed into boys clubs.

Berang > Little Black Coupe Turned Silver 01/10/2016 at 23:20

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This wasn’t the 1890s, by the interwar period most people were comfortable with women wearing pants for sportswear. Bloomers were positively antiquated by then.

Pants were fashionable.

Little Black Coupe Turned Silver > Berang 01/10/2016 at 23:33

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Tell that to my mom who helped form a protest in college in 1970, because women weren’t allowed to wear pants. Dresses or skirts only.

Berang > Little Black Coupe Turned Silver 01/10/2016 at 23:49

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Tell me what that has to do with pants fashion in the 1930s.

yamahog > Berang 01/11/2016 at 00:04

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mansplain it to us, please. fashionable != “classy.”

Berang > yamahog 01/11/2016 at 00:09

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Oh here we go with the out of hand pre-emptive dismissals and insults.

You’re an adult, go to google, I don’t need to spoonfeed you fashion or racing history. It’s not my job to educate you.

Little Black Coupe Turned Silver > Berang 01/11/2016 at 00:29

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The fact that women had to fight for the right to wear pants as late as 1970 show that even if it was deemed fashionable, there were still plenty of people who felt it wasn’t proper.

Berang > Little Black Coupe Turned Silver 01/11/2016 at 00:45

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That’s because those people suck. But it’s worth noting that classy doesn’t necessarily mean formal. Pants were definitely not considered formal for women to wear in the 30s, or for decades after. But if you look at what the richest, most fashionable women were wearing in the 30s, pants were definitely classy, and often pants were used to sell and symbolize an upper-class, sporting lifestyle in advertising. One wouldn’t have worn trousers to a formal dinner or appointment, but one wouldn’t have been shamed for wearing them to the country club.

yamahog > Berang 01/11/2016 at 06:02

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It is not an insult to point out what you are actively doing. Maybe you should Google it as well since you’re the one getting defensive.

yamahog > Berang 01/11/2016 at 06:29

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You’re describing the WWII-era equivalent of Lululemon. You seem to be operating under a different definition of classy than the rest of us.

Berang > yamahog 01/11/2016 at 11:02

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Coco Chanel was making pants for women in the 30s, and you’re going to try to ask me to believe those weren’t classy. Whatever definition “the rest of us” are using, it’s obviously wrong.

Matthew Phillips > 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) 01/12/2016 at 19:15

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She woke up in a new Bugatti !