Petty Says Racing Isn’t a Sport For Women.
Written by Sheila Scarborough · May 26, 2006
Let me get a wee bit out of my normal NHRA lane here and mention Richard Petty’s comment during an Associated Press interview published yesterday; “I just don’t think it’s a sport for women,” Petty said. “And so far, it’s proved out. It’s really not. It’s good for them to come in. It gives us a lot of publicity, it gives them publicity.”
“But as far as being a real true racer, making a living out of it, it’s kind of tough.”
There’s a moderate amount of squawking tonight in the sports press about this (it was discussed during both Around the Horn and Pardon the Interruption on ESPN.) The upshot of the responses seems to be that folks are shocked, SHOCKED that Petty feels this way.
Well, duh. Any woman who spends time in any male-dominated organization is not surprised that there are still old coots out there who haven’t changed their stripes. We’re not even surprised that they can’t keep their mouth shut about it, and what the heck, it’s a free country.
Ya wanna spout off like that, go ahead. It’s America. But don’t expect many people to take you seriously.
Those women who are talented and work hard will just keep plowing ahead, and the Pettys of the world will eventually fade out of their way. Always have, always will.
What people ought to ask is not why Richard Petty says some doofus stuff, but where in fact are the women in NASCAR? Of course Petty doesn’t think women can make it in his area of motorsports; there’s no critical mass of successful female drivers around to prove him wrong. Maybe he needs to check out the NHRA and watch a number of real, true racing women who are “making a living” just fine, thanks.
Cruise over to Technorati (try a search string such as Richard Petty women racing) for a look at what the blogosphere is saying about all of this; I’d list some of the reactions here but this is a family blog.
I’d say NASCAR needs a Shirley Muldowney-type to go kick some automotive grills in as a winning driver. Any takers?
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9 Responses to “Petty Says Racing Isn’t a Sport For Women.”
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First of all, I think Danica is great, and I root for her to win Indy, but the rest of the year… well Indy is not NASCAR, like NHRA is not NASCAR. So Petty Says…blah blah blah, and you say,”(Petty) will eventually fade out of thier way.” Oh I’m sure We will forget Petty sometime very soon. NYUCK NYUCK NYUCK. Then you totally go off base to ,Shirley Muldowney? “Any TAKERS” Great Reaction time is a part of NASCAR, but there is so much more. Why don’t you compare Female truck-drivers, they make a living, thank you very much, with wheels and an engine, in a male dominated and compettitive enviornment? I feel the Petty “Mentality” can be summed up thus. Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Ty Cobb, Pete Rose, Muhammed Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard, Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt,Karreem Abdul Jabbar,Magic Johnson, Joe Montana, Terry Bradshaw, Wayne Gretzky, Pele, and then theres F-1 and MOTO - GP and other sports that, so far, women have not proved themselves, as of yet. So until a woman becomes the Homerun Champ, or the Heavy-weight Champ, or the Nascar Champ, or the next Evel Knievel, there won’t be anyone to make “us” forget about these, MEN, and even then does anyone believe Barry Bonds will make us forget about Babe Ruth? Hank Aaron didn’t. That said, there are women working there way thru the NASCAR ranks as we speak and it will become monetarilly in-evetable for a woman to race Nextel Cup , in the near future,just like Danica is doing INDY now, but even if they win “The Big One,” like INDY or Daytona, that still won’t make them a champion, like “CHA CHA” and thats enough apples and oranges. Great topic, Thanks.
Your comments are predictable given the brainwashing being done over the past 40 years, but Petty is absolutely right! To advise a lady to go into racing, real racing, not autocross or drag racing or hill climbs, would be irresponsible. A few examples of participation for a little while does not overcome the vast evidence otherwise on and off the track. To call the King, Petty, an old coot places you clearly in the idiot slot where you belong.
“But as far as being a real true racer, making a living out of it, it’s kind of tough.”
Why pillage poor Richard for stating the obvious? And do you think this was a topic he just decided to talk about all on his own? Probably a response to some sexist female reporter’s question, what with Danica in the 500 tomorrow.
And speaking of Danica, will EVERYBODY please let her win an IRL race ANY race, before we annoint her the end-all be-all of racing!? PLEASE!!!
It’s a free country. Let Petty have his opinion. Women are doing good in this field, but they do have to prove themselves against the men.
My 3rd Cousin, Richard Petty, is right. Women do not belong on the track. Mainly because when that monthly thing comes around, they will indeed cause wrecks and maybe even kill people after the race is over just because “It’s that time of the month.” Women serve well on the side of the track, which is why I think Nascar should have cheerleaders and stuff like that. Long live the KinG!
At first, my reaction was that I became very upset and had several questions that popped up in my head. How does he think he can get away with such a comment? Why does he feel we don’t belong? etc…..
But then, I realized that he is entitled to his own opinion. . . and maybe he is right in a way that the NASCAR garage is not right for EVERY woman. Then again he was involved with the sport when women weren’t even allowed in the garage area. I do know that to be true. . . because it is such a different world in the racing world. . you must be made of a tough skin and let things roll off your back and not take things personally.
My feelings are that Women that are truly in love with the sport and have a passion to be in the motorsports arena . . . then there is definitely enough room for them. From every position from an engineer all the way to a driver. If you have the desire and the tough skin to handle motorsports, then motorsports will deal with the women involved!
Checkout my blog at:
http://askpatty.typepad.com/ask_patty_/2006/05/ask_deborah_ren.html
Deborah Renshaw
NASCAR Professional Race Car Driver
Yes, I agree, no women allowed!!! Women belong on the headsets listening to their husband race. That’s just how I see it.
CBS News really nails it:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/09/26/search/main886284.shtml?source=cbsnews&searchString=%3Ca%20href%3Dhttp%3A//www.showbloggers.com%3Eshowbloggers%3C/a%3E&x=0&y=0&sort=1&type=all&num=10&offset=0“>http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/09/26/search/main886284.shtml?source=cbsnews&searchString=%3Ca%20href%3Dhttp%3A//www.showbloggers.com%3Eshowbloggers%3C/a%3E&x=0&y=0&sort=1&type=all&num=10&offset=0“>http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/09/26/search/main886284.shtml?source=cbsnews&searchString=%3Ca%20href%3Dhttp%3A//www.showbloggers.com%3Eshowbloggers%3C/a%3E&x=0&y=0&sort=1&type=all&num=10&offset=0“>http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/09/26/search/main886284.shtml?source=cbsnews&searchString=%3Ca%20href%3Dhttp%3A//www.showbloggers.com%3Eshowbloggers%3C/a%3E&x=0&y=0&sort=1&type=all&num=10&offset=0“>http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/09/26/search/main886284.shtml?source=cbsnews&searchString=%3Ca%20href%3Dhttp%3A//www.showbloggers.com%3Eshowbloggers%3C/a%3E&x=0&y=0&sort=1&type=all&num=10&offset=0
Listen! race car driving is tought for EVERYBODY!!!! This IS a free country and we all have rights to our opinions. We have the right to be wrong(like a couple of poeple on this forum) and since this IS a free country, I guess a woman has the freedom and the right to race cars-even against the men! HEY! This is a free country right? Show me in the law books where it says that a woman is not legally allowed to race and I will take it all back!! I call myself Mathilde because it is a german name( I am 3/8 german), amd because the name means “Mighty in battle” or “Mighty battle maiden”. Think of that! “Mighty-in-battle” or Mathilde is a GIRL’S name! Doea THAT tell you somthing?!!
This whole argument is completely ridiculous. In face, as far as I’m concerned, there is no real argument here at all. Richard Petty is not just sexist, he is intellectually deficient. Of course, I guess the two go hand-in-hand. He proved this yet again when he said, “Do you see a lot of women playing football or baseball or basketball?” after being questioned about his previous sexist comment against women racecar drivers. Of course anyone with half a brain can see that it is pointless to try and compare physical sports to motor sports. Everyone knows that in football, basketball, and baseball, players often rely on their own physical size and strength to compete against each another, so it’s perfectly understandable why women are not allowed to compete against the men in those types of sports, but this is not so in motor sports which has very little to do with one’s physique, therefore it is perfectly understandable for women to be particularly interested in participating in motor sports. And contrary to what some might think, there is no scientific evidence to show that women have any physical, mental, or emotional impairments that would hinder them in an auto race or cause them to be a hindrance to other participants, whether they are menstruating or not. If that were true then they would never have been allowed to drive cars or operate any other kind of potentially dangerous machinery in the first place, such as aircraft, yet women are able to get their pilot licenses just as easily as men and they have been able to for a long time now, by passing the same tests. So arguments like that are just plain unfounded in reality and are akin to the same kinds of arguments that the Nazis used to oppress the Jews and that whites used to oppress blacks and so forth, making them seem less human.
The truth of the matter here is simple. Men are afraid of competing against women in any serious and/or popular sport where there is obviously an even playing field between the two genders as far as actual skill is concerned, such as auto racing, because it undermines their chauvinistic egos and their age-old perception of dominance over women in general. Whenever a woman is able to beat a man at something, no matter what it is, the man feels that his manhood is somehow threatened by that, which of course makes no logical sense whatsoever but that’s still how they like think regardless. I think the word “caveman”, though overused, is applicable here.
The main reason why there aren’t more prominent female racers on the scene at this time is because men don’t want them there, but that is not the only reason