While we laugh at the silly football pundits, might there be a case for saying that sexism is a major force in our own sport?
Funny things, social mores. You bumble along your whole life, secure in the knowledge that you live in a society that privileges men over women. Daily reminders of that truth include the fact that women earn less than men (16% on average, peaking at 27% for 40-year-olds) and that most positions of power are held by men, while domestic drudgery generally falls on female heads.
Then, suddenly, two rich and famous men are humiliated for making sexist comments about a young woman. Within a matter of days, they are out of their jobs and at risk of pariah status. Gosh. So we don't tolerate this stuff any more? Who knew?
Apart from the righteous indignation of those men who want to carry on being sexist, the dominant mood seems to be one of delight at the fate of Andy Gray and Richard Keys, mixed with a tinge of smugness about the brave, equal new world we inhabit. Still, it is just possible that the purging of a couple of soccer bores has not quite brought an end to British misogyny and I wonder if there might be other sports that should be responding to this development with a bit of introspection.
Racing, for example. I dare say I'm a terrible old communist who would be buried alive by a right-thinking society, but it strikes me that there might perhaps be the odd lingering trace of prejudice against women within our little world. At the very least, there are surely some questions to answer. These will do for a start.
1) Why are there not more female jockeys on the Flat?
In my experience, you can go to almost any riding stable and find it is basically being run by teenage girls who put up with the long hours and low pay because they love working with horses. Teenage boys are nowhere to be seen.
Do none of those females want to be jockeys? According to the Racing Post's website, only two of the top 50 Flat jockeys last year were women: Hayley Turner (30th by number of winners) and Cathy Gannon (36th). No woman jockey has ever won the Derby, principally because only Alex Greaves has ever been given a ride in the race, on a 500-1 shot trained by her husband.
As the population gets heavier, it might be thought that women generally have an advantage over men, in that their natural weight is lower, so it should be less of a struggle to boil themselves down to eight stone. The need to do so is, of course, one of racing's less attractive features, but there are many compensations. And yet I see no sign of any increase in the number of women jockeys.
The rules put women at no explicit disadvantage, so what on earth is going on? Could it be that, despite the successes of Greaves, Joanna Badger, Lisa Jones and now Turner, trainers in this country simply aren't giving work to women?
The US, where Julie Krone is in the jockeys' Hall of Fame, seems more progressive than Britain when it comes to gender equality in the saddle. I find this embarrassing.
2) Why are there even fewer female jockeys in jumps races?
Ginger McCain, Red Rum's trainer, who could comfortably exchange banter with Gray and Keys on the subject of women, has won the argument. Steeplechasing is no game for females, apparently, as hardly any of them have a crack at it these days.
I remember a time when there would be at least one woman jockey in the Grand National each year. You knew all about that, because every journalist wanted to tell you about her chances. Those features seem to have died out.
In 1987, Gee Armytage ("racing's honey blonde", as the Sporting Life used to describe her. Ah, those innocent times) rode two winners at the Cheltenham Festival. The following year, on Gee-A, she led the Grand National field for part of the second circuit. You would think her achievements would have inspired a generation of women to be jump jockeys but the next generation seemed to bring almost no one who fancied the job.
"It basically went from girl jockeys being on the rise and doing very, very well, to people being terrified to give them a ride,"Armytage told the Observer in 2003.
"I don't know whether the incidents [a series of injuries to female jockeys] were a coincidence, or we just don't take our falls well. I wouldn't like to say.
"I think there were very few girls who wanted to take that risk in the end. These days, there aren't many girls who have what it takes anyway and even then they've got to be given the opportunity. It's getting harder and harder for them."
There are, of course, Nina Carberry and Katie Walsh, who rode three winners between them at the last Cheltenham Festival. What I find odd about their cases is that both have opted to retain their amateur status, despite having proved that they have skills worth paying for.
Well, there are many reasons why a person might prefer not to make that switch and anyone's choice deserves respect. But both women have brothers who don't seem to have agonised for long before embarking on very successful professional careers. I can't help thinking that, if we had a vigorous culture of female professionals riding over jumps, Carberry and Walsh would have given up the amateur life years ago.
3) Some Flat trainers never use a female jockey. Why?
This will seem a perverse question, in light of what I've been saying about the shortage of female jockeys. But there are a few on the Flat, even though nearly all of them struggle for success, and trainers have plenty of opportunities to give them work. There is a whole series of races confined to female jockeys.
Any trainer who never employs a woman runs the risk that we'll think he is pursuing a deliberate policy. It will not do to answer that there is only a small number to choose from. Don't you want to encourage those few female jockeys who are looking for work? Don't you see yourself as having any societal responsibilities?
Two of last year's top-10 trainers have managed not to use a female jockey for so much as a single ride in the last five years, according to statistics on the Racing Post website. One of them has used more than 40 different male jockeys in that time. Can there be a reasonable explanation?
People tend to hire people who are like themselves. And now that I scan down the list of last year's top-50 Flat trainers, another salient point strikes me: every single one of them is male.
4) Do female jockeys complain of sexism?
Not so far as I know. Three years ago, I asked Turner, Gannon, Kirsty Milczarek and Amy Scott, all of whom were riding at the same track that day, whether they felt they had ever suffered through sexism in racing, and all denied it.
But it would be a shame if racing's power-brokers (mostly men, of course) took that as justification for complacency. The fact is that female jockeys are in no position to complain, whether they want to or not. It is hard enough making your way in this profession without being the boat-rocker who complains about all the old chauvinists she's trying to work for.
We can't wait for complaints. A look at the facts should tell us that something isn't right here.
5) Should something be done?
And so we return to a familiar question: what exactly is the British Horseracing Authority for? If its function is to kick racing into something that resembles a modern industry, capable of attracting the best talent, regardless of gender, then there is clearly room for action on this subject.
Somewhere along the line, our sport is failing the women who could be its stars. Are young women aware that being a jockey is a choice that's even open to them? Does the BHA talk to trainers about their employment habits and explain their responsibilities? Is there confidential support available to women in racing who feel they are suffering because of others' sexism?
Some may say that nothing needs to be done, that there are few successful female jockeys because this is a job that is best done by men. Frankly, that seems nonsense to me. Nina Carberry and Hayley Turner are very talented but they are not freaks of nature. Their achievements can be repeated and surpassed by others.
But you might wait a very long time for those others to emerge if the status quo is allowed to persist. In the meantime, racing wants to market itself as a vibrant, modern, inclusive activity, offering fun for all. That will be a tricky image to sustain if half the population discovers that the only way to participate is by signing up for the best-dressed lady competition.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2011/jan/30/sexism-in-horse-racing
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