As you know, I run a motoring club for women drivers and we get a fair bit of flak from men who are fed up about women bleating (that’s how they see it) about wanting better services than them. They think we are all feminists, wanting it all, that sort of criticism.
When I then explain that there are lots of support clubs for women, that the motor industry is considered by many women drivers to be un-female friendly (root and branches, garages, dealers and new car dealerships) and finally tell them that they can enjoy our services if their ‘foxy lady’ joins up, they usually go away smiling and understanding why we feel the need to address our gender differences with our membership services.
But when it comes to positive discrimination such as actively recruiting female MPs or the likes of Sarah Palin perhaps, I do have to draw the line. The best must always be chosen, regardless of gender, race, sexual persuasion or colour. We only have to see the female fall out in the current ‘expenses scandal’ to see what happens when you cherry pick by criteria other than ability and scruples.
When it comes to Wimbledon however, I feel differently in a way.
If female tennis players are to earn the same as male tennis players then they need to feel the same pain during the qualifiers and they must expect to play FIVE sets in a match, not just the best of THREE.
Women are not wimps and we should not be mollycoddled as a weaker sex in this area. We must always compete on a like-for-like basis and equal pay where this happens.
I am not saying that ‘like-for-like’ means that women should play the men however because of the subtleties in the different game styles BUT we should be expected to give the same effort for the same reward.
I’d take it further and say that there should be more women working in the UK motor industry (20% as is) but I am fearful of token-ism here, recruiting eye candy to keep men happy 
so until the industry is [seen as] genuinely more female friendly and actively recruits the best jobs from a female as well as a male audience, I’ll not be banging on about this for a while…
Good luck Andy (and let’s hope it’s a Scottish Andy in the Finals in 2010).
FOXY Steph
“You’ve got to take the initiative and play your game… confidence makes the difference.”
Chris Evert
