Existing as a Woman in a Male-Dominated Space
Samantha Tane. Image Source: Provided
By Samantha Tane | Motorsport Content Creator
But God forbid women be fundamental and successful in a “MANS” world right? We are more than mothers and partners; we are part of the future.
For years, women in motorsports have been whittled down to just partners and eye candy in the form of grid girls and models, disregarding any thought that women can bring substantial contributions to the engineering, mechanical, media and even driving departments.
Hello, my name is Samantha, a motorsport content creator from New Zealand, and I am just one of the HUNDREDS of women who create social media content, and just a drop in the ocean of women in/into motorsport. My “niche” started as Formula 1 edits, branching out into general Formula 1 content and now further into New Zealand-based content from on the ground at events, the latest being the opportunity to run the GT New Zealand Championship TikTok account for their round 3 race weekend.
As a motorsport content creator, I have been subjected to, and witnessed other female creators being subjected to disproportionate hate and gatekeeping compared to men doing the exact same thing, why?
While it is beautiful to be surrounded by people who share in the same interests, social media has amplified the amount of backlash we face for simply sharing our passions. As mentioned, my own content journey started in July 2021 with Formula 1 edits, whereby I gained both ‘success’ and hate. To edit a driver apparently meant that I “was only watching Formula 1 for the drivers” and was a “DTS fan”. Here's a secret that not many people know, I am in fact a “DTS fan”, I grew up with motorsports but got brought back to it all by Drive to Survive with Silverstone 2021 being the first Formula 1 race weekend I watched fully. Why do I keep that close to my chest? People immediately discredit “newer fans'' as not being genuine, intellectual fans that love the sport and can contribute immensely to the community. It’s taken two years to get to a place where the discrediting is at a minimum, if those same people got a whiff of the timeline of my F1 journey they’d slap me back in the “new fan” stereotype and immediately forget everything they already know about me. Yes, there is a certain stereotype around people who have been brought to F1 by Drive to Survive (you know, the show was designed to bring in more fans, funny how that works). The stereotype is that “DTS fans” have no knowledge of racing, or its history or, here's the kicker “only watch for the attractive drivers”, yep, the use of the “DTS fan” insult is disproportionately aimed towards women, which makes the point of, “it isn’t about Drive to Survive at all is it?”.
Abu Dhabi 2021; Monday 13th December, 2 am. Like usual, an early race for Oceanic fans, and with it being the title decider I decided to record my reaction to the race (why? I am a very animated spectator, and a Max fan, so I was very invested in the race). We all know the events that transpired but Max Verstappen became the 2021 Formula 1 World Champion, and of course I was ecstatic. I made the decision to post my complete last-lap reaction, tears and all. 280,400 Views, and almost 21,000 likes later my notifications were inundated with hate, and I’m not talking AD21’ controversy hate, that is understandable to a point (but shouldn’t be directed towards a creator), I’m talking DTS and gender orientated hate.
“Defo a DTS fan hahahah”
“DTS brought you here”
“100% chance you’ve only watch 2021 season”
“DTS fan ”
“watches 1 F1 race and is an (fan)”
“Such a fake reaction. Not a real F1 fan”
“Another so-called F1 fan with a crush who has no idea about F1 or the rules.. so annoying” “any real F1 fan, regardless of the winner, was furious with the way the FIA managed the race. No real F1 fan could celebrate. Shocking”
*note all grammar and spelling is as is found in their original comment*
All because I posted a short video of myself watching the last lap.
Oliswiftf1 is a creator that makes F1 quick-fire quizzes, which are enjoyed and participated in by loads of F1 creators on TikTok, a simple duet to answer the questions and post, there’s no way that could be controversial right? Unfortunately, no, gatekeepers find issues in BOTH wrong and correct answers from female participants, or at least just mine.
Getting questions WRONG:
“How can you not know 130R”
“Drive to Survive fan know nothing, how do you not know who Graham Hill is?”
Getting questions RIGHT:
“I doubt she knew the Jaques helmet, the rest she probably knew but this one was sus as hell” “Theses are piss easy”
“def watched the video before you ain’t know nothing”
“lmao you watched it twice and wrote down the answers on a notepad”
“you watched it before 100%”
“When you watch the video before”
“pov she watched the whole video to get them all right”
*note all grammar and spelling is as is found in their original comment*
God forbid I, a woman, be knowledgeable about Formula One stats, history and facts, right? The answers I get correct face more backlash than the wrong ones, yet I’ve not seen this energy be kept with the exact same answers coming out of male creator’s mouths… and even more so, no one bats an eyelid when they get a question wrong….
Because just about everything a female creator says is met with backlash, including their own personal opinions and preferences, and their content we naturally (at least in my case) go out of the way to learn and absorb knowledge to achieve “validation”, ending up being a damn encyclopedia of F1 and motorsport knowledge and still failing to live to the unattainable “expectations” of gatekeepers. Someone's content does not validate, nor invalidate their worth, knowledge, expertise, or skills. At the end of the day, we are all fans of the same sport- the timing of how, or why you fell in love with the sport shouldn’t matter.
Of course, women who enjoy F1 or Motorsports are stereotyped as “watching for drivers”, and “Only enjoying the male attention” yet when asked “What does motorsport, or F1 mean to you?” a selection of female followers responded:
“Motorsport gives me something to look forward to in life. It has been in my life since I was born, and I’ve grown up watching and going to races to support my family. Motorsport means so much to me because when I was mentally struggling through covid it gave me a purpose, sitting on the couch on a Wednesday night watching ****** race on iRacing got me through the endless lockdowns! Motorsport is my life! And I do get judged for that because I’m a female “and I’m watching for the men” but that couldn’t be further from the truth!! Motorsport is my world!! And it is what makes me, me! I’m proud of that!”
“I write my own blogs. Motorsport runs in my blood, it’s home and it’s something that makes me feel on top of the world. It excites me, exhilarates me and unleashes a passion I never fully understood as a child. it is part of me, and I can’t wait to see more women chase the scene”
“F1 means the world to me. It’s like my own little safe place I can go, and just enjoy something I love. I’ve made so many friends and created lovely memories because of it, I even started a podcast with some girls which has been so good for boosting my confidence and happiness. ”
Not one mention of drivers, attractiveness, “clout chasing”, or anything we are consistently branded as watching Formula 1 or Motorsports for, so who’s wrong here?
Zoe Douglas, Samantha Tane & Khalila from Grid Girls Down Under. Image Source: Provided
Quite frankly the thought that women cannot be genuinely interested in what’s deemed a “male” interest is severely outdated (not saying that way of thinking was ever right but, like everything in time, it was accepted). And furthermore, the idea that “women can’t drive or race” is even more outdated and wrong.
Lella Lombardi: The first woman to score points in Formula 1 and the last woman to compete in F1.
Maria Teresa de Filippis: The first woman to ever compete in Formula 1 (5x starts) In 2006 she recalled “The only time I was prevented from racing was at the French Grand Prix. The race director said “The only helmet a woman should wear is the one at the hairdressers””
Danica Patrick: The first female driver to win an IndyCar race (Japan 300 2008). 2009 Indy500 Podium sitter and 2014 Daytona 500 Pole sitter
Toni Breidinger: Most successful Female professional race car driver in the United States Auto Club and first Arab American Female driver in NASCAR.
Michele Mouton: 4x Rally winner for Audi, 1982 Rally World Championship runner up, 1986 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb winner (setting course record at the same time) Sabine Schmitz: ‘Queen of the Nürburgring’. 24 Hours of Nürburgring Winner. Simona de Silvesto: First full time female Supercars driver (2017).
Just to name a FEW successful female racing drivers.
Furthermore, a large majority of gatekeepers ‘beloved’ male drivers have strong female backing, in all departments.
Hannah Schmitz: Oracle Red Bull Racing's Principal Strategy Engineer after spending a decade as the teams Senior Strategy Engineer.
Britta Roeske: Sebastian Vettel’s PR manager, working alongside him since 2010- The ONLY PR on track who was directly employed by a driver.
Charlotte Sefton: McLaren PR manager for 7 years, last working with Lando Norris. Current W-Series Head of Communications.
Angela Cullen: Lewis Hamilton’s Physio and Performance coach 2016-2023. Hailed by Lewis as “One of the greatest things that’s happened to him”
Erin Grocott: Williams F1 Team Sub Assembly Technician. Responsible for building and servicing car components and systems.
And this is just a FEW of the influential women within Formula 1 teams specifically. But God forbid women be fundamental and successful in a “MANS” world right? We are more than mothers and partners; we are part of the future.
