The Heartbreaking Treatment of Women Autowriters
A painful podcast episode shines light on the disgusting things people say to women autowriters every day.
A weekly newsletter by Ryan K. ZumMallen | @zoomy575m
Happy Race Day, especially to the brave souls who look at a minivan and see a drift car waiting to be unleashed.
A dark and painful side of the automotive journalism industry found the spotlight yesterday, when a podcast episode highlighted the terrible and often violent reception that women auto journalists face nearly every day on the job.
I want to be clear that women have been vocal about this unfair treatment for a long time. Several stories have been written attempting to put an end to it. But on this episode of The Tempest, you hear their own voices telling their own first-hand stories. The impact is tremendous.
The women interviewed, who include two Jalopnik staffers, a Canadian site editor, a YouTuber and a freelance writer, discuss their personal histories with cars, their careers and their experiences with sexism in the industry. Usually it follows a pattern: readers demand they prove their credentials; they get publicly questioned and judged; they get diminished to comments about their looks and marriage proposals. Then the next day they do it all over again.
This is pervasive across the automotive industry. For my book I spoke with decorated IndyCar racer Lyn St. James who detailed decades of similar experiences, some of them amounting to institutional sexism at the highest levels of motorsport. The influencer Emelia Hartford explained how she’s grown accustomed to convincing men she actually knows what she’s talking about, or that the car she pulled up in is hers and not a boyfriend’s. The women on the podcast told story after story in this vein.
And then they start reading. Each journalist had been asked to compile comments directed toward them in the past, and then read them aloud. What follows is a deluge of vile criticisms, objectifications and threats that give the car community a black eye. It’s especially sickening to hear the raw toll that the experience has taken. Listening to one writer struggle with depression and her future in a fickle industry, combined with this onslaught, is embarrassing to everyone involved in car culture.
It should be noted that no man has ever been subjected to the vitriol, strictly based on their gender, these women face on a regular basis. And dealing with it is a responsibility that’s been levied against them through no choice of their own, simply for trying to do their jobs.
And what immediately becomes apparent, at least to me, is that this is not a dark corner of the automotive community. Or a couple of bad actors or troublemakers. It is instead commonplace, and has been encouraged, and in many cases has shaped decisions within this culture and industry for as long as it’s been around. The car community will not be able to reckon with this behavior until it can turn the mirror on itself as a whole. We all must do better to build a more inclusive, welcoming and better car world. Or we don’t deserve it at all.
There is no quick and easy solution. The most impactful thing I can think is to highlight the stellar work these women do, encourage you to read and hire them, and build foundations within which they and others have the opportunity to pursue a career the way any man does. And then hold each other accountable to ensure it stays that way.
While you’re at it, follow these writers too: Eileen Falkenberg-Hull | Nicole Wakelin | Carly Schaffner | Elana Scherr | Hazel Southwell
And go out and find more!
Culture
A YouTube channel got Dodge’s chief designer to beg people to take off the little yellow bumper guards that owners have been leaving on as a fashion statement. You know, these guys. He also said Dodge is changing their color to purple in hopes that they’ll be removed right away… which, lol.
Personally, I am in favor of doing things that serve no purpose beyond aesthetics. Let bros have their bumper stickers!
The latest magazine to get smacked with cuts and layoffs is the UK racing outlet Autosport. They’re killing the weekly print edition while also raising the price. For many, it marks the end of a defining era in their lives. Indy 500 champion Dario Franchitti counts himself among them:
The magazine turns 70 years old next year.
Think you’re fast? McLaren is holding open auditions for its driver development program, Project Shadow, for anyone with access to an Xbox. Set a blazing time in Forza Motorsport 7 and you could be fast-tracked for a racing career.
Evergreen tweet:
Video Reel
Do you remember the first time you experienced a drive-through car wash? For comedian Paul F. Thompkins, it was last Wednesday.
When we talk about race cars being “driven in anger,” this video of a 1982 Ford Mk2 Escort is what we mean.
The IndyCar season has come to a close, but here’s a video of ten times that drivers nearly crashed, saved it at the last second and immediately yelled “Holy shit!” into their radio.
Race Results
Dirt, mud, big trees and big speed. The Wales Rally is one of the premier events on the WRC schedule and it did not disappoint. Hope you like going sideways at 100 mph.
This Weekend
Couple of great racing events on the calendar. First is the Japanese Grand Prix held at the legendary Suzuka circuit. Watch it this Saturday on ESPN at 10:10 pm PDT.
Here are five shocking moments from Japanese GP history to get you going.
There’s also the 10-hour Petit Le Mans season finale for IMSA at Road Atlanta, one of my favorite tracks and events of the entire year. Here’s the broadcast schedule.
Radwood Boston! Tickets here.
And Finally…
Formula One drivers in strange poses, costumes and colors by a talented fantasy artist. I’m not exactly sure of the point, but I’m in.
Drive hard and be safe.
Want your event included? Shoot me a note with subject line “Race Day” at ryan@carrarabooks.com.