The other group is the type that demands sexual homogeneity and sterilization of everything. For these people it is offensive for racing to tap into tradition. Tapping into tradition reminds them of the time when women had a primarily home-centric life. Women at home? Children are so unimportant and can wreak havoc with a career! These people have mailpersons not mailmen. They would have line persons instead of linemen maintaining their electric service but so far only men have signed up for this dangerous line of work. For these people a Ladies classic means limits on the female in society. They may even lobby for the Classic and Ladies Classic having an equal purse. However they ignore the fact that a filly or mare can run for the big purse of the Classic if able. These people desire a world where almost everything is androgynous and traditional sexual roles are vanquished. The mere changing of a race name sparks an outcry complete with protests, petitions, boycotts and bra burning.
13 comments:
you spelled complain wrong
I think you missed those of us who are simply annoyed that they've moved a great race to day no one will watch or attend -- as a working mom, I certainly cannot just take a Friday off and fly across the country for a few races (and I'm a big fan of bras, personally, as my credit card bill will attest).
Were you trying to spell 'campaign' or 'complain?'
I'm afraid I am not familiar with these 'traditional gender roles' of which you speak...
Oh, and you wrote 'wreck havoc' rather than 'wreak havoc' -- and hey, kids can do that to a man's career too! They are pretty equal-opportunity when it comes to sleep deprivation.
Into what tradition, exactly, is racing tapping into? You've made some awfully sweeping generalizations here, most of which are completely unsupportable, and some of which are, frankly, offensive. Certainly, I respect your right to your opinion, but I wish that you'd have found a less reductive way to express it, without resorting to antiquated stereotypes.
"The other group is the type that demands sexual homogeneity and sterilization of everything. For these people it is offensive for racing to tap into tradition. Tapping into tradition reminds them of the time when women had a primarily home-centric life. Women at home? Children are so unimportant and can wreck havoc with a career!"
I think you frankly missed the point of some of our arguments, not only is the name stupid since they aren't ladies -- what the Breeders' Cup has accomplished is that they've watered down Saturday's card by replacing great divisions like the Distaff and F&M Turf with the Dirt Mile and Marathon.... my love of the Distaff and F&M Turf has nothing to do with a gender bias (I am a guy after all), but instead it's that those divisions in recent years have had more parity and repeat contenders since the main players aren't always wisked off to the Breeding shed at the end of a 3-year-old campaign.
You clearly can't assign all of the dissenters into two discrete categories. I think a lot of people (myself included) were happy that there were new races last year and didn't mind them being held on Friday. The problem is that this year they are moving historically significant races to inferior time slots. It is a demotion to put the Distaff on Friday when most of us will have to take time off from work to see it live. The viewership and handle will obviously suffer. John from Not to the Swift gave a great litmus test for the change. Would you be offended if the Classic was moved to Friday? If you are, I think you should be offended by the Distaff moving to Friday. My position has nothing to do with the name change, just the reduction in stature and availability.
I think it is fantastic that in a so-called "dying sport" that has run out of fans, a lot of people are turning to the internet to create a closer-bonded community...and speaking up.
A few years ago, we would have had to have waited for a week or so until the Blood-Horse came in the mail to find out about this. Now we get instantaneous news and the community not only reacts but makes noise.
If the old saying is true, something about "the worse off people are, the less they complain;in the end, they are silent" then I think the protests over Ladies Day (and lots of other racing "issues") is a very healthy sign.
If you go back and look, many people in the "community" protested the expansion to two days because of diluting the image of the BC as the championship.
Now dividing the races by sex, and putting ALL the great filles and mares (and there are so many great ones now) on a work day when few will be able to watch on TV or head to the track seems to be robbing the Saturday program of some of the best performers and rivalries.
Do not look forward to the day when change does not garner comment and when the community doesn't make noise, yea or neigh.
(That was a deliberate spelling alteration, Superfecta. Actually, I thought "camplaign" in the original headline was too. I thought it was brilliant, actually, one that the Dems might want to adopt. You mean it wasn't on purpose?)
Fran, I think you make some great points -- discussion and disagreement can be a great way to get something moving forward. It's all in how you present it.
p.s. - I'll let you know whether I'm still in a campaigning or complaining mood after I see Michelle Obama speak tonight!
You're going to hear Michelle, not Himself? What is it, Ladies Night?
(Sorry, I couldn't resist.)
f.
LOL -- good one, Fran! She was great, by the way; I'd even say she's a better speaker than he is (and has the luxury of being allowed to be funny in parts of her speeches). I suspect he'll come visit us at some point before our primary as it's become 'kind of a big deal,' so I'll try to see him too.
Great blog. I thoroughly enjoyed Oaks Day at my first Derby weekend in 2006, and gather the same excitement will generate on BC Friday, you know, with all the nice hats and all.
Oaks Day is a virtual racing phenomenon that is popular b/c of racing support that is unique in the Louisville community. It gained popularity as the Derby week event that "locals" would attend... The Breeders' Cup attempt to emulate this is going to be a hard act to follow considering that, as someone said above, they've watered down the product. We've went from having a day where you had 8 Grade I races in a row to now having 5 GIs with a few other "B" level races in between.
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