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Emakumeen Euskal Bira new poster 2016 cropped.JPGBasque women's race reissues poster after sexism row
The organisers of a women’s bike race in Spain’s Basque region who last week withdrew a poster publicising the event after claims it was sexist have issued a replacement – designed by a female cyclist.
Like the poster that was pulled last week, the new one for the Euskal Emakumeen Bira race features the 2015 winner, Katarzyna Niewiadoma of Rabo-Liv.
The earlier version showed her blowing a kiss at the camera, but in the new one is a side on shot of the Polish cyclist in the race’s leader’s jersey, riding alongside a team mate.
The original poster was withdrawn following a complaint from a Basque women’s organisation, although Agustín Ruiz, the director of the five-day, UCI 2.1-ranked race, said he personally did not believe that it was sexist at all.
> Bike race poster pulled after sexism allegations
The new one has been designed by Lourdes Oyarbide, who rides for Basque region-based UCI women’s team, Bizkaia Durango.
Here's the full version of the new poster and, below that, the one it replaces.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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24 comments
What a load of nonsense. People need to ignore these bristle chinned man haters. Blowing a kiss is not sexist.
Why are you going around resurrecting ancient threads?
My guess is it's in lieu of having a girlfriend
I would say there were more crimes against design than crimes against women on that original poster.!
I prefer the second version of the poster although obviously the girls will be naked in the final print, won't they?
The rider is blowing a kiss and its got bot all to do with trying to sell the race as sexy or alluring, its basically promotion and its worked perfect because its now plastered all over the net whereas the new poster will hardly get any air time.
No doubt the rider will have been approached before hand and ok'd the picture so that it could be published.
The internet is full of images of sports people both male and female kissing trophies, badges etc which are subsequently used as promotion items as its about passion for the sport they love.
Now i would agree with people if it showed a semi naked person or someone in an alluring / provocative position advertising a race or event and i dont like the "sexy podium girls" as they are not necessary imho but this is a picture of a girl blowing a kiss.
I find the Comic font used for the headline on the original poster discriminates against fonts that are more suited to this purpose. The new poster is like three separate elements stuck together with no cohension. If a professional was hired to design the poster in the first place, we probably wouldn't have this argument/story.
The odd thing about the original poster, apart from the not quite Comic Sans font for the race name, is that it shows the back of Niewiadoma's head. Or perhaps it's someone else's head.
The new design is rather good; at first you see the riders, then the riders within the riders. Quite clever.
If people found that sexist i imagine they watch virtually no tv, read papers (and i'm not talking page 3) etc. Just look at all the adverts for perfume and aftershave, nigh on naked bodies cavorting around yet no complaints, the WWE wrestling, both male and female scantily dressed yet millions of viewers worldwide. The list goes on and on.
But a picture of a young lady blowing a kiss is classed as sexist. I honestly dont know what this world is coming to.When i first saw it, i thought "aye a lassie blowing a kiss, so what" yet was there any complaints of Cippollini sitting naked, bar the helmet, on a bike......
Yes, but the difference here is that this is a cycle race, not a marketing stunt designed to sell more tat to the gullible. These women train hard to win; appearances should not be a factor. Reducing it to a beauty contest is an insult to all the training and sacrifices that have been made. It's just wrong and sends out completely the wrong message that men's cycling is about who is the strongest and fastest yet women's cycling is about who has the nicest hair. It's attitudes like this that mean women's sport (not just cycling) is miles behind the men's.
I agree with your post, apart from that it's not just the attitudes to hair that means women's sport is behind men's. In many sports (say football) the top level women's version is a slower, or weaker, or less skilful version of the men's - it just isn't as 'elite' in terms of human endeavour, so to compete it needs to differentiate. Women's football struggles to do that. When men's tennis threatened to turn into a big-hitting snorefest in the 90s/00s, the women's game, with its rallies, was often more entertaining to the casual spectator so it stood alongside in its own right. Top-level women tennis players are paid as much as their male counterparts, often for shorter events.
With the women's cycling races being just as entertaining as the men's (see the WC road races last year) you'd think it would be within the wit of the organisers of women's races to design a poster that doesn't just focus on the girlie bits of the girlies, but when an equivalent one for the men's race might have muscles, veins and testosterone popping all over it, I can sympathise with what they're trying to do. Women's sport is sometimes just a tougher sell than men's.
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Yes, but the difference here is that this is a cycle race, not a marketing stunt designed to sell more tat to the gullible. These women train hard to win; appearances should not be a factor. Reducing it to a beauty contest is an insult to all the training and sacrifices that have been made. It's just wrong and sends out completely the wrong message that men's cycling is about who is the strongest and fastest yet women's cycling is about who has the nicest hair. It's attitudes like this that mean women's sport (not just cycling) is miles behind the men's.
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You are wrong - it is a cycle race AND its a marketing stunt designed to sell more tat to the gullible. That's why the makers of the tat (a.k.a., the sponsors) pay for it.
As to whether appearances should be a factor: Maria Sharapova makes more money than Serena Williams notwithstanding the latter's significantly better results. All of the female tennis players listed here http://www.foxbusiness.com/features/2015/09/01/top-seven-highest-paid-fe... - with the exception of Serena Williams - make a materially higher proportion of their total income from endorsements rather than prize money. (Of course this may be because Serena wins everything.) In professional sport, the best salesperson makes the most money. In mens sport, it has tended to be the case that you sell more by winning, although its incorrect to claim that appearances are entirely irrelevant. (I watched a video interview with Brett Tipie recently over on Bike magazine's website. At one point he talks about how Richie Schley was streets ahead of him at realising what sponsors want - product exposure - and delivering it. Which meant Schley made more money, depsite doing the same thing.) In women's sport - at least when packaged by and sold to men (a different, related problem) - you have tended to make more (or at least as much) by looking pretty. This is unfortunate inasmuch as it undervalues the athletic achievements of the women involved. To fix the problem we need to change the attitudes of the buyer (i.e., the audience). It is not enough solely to legislate to change the behaviour of those responsible for marketing the product.
The new poster is a material improvement on the old on so many different levels.
The existence of other things that are more sexist doesn't actually mean that this poster isn't sexist. Surely you can't be so daft as to think that is actually true.
Even more impressive is that your first reaction didn't give you an indication that this poster is actually properly sexist. Yes, it's a woman blowing a kiss, to sell a bike race. Not her athleticism, her sportsmanship or her dedication to her sport mind. No, they're trying to sell you the race on the suggestion of her sexual availability. i.e., they're reducing her down to the sole aspect of her appearance, something that is basically irrelevant to her participation in the sport.
And no, there aren't complaints about a nude Cipo. Which means one of two things. Either a) we're all quite turned on by that image and hoping for more of the same or b) we don't perceive the style of the picture to be trying to sell us on Cipo's looks and sexual availability. Now I'm in the latter camp but I'm not judging you if you're in the former. However, I am judging the producer and I don't see that they've strayed over the line into sexism. Nudity doesn't automatically mean sexism and/or sexual objectification. Context is also very important. The context of the original poster is what makes it sexist. That's an important distinction to learn.
I never notice posters for bike races until someone points out they are sexist!
Alone from an aesthetically design point of view, the original poster is not acceptable.
But seriously;
why is it, that women events never show the girls on their bikes, you know - racing. Instead, the femininity of the event is emphasized by using objectifying motives that are commonly connected with womenly behaviour (braided hair, blowing a kiss).
So on those accounts, the original poster is indeed sexist or at least discriminating. Also fellow men, you do not get to decide when a woman takes offense in the way she is portraited.... what you might feel is totally acceptable, maybe to a woman is not.
And btw, sexism does not always mean 'tits oot'....
Outrage, indignation and huge offence taken on the part of whoever found the first poster distasteful.
Its a bike race, and i'm sure it will be great. Watching some of the Crit events on Youtube, the standards are exceptionally high for both sexes, even to my eye though, the women seem to crash more.
I'm more concerned about the graphic design of the original advert. Was it produced in MS Paint?
Agreed. The new poster at least looks professionally produced: the original one did look like it had been cobbled together during a rainy lunchtime in the computer lab.
The sponsors of last year's winner might just be feeling a bit miffed...as with the new flyer you've no idea who she's riding for. As for sexist it's not boding well for Giant-Alpecin, who are pepetuating the myth that grey haired men are somehow less attractive than their colour enhanced brothers?
From the initial picture it was at least clear it was a women's race; but now, not so much. There's a bit of schizophrenia here ...
A photo of a young lady cyclist pursing her lips is sexist???
Some people need to get a reality check.
Yes, because sport is all about atheletes pouting. I don't know about you, but the only reason I watch cycling is because of all the cute guys making kissy lips at me from the posters. It seems entirely normal and un-remarkable to me, especially when they are disproportionately under-funded.
I don't know what all the fuss is about.
You'd think women would be happy to be allowed out of the kitchen, but no.
Yeah, the original poster seemed to be emphasising the 'fun' and 'frivolity' of the event. Which would be fine if one could believe the male equivalent would be advertised the same way. But I suspect in the men's case the image would be chosen to emphasise aggression and intense phsyical effort.
Who says she's pouting? How do you know she's not whistling?
The young girl has her lips pursed and some-one put the picture on a poster - So if she's pouting or blowing a kiss, is it the girl who is being sexist, is it the poster that's sexist or is it the person from the advertising company who used the picture?