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The Impact of Women in Motorsports: Breaking Barriers and Inspiring Generations

Women have always been around in the world of motorsports. From Maria Teresa de Filippis, the first woman to race in Formula 1, to Sara Christian, the first woman to race in NASCAR, these women have undoubtedly left a mark on the world of motorsports. As a female who is deeply enticed by motorsports, seeing these powerful women of the past has inspired me beyond belief to follow my dreams in this world.

Although filled with powerful women, I fear the impact of women in motorsports is bigger than any man will ever admit. Maria Teresa de Filippis would have been the first woman to score points in a Formula 1 race if she didn't have reliability issues with her car for her last two races. Maria Teresa was unable to race in that season's French Grand Prix. When confronted about this in an interview, she stated she was told that “The only helmet a woman should wear is one at the hairdressers” by the race director.

And though we might think, ‘Okay, well that was years ago, people thought differently,’ right? WRONG! Unfortunately, we have men in the Formula 1 industry right now who still believe women should not be in motorsports and wouldn’t like the sport if not for the good-looking drivers. This is a quote from Christian Horner, the current team principal for Red Bull: “It's bringing in a lot of young girls because all these great looking drivers.”

Why can we not like F1 and still admire the drivers? It is obviously not a secret that the drivers are good-looking; male fans say it all the time. Yet when a woman declares her love for a driver, the assumption that she only enjoys the sport because the driver is good-looking and not because of its thrilling nature is automatic. There is absolutely no excuse for not wanting women in motorsports other than internalized misogyny and a huge double standard. When men watch women's football, it is just because they enjoy the sport, not because they enjoy seeing attractive women run around in shorts. But when a woman watches men's football, it is solely because they find all the players attractive.

Young women have proved themselves so worthy of being in Formula 1, with Susie Wolff as the director of F1 Academy pushing for more female representation in Formula 1. Women like Maria Teresa de Filippis and Sara Christian paved the way for future generations, demonstrating that talent and passion know no gender. It's time for the motorsports community to fully acknowledge and celebrate the vital role women play, both on and off the track.

(writing one about the men that do support women in f1 soon!! WOO also ignore tags again hahaha)

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Why do fans hate their favorite celebrities WAGS?

In a world where celebrity worship blurs the lines between reality and fantasy, the allure of a male idol can transform into a battleground of envy and resentment for his female admirers.

Fans tend to idealize and create parasocial relationships with celebrities in general, but it may be worse when it is a female fan-male celebrity relationship. Female fans may deeply identify with the male celebrity, projecting their own desires and wishes onto him, occasionally even to the point where they idolize him and create a version of their token celebrity in their head. Sometimes, we view celebrities as some kind of superior being, but in reality, the male celebrity you idealize is just a man. He is just a regular person like you, and no matter how much media you consume related to said celebrity, you will never truly know the inner workings of this person or how they act when they are in private.

When fans see their favorite male celebrity with another woman, it triggers a response of jealousy as they wish to be in her place. Oftentimes, I see a lot of fans painting the female partner in a negative light, whether that be starting rumors or posting hateful videos on the internet. I strongly believe any negative feelings towards the female partner could stem from projecting their own insecurities onto her. These fans have wished to be in the female's position for probably as long as they have ‘known’ the male celebrity. This makes it easier to project their own insecurities onto the poor woman. Some fans might have even found themselves constructing a fantasy relationship with the celebrity in their minds where they imagine themselves as the ideal partner, so someone else coming in and shattering their fantasy upsets them. This obviously leads to serious jealousy, resentment, and even genuine hatred towards the celebrity's partner.

This was a very very short blog post, but I am hoping to type up a longer one soon and publish it somewhere else. If I do, I'll definitely link it here for you guys, if you enjoyed this of course :)