#wags discourse

[valyrfia]

i think sharing a published academic paper on wag pages on the subject of a very niche part of engineering that lily z just happens to be co-author on is incredibly invasive behaviour actually

[blorbocedes]

been chewing on a tag I saw @gayferrari type... "wags are the new grid girls"

so what was the point of grid girls - to associate glamour and sex to an otherwise all male sport. too much penis, even the cars are shaped like phalluses they needed that yonic energy. it was a marketing tactic, a ploy to associate F1 with their playboy, drive cars get money bitches pussy aspiration. It was being marketed to men -- hence grid girls, not even women, dressed in the driver's insignia but more scantily clad, to be beside him for the unspoken implication that the driver can have her after winning the race.

it took until 2018 to phase out grid girls and was replaced by grid kids (and many of our presently woke feminist drivers then wanted grid girls to stay), with a growing cultural backlash and feminist criticism to the sexualisation of women as props in sports in an era where f1 was rapidly losing viewership and relevancy.

after the drive to survive netflix blow-up, FOM, Liberty Media started explicitly marketing to a lesser tapped market which is the female demographic. anything that wants to be relevant in the social media age needs stans, and nothing encourages that like parasocial relationships. now we have social media admins engaging specifically in fan spaces, using their language, referencing ships, doing fanservice and moving away from the solely male centric marketing.

now wags have always existed as long as drivers have been heterosexual but it wasn't until victoria beckham peak spice girls fame sitting courtside for david beckham made being a wife and girlfriend look glamorous, the outfits she wore and the face she served. the princess story for the new age, where the prince is a handsome famous athlete and you're the prize, the one he's blowing a kiss before shooting the hoop. it's why we still have nicole from pussy cat dolls and lewis hamilton winning world title edits in the year of 2025. it's that camera panning on her, with her gorgeous brown waves and teary eyes as she did the sign of the cross and ran to lewis, kissing him over his helmet -- the fireworks of yas marina in the background.

if grid girls tapped into a purely male heterosexual fantasy, wags tapped into a heterosexual female fantasy.

we can see this with the meteoric rise in social media following of the new age wags. f1 drivers have always dated models and beautiful women, but now those women become famous and build a following off the men they're seen with. what used to be limited to paparazzi and the daily mail, now has hundreds and thousands of independent gossip pages who follow their every move, meticulously detail every outfit and brand they've worn, track their social media activity, even their personal relationships. f1 wags are now bigger than ever, they're parasocially obsessed over and hated on more than ever, every move watched and criticised or smothered in affection just for existing. I'm not here to moralize on celebrity worship culture idgaf, but all this online attention is currency and it is profitable. hence wags build their own careers off the curated, aspirational image of being a wag. of travelling all over the world to beautiful places, wearing beautiful outfits, having a (up to debate) beautiful man by your side -- and brands have certainly taken notice. hence the sponsorships, beauty and fashion brands and self care sponsors all vying to work with them from your rhode lipgloss to your alo matching set

now Liberty Media has seen the shift -- no longer reliant on their official female mascots of grid girls, it's the meticulously dressed, savvy, skinny, gorgeous wives and girlfriends who are the aspirational women on the grid. it's important to note hundreds of women have always worked at f1 races, on the grid as marshals, in hospitality, as team personnel, as engineers and strategists. but YAWN 🥱 bo-ring! everyone knows the most important people on the grid are the drivers and therefore the most important women are the ones at his side. and so Liberty Media pans the cameras on these women and their doe eyed worry/elation as their guy crosses the finish line. it's more frequent, more lingering, and voyeuristic in a way that invites you to inhabit their place in your mind -- what would that be like? after all, you viewer at home are similarly biting your nails watching your guy cross the finish line. in that moment she represents you.

it's ofc misogynistic to imply the aspiration of wags is just for women — the idea of the Hero taking his helmet off and kissing the swooning damsel is literally in bond movies and appeals to the conqueror/winner male fantasy.

but from a purely marketing standpoint, FOM benefits from putting these women in official unofficial spaces as part of the drivers' (and thus F1's new more sanitized, "inclusive" brand image). When the wags are invited to F1 Academy events to promote them, when they're invited to the official F1 movie that's just for the drivers' viewing as the plus one, when they're shown on DTS beside the drivers in their private lives, or a whole segment that's about Ginger Spice riding horses with her sex pest team principal husband, when they're in hospitality and the camera cuts to them every so often signalling to the you, the audience, are supposed to care about this story they're selling you. it's no longer the scantily clad 'girls' by the drivers' side to be ogled, it's the official dowager titled Wives and Girlfriends selling you the aspirational, western, heterosexual, wealthy, conventionally attractive family unit.

not here to cast any moral judgments on wag culture -- I enjoy looking at beautiful women who live such fundamentally different lives too, but rather looking critically at why the larger media complex behind f1 wants to sell you their personal relationships in the era where your attention is currency~

[antspaul]

i fear male athletes must die (from the sports marriage by steven ortiz)

[trashytracktales]

Ello where can we find lando n magui holding hands?

https://www.tumblr.com/trashytracktales/785093347953033216/not-my-finest-moment-but-i-sometimes-check-the-f1

In the PR folder on Sophie’s PC, I reckon.

This is the first and last time I’m engaging with anyone’s relationships/situationships/whatever-ships, respectfully. I’m here for the delusion, the fiction, and the drivers only, not the gossip mill babes. Please, respect my space ♥︎

[fall0utmind]

I have to admit that I think the marquez boys have the "best wags". In quotation cause like I know this is a LOAd of shit. I just love both of them having actually jobs and matching marc and Alex's energy to a t. Like gem is also hilarious and kinda crazy and fucking gorgeous and then Gabri seems so quietly driven but also a bit silly and her comment on Alex's first trap was on point so ye i love them

[inchidentally]

okay prefacing that this is only referring to a small but loud part of the community... to follow up on the thing of supposed Lily Z fangirls turning around saying how she's "better than other wags" (????) bc she's "silent and has no public communications and doesn't take up space apart from looking beautiful" (???) (bc apparently we're not even internalizing the misogyny anymore it's just right out there saying a woman should be seen not heard, publicly beautiful but only serve her man and not want attention for herself) but then after praising that she clearly does not want a load of public attention, proceed to freak the fuck out IN. ALL. CAPS. in comments sections everywhere that she appears even in the background and draw attention to a woman who's clearly does not want be in the limelight....

so yea speaking in that vein can the other incredibly obvious fake fangirls of wags please stop using AI beauty filters on these women's pictures and posting them where they can see ?? that is not Lily Z's real jaw or mouth shape, that is not Alex's real nose and that is not Lily H's cheekbones or eye shape. guess what you aren't selling the whole I'm only here for the girls claim when you make it blatantly clear you don't think they're naturally pretty enough and have to run them through digital plastic surgery and yes we can all see how blurred and weirdly smooth it all looks when you do it so I guarantee the women themselves will go 'yikes that's me but... not me'

and reminder that a woman's college degree is not a Barbie accessory nor is it a "selling point" for her boyfriend that's rly disgusting to talk about it that way !!! pls just leave a like on the original photos of wags posted by official accounts if you're unable to inadvertently demean women whenever you post about them (and yes I know a lot of ppl aren't being weird but it's getting way too comfortable in very public spaces !) and also no she doesn't believe you when you claim you hate Oscar and think he's ugly and stupid and wish she'd just... randomly walk where he is but somehow not have him present when how would that work when you never even see her if she's not with Oscar like wtffff are ppl even doing anymore can we calm down and be normal and actually respect women and not treat them like commodities wow

[wi55iams]

How am I still seeing salt about Rebecca shes not going away literally who cares who Carlos dates its his business???? All she did was have a fun time with her boyfriend and you guys act like its the end of the world.

[youspeakshit]

re: lando norris, starbucks, F1 and boycotts

the first rule of Formula 1 is understanding these privileged men do not give a shit. they partake in the most elite sport there is, where only 20 people can do it at a time. it's a bubble of money and luxury they thrive whitin.

just don't put anyone on a pedestal or your hand on fire for any of them. not even the ones that seem like the good ones.

personally, I expect the bare minimum of no homophobia, no racism, no sexual misconduct or assault. but I do not expect them to care about world problems as strongly as we do. bc if all went to shits they will run to a safe mansion, and we'll be the ones left to survive.

embrace fandom and friendships, the fun of the races and the drama, sharing gifs and fics and edits, and put THAT above your favorite driver!

[valyrfia]

i dont rlly see the problem with people finding lily's paper? if anything i would argue its a good thing that people are interested in her because she's employed and has her own thing going on (unlike some other wags who just promote stay at home influencer girlfriend content)

and if it maybe gets some young girls interested in engineering all the better. i think she's a good icon.

The issue is that Lily hasn't consented to being a public figure. She's not like Alexandra, who started out private then opened her instagram and became a WAG influencer. She hasn't CONSENTED to being this super amazing woman in stem icon and figurehead, she's just a woman who's trying to build a career and I think she should be left in peace to do that. People who are trying to find out this information about her wouldn't know her if not for her boyfriend, and don't know anything about her, so I question their motives for digging for information about her (I observed the weird reaction to everyone hearing her speak for the first time, with loads of people saying it gave them the ick.......maybe because it reminded people that she's her own person in her own relationship, and not a placid self-insert).

[liesmyth]

almost weighed in on some discourse but then i didn't... im so strong. going for a run now

[reigningm4x]

I think it's hypocritcal on Kelly's part to make a post about how there's tm hate in this world when her & her family are known for being racist & homophobic to others. So she shouldn't act too surprise when she's getting back the same energy from the people. Like practice what you preach. The hate on her is justifiable. She's just not a good person overall. I don't understand how you and others can defend her for that.

Where was she homophobic? Or did you just see someone say that and ran with it? The amount of hate she’s getting isn’t justifiable. You just want to latch onto any excuse to keep being a vile hater online. As everyone has said, there are valid reasons to criticize her. But what you and your hater group fail to understand is that you keep spreading fake ass shit and making stuff up just to fulfill your high school mean girl fantasies, which makes YOU also “not a good person overall”. So really, you look worse than she does.

[prospitsdream]

idk if yhis is an unpopular opinion or not but i hate when people tag “attractive dionysus” in a percy jackson fic cuz ik what they really mean is twinky dionysus… nothings actually wrong with twinknysus (considering that was one of many portrayals of him irl) but why are we implying fat guys are unattractive </3 . you almost always see it more w fics more sympathetic/with a positive light on him too, as if the only way we can see a character in a good way is if they’re conventionally hot :(

[eahcomforttrash]

Except a lot of the people who are talking about Apple discourse are around 18-24:/ and not just kids

i'm not as engrossed in the fandom to say otherwise so i'll take your word on that.

though even if that's the case i'd still say its better to just not engage? coz there's no way for us to know where they're coming from, if they're a new fan or someone who just has brainrot atm.

that said, im just yelling out in my void here. sometimes its fun to dunk on takes and i get that! again, my post was just me being amused by the cycle that is 'apple white essay of the month' as it exists in the eah fandom haha!

[formulaonedirection]

Luisa look at me you have better taste in men than this.....

[blamemma]

Why is everyone pretending as if said person in the photo didn’t send said photo to the gossip account themselves? It’s literally the F1 wag playbook at this point, it’s just that some of them are smarter about it by having the picture taken on the street instead on a private jet to really make it look like an accidental sighting

Also they shoulda sent it to deux moi to really add that little ✨

sorry to everyone who literally does not care about this but for some reason i seemingly do and i cant stop thinking about it so u can ignore this....but like SURELY HE KNOWS????????????????? suuuuuureeeeelyyyy he was in on it????? cause there's no logical way one of his pals took that photo and thought they'd get away with it unless they are DUMB (so logically it was a male friend then) so like HE has to be in on it....but then if he is????? how embarrassing???/ why are u leaking ur new relationship through an f1 gossip instagram page???? what is the psyche and reasoning behind that???? and again if he somehow wasnt in on it (which again i find sooooooo hard to believe) it would be SO EASY to work out who on the plane it was because of the angle of the photo so again why would you risk that???

genuinely i am ENTHRALLED by this i need to know the answers i need to know what the fuck is going on....like is carlos sainz embarrassed he has a new gf and wants everyone to stop asking him questions about her so he confirmed it via leak to a gossip page?????? this is genuinely how it is reading to me?????????????????????

[valyrfia]

https://www.tumblr.com/charleslebatman/753278163630620672/she-is-what-she-is-whether-you-like-her-or-not?source=share

Do you speak french right? Do you know if there's any true to what this person is saying ?

Eh. He's basically saying "baby come here" in a tone that could be considered exasperated, but considering Leo was shitting himself in a Monaco street I think he has the right to feel exasperated. Also he's smiling as he's saying it and Alex is clearly unbothered by it, and from what we've seen the two have a lot of shared wittiness to their humour. I think it's someone making something out of nothing.