| Biker Britain - Excerpt
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'The chauvinism endemic in biker
culture could be seen as retrograde. Pitlane girls stand by
riders on the grid with their little plaques identifying this
or that racer - there is definitely competition between girls
as to who holds the name for pole position - Anstey or Rutter
or McGuinness…Leon Haslam's a catch because he's fast and
good looking…what about Jeremy McWilliams, not so fast,
young or handsome but has the staying power of a slightly slower
champion: I wonder what his girls look like? 'If you're last
on the grid, you're really gonna get a dog,' said someone to
me once in a moment of bitchy pique when I bumped into them
at a track. Then spy the promotional girls in leotards and shoes,
these are the girls who hand out leaflets at boutique shows
with such regularity they build up relationships with hundreds
of men - always smiling; professionally friendly. In print there
are adverts with half naked girls extolling the virtues of oil
or insurance when clearly the connection between the two is
nil.
I was backstage at a show and found myself standing next to
a woman stripper dressed in a maid's outfit. She had just completed
a performance in front of thousands of men which as part of
her repertoire incorporated an outrageous sex act on a willing
member of the audience. It was shocking and exciting, not in
the act itself, which was far too public to be truly erotic,
but in the confusion of feelings it inspired; the tiniest portion
of natural misogyny plus a spoonful of voyeurism. Somewhere
between handing out leaflets and sex acts on stage there is
a point which rigorously divides public opinion on its acceptability.
For me, in the pantheon of things humans do to each other, this
woman had her legs open to the converted. No one in that audience
would have their sensitivities accosted and it hardly ranked
alongside stealing a purse from someone's favourite grandmother.
I asked her if she enjoyed her 'work' and she said she 'loved
it' and said it was 'better than working in an office.' She
looked incredibly happy and gave me a beaming smile. Conservative
mores or happy environment; moral high ground or acts of infamy;
hypocrisy or laissez-faire?'
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