Damned if she does ...

Posted on 15/04/2010

Danica Patrick … remember her, the US driver Richard Branson said he would like on his team? A rampant self publicist, you suspect his comments were more to do with the attention such a signing would bring rather than the driver herself.

Here’s the conundrum. Patrick is a decent driver who happens to be good looking and also female. But in a male dominated world she struggles to be taken seriously as something more than a token woman.

Her latest Twitter post indicates she’s off to do a shoot for the Maxim Hot 100. It’s not the first such shoot she has done, nor is it likely to be the last.

Which raises questions. Is she wrong to do this and by doing it is she letting down women who will claim they should be judged on ability not looks? Or is this the only way for women racing car drivers to get equal coverage in the media?

Or is she just a very astute businesswoman who knows she has to do this to win fans and increase her marketing ability considerably, and in so doing ensure she gets much better drives than she otherwise would?