Female stars race against sexism
New research has unveiled outdated gender stereotypes still exist with 55 per cent of Kiwis believing men can drive better than women.
Some 84 per cent of men claim to be better drivers than their female counterparts despite men accounting for 64 per cent of serious crashes on New Zealand’s roads.
And 55 per cent of men believe women are more interested in the style, colour and aesthetics of a car than performance. However, women claim performance and safety are the most important considerations when purchasing a new vehicle.
Male respondents in the survey claimed women were disinterested in performance because “it bores them”, “most women like things that look nice” and “they don’t need performance.”
Jaguar is seeking to challenge these stereotypes by partnering with three female motorsport stars, giving them a platform to demonstrate their expertise and successes, as well as show how the car industry has the potential to lead the way in terms of breaking conventions as it supports International Women’s Day.
They are Tiffany Chittenden who was the first female to win a British National Karting Championship, Amy Hudson who has been appointed as the NZ Women in Motorsport ambassador and Rianna O’Meara-Hunt who has won a slew of motor-racing awards at only 20 years old.
Despite national and international acclaim for their success, these women operate in a heavily male-dominated sport – only 15 per cent of Kiwis can name a female race-car driver and 80 per cent have never seen a female motorsport event.
Chittenden says: “As far as I’m concerned, motorsport has the opportunity to be one of the most levelling sports in terms of gender. A vehicle has no idea whether it’s driven by a male or a female, so we need to move past these outdated stereotypes.”
O’Meara-Hunt adds: “It’s awesome to see more and more women coming into motorsport. When we put our helmets on, we all become equal, we’re all there for the same reason and we all have the same goal at the end of the day.”
Breaking gender stereotypes is part of Jaguar’s rich history and traces back to one of Jaguar’s original racing drivers, Sybil Lupp. She was the first female Kiwi to forge her way into the male-dominated industry in the 1950s, rising to national prominence in motor racing and operating her own mechanics.
To help dispel gender conventions still found in motoring today Chittenden, O’Meara-Hunt and Hudson will use their collective expertise to coach Three’s The Project co-host Kanoa Lloyd through three driving challenges inspired by Lupp.
These are the smart cone challenge – agility and precision challenges in the Jaguar I-Pace with Hudson, the flying quarter-mile sprint in the F-Type with O’Meara-Hunt, and the one-hour endurance in the F-Pace SVR with Chittenden.
These challenges will screen on The Project with the first segment airing on Tuesday, March 15, at 7pm.
Steve Kenchington, chief executive officer of Jaguar NZ, says: “We are committed to challenging gender conventions so a new generation of female drivers can experience the thrill and excitement of high-performance cars.
“We look forward to creating tangible changes in the motoring industry by championing everyday heroes such as Tiffany, Amy and Rianna, and look forward to unveiling more commitments in this place soon.”
