Women can't drive!
Wait, what? Who said that?
Women can't drive!
Please don't for a second believe that it was me who said that! Leave it to, arguably, the best race car driver to have never won a world championship to come up with this sweeping sexist slur.
(Even if I did agree, I certainly wouldn't say it out loud).
But this is exactly what 83 year old Sterling Moss OBE stated recently during a BBC Radio 5 interview.
His Sterling quote was; "Only five women have ever driven in a Formula One race, the last in 1992, with just one managing to finish in the points."
A rolling generalization gathers no Moss goes on to say; "I think they have the strength, but I don't know if they've got the mental aptitude to race hard, wheel-to-wheel"
Now, although he is spot on about the statistics, the reasons behind the lack of female Formula 1 drivers has, I believe, more to do with our patriarchal society and sexist upbringing of children than actual balls-to-the-wall ability. I think perhaps society, and not genealogy, contributes to this seriously skewed representation of women in, yes – a predominantly male sport.
Methinks, Scottish driver Susie Wolff (who is in her second season as a test driver with Williams) might have been biting her tongue slightly when she said; "I've got a lot of respect for Sir Stirling, but I think we're in a different generation."
If I was Susie, I would have told Sir Moss to take his opinions and shove them somewhere between his Zimmer frame and his catheter. Perhaps then I'm from a different generation as well.
What do you think?
P.S If you are a woman, this VIDEO does not help your cause.
(By Darren Maule)