Candace Bonner, M.D. 67 3158
--Boundary_(ID_AaXv+cp4g9w/jpBHmUnooQ)
Content-type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII
Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT
--Boundary_(ID_AaXv+cp4g9w/jpBHmUnooQ)
Content-type: message/rfc822
Date: Mon, 5 Jun 2000 03:27:00 GMT
Date: Mon, 5 Jun 2000 03:42:00 GMT
From: "Candace Bonner, M.D. 67 3158" <BONN-@kpnwoa.mts.kpnw.org>
Subject: RE: FW: [OBRA Chat] Fwd: petition
In-reply-to: <F70F37F77E9FD211AC3F-@orsmsx47.jf.intel.com>
To: "Barila, Phil" <phil.b-@intel.com>
Message-id: <A2259ZYMMTLHUG*/R=KPNWOA/R=A1/U=BONNERCA/@MHS>
MIME-version: 1.0
Content-type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII
Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT
Delivery-date: Mon, 5 Jun 2000 03:42:00 GMT
Posting-date: Mon, 5 Jun 2000 03:42:00 GMT
Importance: normal
Priority: normal
A1-type: MAIL
The constructive and instructive feedback from Phil Barila, David Beede,
and Mike Murray is much appreciated. Obviously we do not want to make
rules that cripple our promoters, or there will not be any cycle racing
in Oregon. The program Team Estrogen is promoting in Washington State
sounds great-a woman cyclist's dream come true, though it does not
address the Masters' issues and it isn't in Oregon. It does address (for
Washingtonians) key issues-helping women get the skills and giving them
the motivation to participate in bicycle racing, and I encourage
everyone to take Phil's advice and check out their web site. All that
said, I still think OBRA can accept the basic premise that men and women
should be treated equally--- without causing detrimental change in the
costs of promoting races. As has been pointed out, I am not the best
person to be bringing up this issue, as I know little of the realities
of promoting. I did talk to some closer to promoting, and it seems
(please correct me promoters if this is not correct) the main costs of
race promotion are advertising, providing officials, and prizes.
Advertising costs should not increase when categories are added.
Officiating costs could significantly increase. However, in time
trials, with all racers individually timed anyway, costs should not be
impacted. In road races, if categories were started separately,
officiating costs would increase. I am told if smaller categories are
grouped in one mass start, but scored separately, it takes a little
longer to get results but does not impact officiating costs. Cash
prizes of course could have a major cost impact, but if limited to
overall winners-i.e. overall men or overall women, or in races with
larger numbers of participants, overall senior men and women, master men
and women, and junior men and women, and ribbons only for the sub
categories-- these cost increases might be minimal. Even ribbons cost
money of course, but I am sure racers would rather compete for less
elegant ribbons which they have a real chance of winning, than more
costly and elegant ones. Slight increases of $1-2 in race fees might
cover this cost. Most of the other sports which attract high numbers of
Master's level participants, such as running, swimming, cross-country
ski racing, triathlons, etc., appear to have accepted this basic premise
of treating men and women equally. I doubt that numbers are equal male
Vs female in any of them. Every time I have showed up at a cross-country
ski race, there has been a 5-year Master's age category for me. It seems
that bicycle racing should be able to find ways to readjust and treat
woman equally as well without crashing financially. Promoters please
correct me if my assumptions are too simplistic!
John Forbes' input was also much appreciated. I was expecting to hear
from the Masters Men, as they are the group most likely to be adversely
affected by any adjustments to keep women's categories equivalent to
men's without increasing costs. To tell you the truth, however, I was
expecting to see the most support from the Masters Men, as they know
better than anyone else how we feel: the difference between the joy and
exhilaration of really racing Vs the pleasant but unexciting exercise
when one knows it is a forgone conclusion that one will be in the bottom
third of the pack, no matter how hard one tries, given that most of the
field is ten to twenty years younger. The impetus for this petition
began with Masters-age women talking disgruntledly at the Jack Frost
Time Trial. There were about 45 Masters Men racing in three ten-year age
categories and thirteen Masters Women racing in one category. At first
glance this seems absolutely fair-three times as many Masters Men, three
times as many categories. However, if one looks at it from the point of
view of fairness to the individual racer, it is not: each Masters man
and each Masters woman made the same commitment to show up and pay the
entry fee, and it is not the fault of any Masters woman that thirty more
women her age did not show up, and it is not to the credit of any
Masters man that 44 of his peers also showed up. Both the men and women
wish equally passionately to race in age-appropriate categories. If we
accepted the premise that men and women should be treated equally but
adjustments must be made to avoid increasing the expense of putting on
the race, there are two possible solutions. This is a ribbons-only time
trial, so possibly Masters women could be given the same three
categories as the men without much impact on costs. If there are other
costs to increasing the number of categories of which I am unaware, and
only four Masters categories are financially feasible, there could be
two age categories for Masters Men and two for Masters Women. (John's
nightmare come true.....) This is fair or unfair depending on one's
point of view.
Realistically, no matter how well women are treated, we all know women
bicycle racers will not turn out in equal numbers to men for many years.
Women who are now in the 45+ age group will never be likely to turn out
in equal numbers, as we grew up in the pre-pre-Title Nine generation,
when women were not only not encouraged but were actively discouraged
from participating in sports. However, supporting women of all ages will
make bicycle racing attractive to the broader spectrum of athletic women
looking for a post collegiate sport. Programs like Team Estrogen are
needed to get women in, but women won't stay if they are not given equal
status. Most of the Senior and Masters age women I knew to say hello to
at races have disappeared-I don't see them at races or see their names
on results. When you are too old to have a chance to do well, for many
the fun is gone. This is in contrast to my world-class runner friend
(male in this case) who hit forty with joy-and with a whole new set of
offers for support and sponsorship to race all over the world. Same for
my cycle racing friend in Washington, maybe because of the Team Estrogen
series, but she hit forty and is training twice as hard and racing twice
as much. She says it is a whole new world of opportunity, now that she
can race 40+. If we believe cycle racing to be the kind of sport most
appropriately limited to the elite, the youngest and fastest only, fine,
we can forget the Masters issues. If we want to attract the broader
spectrum of racers of all ages and both sexes, we need to change.
One last comment: I entered medical school in 1973, as one of six women
in a class of 60+, at a time when we had supposedly ceased
discriminating against women applicants to medical school. It was one of
our seemingly sexist male professors who pointed out to the faculty that
all six women were in the top ten percent of the class, in fact
virtually made up the top ten percent, and that all the student
representatives to faculty committees (curriculum, admissions,
executive) were women, and the class president was a woman. If we were
treating women equally, he said, women should have been evenly
distributed throughout the class and proportionately represented on
committees. Now the medical residents I teach are more than half women,
and they tell me that more than half of some medical schools' entering
classes are female. The "not enough women were interested" excuse has
finally been thrown out the window. Now a much broader spectrum of women
is represented. In cycling we need to level the field if we want to
attract and keep the broader spectrum of women also, not just the few
who are determined to stick in there regardless. Coaching and training
and support by teams is more likely to be provided if the opportunities
to race are there. This is the post Title Nine era, and it should be
clear that if opportunity and encouragement are there, so will be the
women---but it takes time.
Thanks again to Phil, David, Mike and John, for taking the time to
consider this issue and help the discussion with their input. All input
welcomed!
--Boundary_(ID_AaXv+cp4g9w/jpBHmUnooQ)--