Podium behaviour poll

[spalco]

Take it however you like.

 

[cocteau_ireland]

I just yearn for the day when the rider can choose from a list of options who he'd like to podium with. Have the two girls,couple o guys.Hell, even a goat if its a mountain finish.

 

[Bavarianrider]

Obviously it wasn't a right move.
On the other hand, women who chose to act as podium girls do willingly sell themselves as sexual objects. So they shouldn't really complain if they get treated as such.

 

[Swabian Lass]

The fact that she's being paid to be there makes it all the worse. If it's, say, at a bus-stop or in a shop then she can reasonably turn around and say "Get your hands off me, you ****". In this situation, she's essentially powerless to do anything at all at the time.

I voted option 2. Even though I think it's really not okay to do that, I think it's worth noting that Sagan is relatively young, lives a pretty sheltered lifestyle and has got where he is because of his legs, not his head. The way we talk about him sometimes, it's no wonder the guy acts like he's not in the real world once in a while.

It reminds me of something the often offensive and occasionally incredibly perceptive comic Frankie Boyle said about Cristiano Ronaldo: "Of course he lacks perspective. He's been treated like he's better than everyone else since the age of about 8 simply for having incredibly well-coordinated feet. It's a wonder he hasn't killed someone."

Yes, it's inappropriate, but people are a product of the societies they are in. In Peter Sagan's world he's treated like royalty, he probably has quite a lot of success with women when he's not groping them in public and he also, by winning lots of bike races, ends up spending a lot of time around podium girls who are treated like pieces of meat, not good for anything but looking pretty.

I think that's the real issue that this has raised. Why are we so surprised that, when we maintain a tradition like having podium that looks at those girls as nothing but objects, someone ends up treating them like objects? In my opinion, podium girls don't really belong in the 21st century, and when things like this happen the culture that tolerates them is more to blame than the individual.

Back to the individual in question, it's worth noting that he almost certainly didn't mean any harm. The fact that a guy can do that and think it's harmless fun is, in my view, a problem with society, but Peter Sagan is not to blame for all of society's ills, no matter how silly you think he finish-line celebrations can be.

This sums up pretty much what I think. While cycling has podium girls this kind of thing is going to happen. And regarding us not knowing what the young woman in question thinks about it - she was at work. She had no choice but to laugh it off. Maybe she didn't mind, maybe she was thrilled or maybe she was really p'ed off and wanted to slap his face. We'll never know. The culture is the real issue here.

 

[hrotha]

Seriously? Groping a women is showing a sign of having a personality? Quite the opposite as far as I'm concerned.....

Well, I suppose "feminine hygiene product" is a personality...

(Seriously? That word is censored?)

 

[theyoungest]

Purito tweeted this picture.

 

[The Hitch]

Just to silence some white knights, these are the female responses on Peter's facebook (and before you accuse me of it, yes, I actually spent the last 15 minutes collecting all posts by women on FB):

Women envied her )))))
seconded, Helen!!!
I am 54,I would like it from peter
I definitely wouldn't complain
Me neither
you can grab mine anytime xx
The look on Peter's face while he was doing that is priceless!!!!
In my opinion it was not necessary to apologize for that! It was so obvious a joke! Btw, I'm a girl, married, a mum, and I have a great sense of humor! You did not do anything wrong!
You're young and it was funny
It was good !
Peter you are #1!
You really entertained me Congratulations
You make me proud to be Slovakian- don't worry about what others say!
U are awesome .... as well as your jokes!
Don't apologize! I am always like you Peter!! Always funny!!!!!! )))
Peter you are simply the best!
Lighten up. Probably the same people complained who complained at the TDF last year
Hahahahahaa sei grande......
Forget what others think your amazing well done today we love you
I Think she like it Also and jou are I young Guy!
I had a good laugh )
Peter you are the man! Screw the others!
It was funny, don't care what people say
That was unprofessional but totally funny
Oh, o, Peter. Remember to keep your hands to yourself : )
This was amazing haha. Don't change anything, remain your funny self. And win Amstel Gold ofcourse
I don't know I think it's funny. Maybe she liked the attention?
I still like you anyway...

Oooh, if only I could stand there, I would love it! It was cute, don't worry Peter!
ha ha ha

Really, the only girl that could complain is the podium girl involved and she didn't. I don't really understand why some other women (or men for that matter) feel like they have to "defend her honor" when she doesn't feel that way herself.

when usada released reasoned decision Armstrong's facebook page was filled exclusively with positive comments calling tygart a disgrace etc.

everywhere else on the internet la was not so popular. So I would not read so much into what gets put on his facebook page. It's usually fans who would go there.

 

[willbick]

Well, I'm usually not with the feminists, but in this case it's just plain stupid and immoral what Sagan did.



I agree. What Sagan did was just stupid and childish. But then people come with replies like this:



Seriously? Groping a women is showing a sign of having a personality? Quite the opposite as far as I'm concerned.....

Wow life must be a lot of fun for you. Anyone would think he shoved his hand down the front of her panties! He pinched her bum for gods sake! Im sure he knows her a bit and he was just larking about - by all accounts she didnt care a bit and probably found it funny. The way some prudes are reacting you'd think it was half way to rape

 

[willbick]

Im sure youd be shocked to hear that actually a lot of women would love to have their bum pinched by a famous young sportsman

 

[gatete]

That's your defense? You did it when you were young so it is ok now?


Why the hell is it ok? When do we as women, finally get the chance to live our life without being pinched on the **** by men? In 10 years, 20? Never??because it is your god given right as "boys being boys" to pinch any female on the **** whenever you damn well feel like it?

You see it as a harmless joke but come on, we as women have put up with this sort of behaviour from men for 100's of years, don't you think it's time to say "enough is enough, a woman's body is her own and she should have the right to go about her business without us men having to touch her just because we damn well feel like it"

Would you think differently if a female rider touch a podium guy? I would find it funny and harmless; see I though about it for a minute and though what if Sagan would do it to my daughter, but then I though of the process it would take for that instance to happen, I think I would try to stop her from taking part of it, why? Is not something I ambition for her.

 

[spalco]

Again with the "it's her own fault for being a ****" defense. Despicable.

 

[hrotha]

Wow life must be a lot of fun for you. Anyone would think he shoved his hand down the front of her panties! He pinched her bum for gods sake! Im sure he knows her a bit and he was just larking about - by all accounts she didnt care a bit and probably found it funny. The way some prudes are reacting you'd think it was half way to rape

By which accounts? I haven't seen any that tells how she feels about this. More importantly, how did Sagan know she'd be OK with this? He did pretty much the same thing on the Gent-Wevelgem podium. Is he in bum-groping terms with all podium girls throughout Belgium?

It's not about being prude, it's about not being a jerk to women you don't know. At least in my social circle, which is anything but prudish, touching a woman's **** without an invitation to do so is not something decent people do. More like something idiots do, and only when they're drunk.

 

[wwabbit]

Whether the podium girl minded it or not is irrelevant.
Whether podium girls are sex objects or not is irrelevant.

What matters is that famous sportsmen are often seen as role models. And role models shouldn't be doing this kind of things and claiming that there is nothing wrong with it, which will only encourage other men to do the same.

 

[Publicus]

My vote would be it was a crass/vulgar thing to do IMO, but in the grand scheme of things it doesn't affect me or what I think about Sagan one bit. I thought he was a brash and cocky SOB before, nothing in his antics today changes that.

 

[Maaaaaaaarten]

Im sure youd be shocked to hear that actually a lot of women would love to have their bum pinched by a famous young sportsman

If women like being treated without respect by famous young sportsmen, that makes it all the more sad. Also, maybe your take on things has been screwed up by watching too much porn or something, or maybe we just live in a totaly different environment, but I don't know any women who would like being treated like this.

You know, it's pretty amazing to me that when it comes to this specific issue, they treat women with more respect in Qatar and Oman, than in Europe

 

[HiCadence]

Whether the podium girl minded it or not is irrelevant.
Whether podium girls are sex objects or not is irrelevant.

What matters is that famous sportsmen are often seen as role models. And role models shouldn't be doing this kind of things and claiming that there is nothing wrong with it, which will only encourage other men to do the same.

Someone finally gets it!

 

[Race Radio]

Im sure youd be shocked to hear that actually a lot of women would love to have their bum pinched by a famous young sportsman

Maybe they could wear a t-shirt or a special sticker on their forehead so we would know which ones are ok to be pinched and which would prefer not to be touched?

Does willingness increase based on number of UCI points? Maybe they can put that on the T-Shirt too? Only riders with more then XXX UCI points allowed to touch

I think we found a solution

 

[hrotha]

Someone finally gets it!

I don't think sportsmen or celebrities should be role models or behave as such, and I think this wouldn't have been any better if it had been some no-name amateur rider instead of Sagan.

 

[Le breton]

Im sure youd be shocked to hear that actually a lot of women would love to have their bum pinched by a famous young sportsman

I am sure Zahia* (see bottom of this page, sometimes) would have asked for more

*http://www.irishcentral.com/story/sport/from-the-bleachers/two-top-french-soccer-players-face-trial-and-possible-jail-for-soliciting-underage-escort-166415446.html?utm_source=outbrain&utm_medium=content&utm_campaign=paid

 

[Caruut]

Just to silence some white knights, these are the female responses on Peter's facebook (and before you accuse me of it, yes, I actually spent the last 15 minutes collecting all posts by women on FB):

Women envied her )))))
seconded, Helen!!!
I am 54,I would like it from peter
I definitely wouldn't complain
Me neither
you can grab mine anytime xx
The look on Peter's face while he was doing that is priceless!!!!
In my opinion it was not necessary to apologize for that! It was so obvious a joke! Btw, I'm a girl, married, a mum, and I have a great sense of humor! You did not do anything wrong!
You're young and it was funny
It was good !
Peter you are #1!
You really entertained me Congratulations
You make me proud to be Slovakian- don't worry about what others say!
U are awesome .... as well as your jokes!
Don't apologize! I am always like you Peter!! Always funny!!!!!! )))
Peter you are simply the best!
Lighten up. Probably the same people complained who complained at the TDF last year
Hahahahahaa sei grande......
Forget what others think your amazing well done today we love you
I Think she like it Also and jou are I young Guy!
I had a good laugh )
Peter you are the man! Screw the others!
It was funny, don't care what people say
That was unprofessional but totally funny
Oh, o, Peter. Remember to keep your hands to yourself : )
This was amazing haha. Don't change anything, remain your funny self. And win Amstel Gold ofcourse
I don't know I think it's funny. Maybe she liked the attention?
I still like you anyway...

Oooh, if only I could stand there, I would love it! It was cute, don't worry Peter!
ha ha ha

Really, the only girl that could complain is the podium girl involved and she didn't. I don't really understand why some other women (or men for that matter) feel like they have to "defend her honor" when she doesn't feel that way herself.

Yikes. Just because some women are okay with it some of the time does not mean all of them will be all of the time. The fact that some women have indicated that they are willing to sleep with me does not give me license to sleep with whomever I choose on the basis of extrapolation.

 

[Caruut]

Because people keep bashing him for the wrong reasons.

What are the right reasons to bash him if people keep doing it for the wrong ones?

Could you please be so kind and point me to the post where I said something even remotely similar? I started every single one of my posts with "Even though what he did was wrong..." yet I still get accused of approving of it. Maybe it's my English, it is not my native language after all...

Apologies if I mis-read, but when you said this:

No, I don't think that men should be allowed to pinch a girl's *** anytime they please (my girl would kill me if I tried to propose something like that). And I already said so, what Sagan did was inappropriate. But yeah, when a young rider full of testosterone pinches an *** of a girl that gets paid to kiss random men on a podium and she doesn't mind it, it is a very childish and inappropriate thing to do, but not any "sexual assault" or anything that should be given more attention than the actual winner himself.

That sounds to me like you're saying that getting paid to look pretty, hand out flowers and a trophy and kiss the winner on the cheek makes his behaviour more acceptable.

 

[Swabian Lass]

By which accounts? I haven't seen any that tells how she feels about this. More importantly, how did Sagan know she'd be OK with this? He did pretty much the same thing on the Gent-Wevelgem podium. Is he in bum-groping terms with all podium girls throughout Belgium?

Wasn't aware that he'd done something similar at G-W. Once is stupid assish, but my reaction is that he's young and the odd stupid thing is no surprise - just hope he learns from it. If he's done it more than once that suggests (i) he's extremely stupid (ii) he's being badly advised.

 

[Caruut]

Im sure youd be shocked to hear that actually a lot of women would love to have their bum pinched by a famous young sportsman

They would. A lot of women would also like to sleep with famous young sportsmen. However in neither situation is said famous young sportsman allowed to simply assume consent. Even if he is, to so many women, so damn bangable, they all should still have the right to refuse.

 

[Swabian Lass]

Meant to say above - I went with option 2. However, if he's done it more than once, that would tend to push me towards option 1.

 

[spalco]

Wasn't aware that he'd done something similar at G-W. Once is stupid assish, but my reaction is that he's young and the odd stupid thing is no surprise - just hope he learns from it. If he's done it more than once that suggests (i) he's extremely stupid (ii) he's being badly advised.

Why should he learn anything when he has so many people who say he's awesome for treating women that way?