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E3 Harelbeke advert 2015.pngE3 Harelbeke organisers slammed over "sexist" poster
It’s fair to say the organisers of Belgian UCI WorldTour race the E3 Harelbeke have a bit of form when it comes to courting controversy with promotional posters for the event, which traditionally kicks off Flanders week – and this year is no exception, leading to accusations on social media of sexism.
Roughly translated, it says “Who’ll 'squeeze' in Harelbeke?” and references Peter Sagan’s infamous pinching of a podium hostess’s bottom after he finished second to Fabian Cancellara in the 2012 Tour of Flanders – indeed, a picture of that incident appears beneath the 2015 poster on the race’s Facebook page.
Despite featuring on the UCI WorldTour calendar, the race lacks the status of the previous week’s Milan-San Remo, or those which immediately follow it, Gent-Wevelgem and the Tour of Flanders.
That’s led some to suggest that by publicising the race with posters that are guaranteed to provoke controversy, organisers are ensuring the race gets talked about, and it’s not the first time that such adverts have been labelled sexist and demeaning to women.
Here’s a selection of responses to this year’s poster on Twitter.
E3 Harelbeke goes for the poster publicity stunt every year. A pity they distract from what's become a very good race with a tough course.
— the Inner Ring (@inrng) February 23, 2015
Wonder what posters @E3Harelbeke will use for the womens race? Oh, no womens race.
— The Broom Wagon (@broomwagonblog) February 23, 2015
@E3Harelbeke This isn’t acceptable in 2015. As a World Tour race standards should be better @UCI_cycling
— M2 Sports Management (@M2_Sports) February 23, 2015
Sorry for being late to the party but that #E3 ad is awesome! If you wear flares, drive a Ford Capri and live in the ’70’s.
— John Galloway (@wjohngalloway) February 23, 2015
We all want to see some leadership from @UCI_cycling ProTour teams and voicing their concerns with the @E3Harelbeke sexist advertising.
— Mark Legg (@MrKatieCompton) February 23, 2015
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
Latest Comments
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The small frame, the aggressive posture, lots of standover height.
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You're defending bombing hospitals and refugee camps and starving children.
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68 comments
Wow.
(Some) sexist men commenting on sexism.
It's got my attention.
Here's a thought,
Why don't those who object to pictures like these go conduct a witch hunt and locate the person who (hopefully) willingly and knowingly took her clothing off, put on those skimpy pants given to her, flashed her backside towards the camera and allowed the photo's to be used. Instead of constantly having a go at those that look at the photo's or print them.
May be if you stopped the modelling trade in the first place, then these photo's would not be taken, not be published and not be looked at/ogled over or otherwise. It's the modelling trade that is at fault at the start, not the poor sap who just happens to pass a bloody poster at the end of the process. Just in case you haven't got the message, stop the supply.
As for what Sagan did, any inappropriate touching is out of order!
It seems to have escaped some people that Sagan went from bright young exciting star to embarrassing dinosaur in one afternoon when he did that. Why anyone would use the incident for promotional material is beyond me. Embarrassing.
Wow, they are getting an amazing amount of press on this, more then they could purchase with thrice the budget. Where are the teams on this, if they threatened to not attend until the poster was changed and an apology was issued, then we would have some real weight behind the indignation, but the teams all seem to be pretty quiet, just some fans and a few bike mags getting really vocal. I would recommend you let your teams know, as well as the UCI, that it is very hard to continue to support a sport where this kind of message is tolerated. Inform any sponsors of the race broadcast of your opinion. Cast your vote with £'s and deny the broadcaster market share and things will change pretty quick. And maybe it is about time to loose the Podium Girls, they are a bit of a throwback and might send the wrong message about the sport...
YES! We did it! Passionate voices DO change things for the better. E3 Harelbeke just been forced by UCI to withdraw sexist poster.
Never say "why bother?" Always try.
...Good result, but the cynical among us might conclude that the purpose of the poster has been well served...
Makes you wonder why the UCI do fuck all for womens racing if they're so quick to remove a picture of an arse.
Anyways __ I think we can all agree that that is one cracking looking arse on the poster.
Far from complaining about it I'd rather be campaigning for a commemorative postage stamp in honour of it.
Well, whether you like it or not, you've gotta admit the marketing team have done a pretty good job.
After all, there's no such thing as bad publicity...apparently!
...and that's not a cue to start a whole new thread...
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/there-is-no-such-thing-as-bad-publici...
Tom Boonen's arse is looking sensational.
is anyone actually outraged or is it just media types being outraged on behalf of those who their beliefs tell them should be offended.
i remember "national outrage" at someone using "the n word" a couple of years ago (maybe luis suarez). a couple of black guys i knew couldn't have cared less, but middle class white man on the bbc was up in arms!
I have a genuine question re. podium girls. On the podium of women's races are there podium boys?
And if not, why not?
It's trivialising an actual sexual assault, which is why people are expressing distaste, I imagine.
If he'd done the same thing in Britain he could be on the sex offenders register, which puts it into a bit of context.
Doubt it. Rufus Burdett pinched the bum of Sue Turton, whilst live on air on C4 News, and ended up with a police caution. No fine and no registering as a sex offender.
http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/1589884.print/
I'm highly entertained by the levels of outrage being expressed by the po-faced, green-ink-writing PC Brigade on here. Get over yourselves. It's a trivial matter and should be treated as such.
Do a five second search to see if you can end up on the sex offenders register for this.
Not sure you'd be so happy if someone was groping your partner or your mum.
Well yes, if you're going to classify that as say 'indecent assault' and a court actually convicted you of it then you probably would end up on the SOR. But would that *really* happen?
I'd be surprised if my partner or my mum were to take a job as a podium girl to be honest. Sagan is well known for being a joker, was full of endorphins and the euphoria of success at the time so you basically 'expect the unexpected' when he gets anywhere near a podium.
Out of interest, in these days of equality, if a tipsy young lady happened to playfully pinch your lycra-clad bottom ... how would you react? Would you report her to the police, want her charged with indecent assault and registered as a sex offender?
As Epictetus observed "Men are disturbed not by things, but by their opinions about them".
Its all japes and old fashioned slapstick chuckles on the last train home when some freak squeezes my wife's bum, alone on the carriage. And worse. It happens a lot, a lot more than many men realise.
Men aren't just intimidating. They are capable of doing, and actually do do far worse things to women than women do to men.
Women get touched up and its these insidious throw away "its only a bit of fun!" comments that tell young men its all ok. its the thin end of wedge. And unwanted sexual touching is WRONG. Its not ok, and if someone did that to my wife or my sister I'd beat the living crap out of them (also illegal for good reason, apparently, though I do enjoy a little light nose-breaking, because heh, men love it!). Because its not fun, and its their body.
Women don't touch men up aggressively and it has an entirely different context. Men rape women. Women do not rape men. Men are aggressors. Women have more to fear. Context.
Your ancient Greek duffer (sorry, state school education) never had a hand stuck up his skirt on the train home. Or knows a few women who've had far worse done to them.
Try empathy. Don't be threatened by doing the right thing. I'm sorry this needs explaining.
I'm not outraged, I'm angry and sick of people I love and respect getting violence and disrespect from those who don't think beyond their own wants and world view.
Not quite true. You must be very young if you don't remember the Joyce McKinney case from the late 70's for example;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mormon_sex_in_chains_case
Technically she didn't rape Anderson because rape by a woman on a man wasn't actually against the law in the UK at the time. It is now.
Unfortunately there are also plenty of women who have been convicted of sex crimes against children and teenage girls and boys too. You must live a very sheltered life if you are blissfully unaware of this.
Women most certainly can be sexual aggressors.
"Very young"? There isn't a Tour de France winner still racing who was born before the 1980s.
The fact you've had to go back nearly 40 years to drag up a case to support your argument speaks volumes.
I try not to comment on stories I've written, but really ...
Oh I see. I didn't know you actually have to be a TdF winner to determine whether women are capable of rape.
Are you, Simon MacMichael, completely unaware of the many recent cases of women convicted of sexual aggression? Do you need me to Google them for you or are you just about capable of doing that for yourself?
I highlighted that case because it was particularly celebrated at the time for the nature, the bizarre quotes of the accused and the fact that she got away with it. It was simply more memorable than most because of that.
Why not comment on "stories that I've written"? You have supposedly have done the research and therefore you should supposedly be the most informed on that story. Before writing your 'story' did you actually bother to contact the the designers of the poster or their customer and ask what their philosophy was? No? Didn't think so.
Was your under-researched, provocative, one-sided, puff-piece deliberately intended to be 'clickbait' or was that just a happy coincidence?
I see you describe yourself as an 'editor' ... but of what? The truth? Why not contact both sides of the story so you can provide us with a balanced report on the issue in question?
Not really a great example. Better is how would you react if you were receiving an award at work in front of all your colleagues and your (male) boss started stroking your penis through your trousers? All good fun as everyone knows he's a touchy-feely type who's always having a laugh. He doesn't really mean it. I bet you'd feel really good: empowered that such a powerful man was paying you attention. You'd go home with a spring in your step that day. Haha. As Dapper Laughs probably said: "Bantz."
I'll admit this has all got a bit silly and no amount of us sending snarky comments to each other will further whatever point we were trying to make in the first place.
I'm sorry for any twisting of your words or misinterpretation I have been guilty of.
I do still think the poster is tacky and gross, but that's not really what we ended up arguing about anyway.
At least we didn't resort to using any of those tacky emoticons.
God they're horrible.
Is it OK if I'm not outraged by the poster but am outraged by all the people who are outraged by other people being outraged?
How dare someone express the idea that something is sexist! That's oppression. Next they'll be saying that pinching women's bums is some sort of assault. Where will it all end? Also can't we all just have a laugh? Ho ho ho.
Has anyone (seriously) professed to being 'outraged' by the poster? A lot of people have stated something along the lines of 'I think the poster is lame and tacky and tasteless and crap', which is not really something that needs to be 'backed up'. It's an impression.
The supposition that people think they'll somehow 'end sexism' by commenting about a poster on a bike website as ludicrous as that idea that everyone writing "HOW MUCH!?!?" under every Rapha review thinks they'll suddenly 'end capitalism', or at least bring down the luxury goods sector.
If you've got the time, I remember an old review of a Specialized Roubaix where a lot of people thought the headtube was too tall; you could go and grill them about what campaigning they've done to try and end the issue of tall headtubes of bicycles.
Please state exactly what prerequisites you feel are necessary to have an opinion on this issue.
1. Stop reading between the lines
2. Nobody is pertaining to ending sexism on a bike website - no idea where that comes from?
3. Poor, poor comparison. Try harder.
its been nearly 4 hours since my initial outrage.
I'm still outrage and I've expressed my outrage to my MP via a strongly worded letter involving capitals and explanation marks.
I'm going to keeping looking at that picture and those perfectly formed buttocks to ensure my outrage does not dissipate.
this is how mary whitehouse started you know!
Dirty Belgiums, bless em. Now if you'll excuse me this is wasting my lunchtime when I could be watching re-runs of benny hill.
Bet you'll all watch the race though.
You can't beat a bit of internet based "outrage". Tell me, how many of you actually campaign for women's rights or to snub out sexism? Or are you all mighty keyboard warriors?
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