[MTVN]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

Just seems very odd to me that all of a sudden men are interested in womens rights I watch Darts and I watch F1 and I watch Boxing and I watch UFC, all have decoration girls prancing around holding signs etc. And it always leaves a bad taste in my mouth. What do they have to do with the sport?

Well I'm interested in the issue because I'm a big darts fan and while having walk on girls is not a necessity I do think it's part of the glitz and glamour of it all and that its fundamentally pretty harmless. If the reason for banning them is that its exploitative then I also think it's fair to point out that the women involved certainly don't feel exploited and that its high profile work for them that can advance their careers

It's not a big deal for me, it won't affect my enjoyment of the sport but it just feels like a heavyhanded and overzealous thing to do and it's like we're becoming ever more stuffy and puritan with these things

If being a man means it's not my place to say that then so be it but there's been a lot of women who have argued their case very well who can't be dismissed as easily. And like I said it's mainly men who are involved in the running of the PDC and F1 who have made this decision on their behalf because they think it's good pr. It's a token gesture really. If they were really that concerned themselves about women's rights then maybe they should do more to encourage female participation in their sports rather than patting themselves on the back because they've deprived grid girls of a job