Update 5/3/13: Aaron McConnell, President, TransRockies Events, said they held a successful Skirt Chaser 5k yesterday. He also told me, “Decisions around the name and messaging lie with Skirt Sports in Boulder CO, who own the Skirt Chaser concept and name, and they are the appropriate party to respond to this. The series has been operating for 6 years with successful events in many US cities, so it is quite interesting that our first Canadian event generated so much attention. We have had extensive dialogue with Skirt Sports as a result of the feedback, and I understand that there will be some level of change in the messaging going forward, but again, decisions rest with Skirt Sports.”
Fast on the heels of the victories this afternoon against sexist ads/products by Lego and bareMinerals & the creation of the new list of Companies that Trivialize Street Harassment, @DaniParadis told me about what is now SSH’s latest “Current Offender.”
Companies: Skirt Sports & the companies that license their product
Ad or product: A 5k race called “Skirt Chasers” that is billed as a “party that that happens to have a 5k in it.”
Why it’s problematic: While there is nothing wrong with the event itself, the name is very problematic. In the SSH survey of 811 women, 75% had been followed or chased in a public space by someone they didn’t know. Aside from a man physically harassing them, this was the form of street harassment that was most scary.
Plenty of women runners have been chased (and even abducted, raped or murdered), including me. As a woman who is not a survivor of rape, being chased through a park at dusk was the scariest experience of my life because I feared that if I was caught, I would be raped. Fortunately, I outran him.
Why would I, or any other woman who has had this experience, want to go to a party/5k where people are encouraged to “chase” and “catch” us?
On their website, Transrockies Race Series, a Canadian Licensee, addressed someone else’s concern with the name: “We understand that at first look the name “Skirt Chaser” may have some connotations to a time when sexist behaviours were accepted by society, but so far, there has been a universal acceptance that the use of this name is meant only in fun. We reject the notion that the name or format of the Skirt Sports Skirt Chaser 5k promotes sex crime or sexism or sexual discrimination.”
Unfortunately, the time when sexist behaviors were accepted is still the present time, and while some people have no problem with the name, I’m sure plenty of people do who just haven’t spoken out yet. I don’t understand why it would be so hard to change the name to something that doesn’t offend anyone?
And if they haven’t changed the name simply because no one else has complained, well, I am. The name needs to go. It is offensive and scary.
What you can do: Tweet to @SkirtSports, @SkirtSportsCan explaining why “Skirt Chasers” is not an acceptable race name and contact them at customerservice@skirtsports.com.
