This is what the Geneva show is really all about.
Gawking at the cars is for the motor heads.
Journalists who cover this yearly event and the people in the industry who work it know what I'm talking about. The Geneva show is essentially a massive marketing campaign which the automakers conduct in collusion with one another. It's about roiling in the glamor of motoring and the auto industry and getting a bunch of free press for all the new car launches.
For journalists it's always a fun gig to cover but I have to say the blatant gender inequality on display at Geneva (and at the Paris/Frankfurt shows too) makes even this macho Italian uncomfortable.
Already, the European industry suffers from a dearth of female executives, which is something I've written about before. And automotive journalism too is still predominantly a man's game. So you have the executives there, a collection of middle-aged white guys, in their 3,000 euro suits talking shop with the journalists, a collection of slightly younger, much more poorly dressed white guys and then all these would be models standing around looking pretty...and pretty tired too from all the hours of posing and forced smiles. It is really striking. The women are basically props and the message it sends is very clear.
I've always thought it would be a good joke if one day a female executive unveils a new car launch accompanied by a set of buffed up, stupid good-looking male models with fake tans and steroid tweaked muscles. Just to make a point, really.
I'm a guy and the girls are cute but, man, come on, this is ridiculous.
