Barbara Ellen article in The Observer

[Synergy]

Not sure where to post this...hope here is ok.

Barbara Ellen's article re 'The Stig' in today's Observer carries a negative comment re asexuality

Here is the entire piece;

The Stig sexy? Only to other men

There can be few things more perplexing than the ongoing compulsion to unmask the Stig from Top Gear. Why is there this bizarre obsession on knowing the precise identity of the silent figure behind the helmet and in the white racing suit?

Now the BBC is messing about with lawyers because the Stig wants to reveal himself and publish a lucrative book, probably so that he can afford some high-end fashion denim like presenter Jeremy Clarkson. Some say the corporation's refusal to allow Stig to whip off his helmet has sparked a human rights debate. I say: "Who cares?"

This isn't the Stig's fault – he's on a fast broom broom show and he's fulfilling his brief as a "guy thing", albeit one with scant crossover appeal. Mention the Stig to most women and they would say in puzzled tones: "You mean… of the Dump?" Even when we vaguely know, we find him creepy. In his helmet and overly snug white coveralls, he seems borderline asexual, like one of those figures you get in Lego sets. Is the Stig even anatomically correct or are we in piteously smooth Ken doll territory here?

One hears that there are women who find the Stig extremely sexy, but these may be the same women who accept marriage proposals from men locked up on the top security wings of US jails. In truth, the perma-helmet is downright creepy. While men may be thinking: "Cool, risk-taking, tarmac-surfing super-dude", women are thinking: "Motorway rapist?"

So unmask him or keep his identity secret. I'm a woman, I don't care. Masked or unmasked, just please don't let me find anything looking like the Stig standing at the bottom of my bed on a dark night.

[asexual cake]

Almost unrelated, but "piteously smooth"? Lego man anatomy is my impossible ideal.

Although, this does seem like another example of the curiously common conflation of being somehow "neuter" and being asexual.

[Synergy]

What's nipping my head about this article is Ms Ellen's seeming assumption that women don't see asexual men as 'real' men.

I feel perfectly real, valid and useful as a human being.

[TreacleSponge]

Mention the Stig to most women and they would say in puzzled tones: "You mean… of the Dump?" Even when we vaguely know, we find him creepy. In his helmet and overly snug white coveralls, he seems borderline asexual, like one of those figures you get in Lego sets. Is the Stig even anatomically correct or are we in piteously smooth Ken doll territory here?

I suggest most women have no idea who Stig of the dump is either.

Does anybody really find the Stig creepy? If so it's bound to be because we can't see his face and never hear his voice, not because of a lack of visible genetalia.

Overall I can't get excited about this.

[Cicero]

What's nipping my head about this article is Ms Ellen's seeming assumption that women don't see asexual men as 'real' men.

I feel perfectly real, valid and useful as a human being.

Personally, I don't think that's what she was getting at when she used the word asexual. I don't think she was thinking of us at all.

[Hallucigenia]

What bugs me is how she can call him out for being too asexual in one paragraph, and then call him out for looking like a rapist in the next. I mean, I know it's technically possible [insert entire Hot Box thread] but still. Also why does having a helmet on make him look like a rapist? And why does wearing coveralls make him look like he has no genitals? It just... It's one big pile of "does not compute".

[Guest fridayoak]

It is a very odd article, from start to finish.

Wouldn't it be great to get paid for writing such rubbish?! :lol:

[Ninny]

I think the 'asexual' term was maybe a mix of 'agendered' and 'asexual' (as in not expressing sexuality...maybe due to the agendered bit). I don't think it was ANYTHING to do with Asexuality the orientation.

Also, the Stig, totally would

[TreacleSponge]

Also, the Stig, totally would

That emoticon clearly relates to the original Black Stig, rather than the more popular & successful white Stig of recent years.

[Ninny]

Racial tensions between Stigs!

[TreacleSponge]

If only the first Stig had been grey instead of black, we could avoid all this talk of racial tension and get diverted onto Lord of the Rings instead.

My favourite Stig was American Cousin Stig, who was pretty fat. A simple joke (like many on Top Gear) but it still amused me.