Confessions of theHarley Ladies

Hayley Somerville

SOM10295419

Year 3 Fashion Journalism(Broadcast)

Term 1 - Project Proposal

Contents

June 2013 commemorates the 110th anniversary of Harley Davidson, celebrating classic motorcycles and classic good times. The intention for this documentary will primarily focus on the rebellion and glamour of female bikers. Revealing an unexplored culture in search of why there are more younger women taking to the handlebars then ever before, investigating why females are being drawn into this obviously male dominated world of thrill and danger. With an exploration into how the motorcycling industry has been impacted and how the products, designs and biker fashion is changing to meet the needs of the new empowered female rider.

Confessions of the Harley Ladies

In terms of content, the programme will explore the many factors and influences that affect a women’s decision to ride their own bike and determine their lifestyle choice. It will be lead by interviews and driven by characters sharing their ex-periences with a mixture of archive footage and history. The Documentary will be divided into three parts:

1) The beginning will be looking at the present, this will focus on the experiences of select women riders including a mum and daughter duo, a biker journalist and also a Harley riders group belonging to the womens international motor-cycle association. Looking at why they have taken to sitting in the drivers seat, how it feels being in a mans world and why its important for women to be a part of this culture.

2) To follow, looking at the past, back to the early 1900’s looking at the history of the Motor Maids, the first women’s Harley Davidson riders group. And how they paved the way for women motorcyclists.

3) And lastly, this will explore the future for women rid-ers and how the industry is evolving. What changes are being made to the consumer segment As the number of women riders is rapidly increasing, and how the fashion world has recognised the gap in this market and what changed are be-ing made to accommodate the increasing number of women riders.

The Freedom and expression of female bike riders.

Format: 10 minute pilot documentary with accompanying website.

Scheduling • Sky Living• To be aired June 2013• 1x 60 minute documentary• Available on Sky GO & Sky Demand

•• Confession of the Harley Ladies is

a new format on Sky Living bring-ing a new level of documentary entertainment to engage a female audience.

•• Exploring a male dominated cul-

ture that females are increasingly exposing themselves to.

•• Demonstrating the control and

power of women in the 21st c

In which case I am proposing that this documentary would be broadcasted on Sky Living, a channel that produces inspirational programming covering lifestyle interests and lifestyle trends of the 21st Century. Primarily aimed at women and young adults. Consisting of a mixture of British comedy, drama and factual programming. Programme types include: Design, health, beauty, fashion, women’s issues, parenting, love, homes and hobbies. So with a whole host of different genres Confessions of the Harley Ladies would sit very comfortably, being a lifestyle culture and a topic that is commonly overlooked by the everyday woman, which will be explored to bring a fresh new concept and new variation to the channels repertoire.

However one concern is, Sky Living do not frequently show one-off documentaries, as much as the content would be suitable, the majority of its features run as series. An alternative channel that would suit this topic is BBC Two, a channel that embraces all genres of factual programming. Confessions of the Harley Ladies would fit in with the tone of the channel with the ethos of being celebratory, adventurous, playful and in-formative. Being in line with the 110th anniversary in June 2013 the content will be current and topical keeping the feel for BBC Two documentaries relevant and modern. Confessions of the Harley Ladies would sit comfortably either between the 8pm or 9pm slots when documentaries as well as features and formats are shown. It could also be considered for the Entertainment sector on BBC Two which welcomes factual based formats that attracts its younger viewers. This suits the channel as BBC Two simultaneously try to inspire and challenge viewers to reappraise their views on modern life and society. The audience of BBC Two docu-mentaries, naturally skew towards older viewers (35 – 54) however being a broad-based mainstream channel more smart, stylish and intelligent shows are now currently being commissioned to attain come of age con-sumers for this demanding generation, In which case Confessions of the Harley Ladies would comfortably fit into this category.

The intention is targeted to reach out to view-ers that do not just have an interest in motor-cycling but to a more culturally diverse audi-ence. Attracting an age range of 20+ focusing to grab the attention of females. One of the aims of the documentary is to inspire and encourage women to believe they can ride in a mans world.

Target Audience &Channel

Looking at what has already been aired on TV that shares a similar ap-proach is The Hairy Bikers, A series following two men with a passion for food and motorcycles. Although it is primarily a cookery programme at the same time it also consists of a travelogue following the two bikers exploiting the biker lifestyle, sharing an audience of both men and women alike. This compares slightly to Confessions of the Harley Ladies as both programmes are aiming to unwrap the culture behind the motorcycle. This programme is aired on BBC 2 which is an alternative channel I have proposed Confessions of the Harley Ladies, demonstrating that as a one off documentary it could be very viable.

In regards to my research on pages 7 - 8, referring to the focus group with 4 women motorcyclists, it was concluded that generally speaking, the ma-jority of women overlook the motorcycling culture as being predominantly male orientated and are less likely to become involved unless they are exposed to it by a husband/partner or family member. In relation to this it was discussed that in terms of TV programming there hasn’t been hardly any coverage that focuses on the culture and the lifestyle and especially nothing that has been aimed or targeted towards women. They felt that the only content available is on the Harley Davidson or existing motor-cycle websites in which case it would only be viewed by women who are involved in the culture. This demonstrates that there is potential for this topic to be broadcasted, not only just being an eye opener for women in general but will give insight to an undiscovered lifestyle.

Other programmes that share a similar topic are broadcasted on Discov-ery Turbo, a channel that is purely dedicated to the excitement, the thrill, the fastest and the most amazing vehicles that can be found. The channel is documentary based with series such as American chopper and wheeler dealers, although the documentaries are focused around motorcycles and vehicles, it is very male orientated and a lot of the content is a reality based format which wouldn’t suit my proposing documentary however this is a prime example of the main cultural and lifestyle motorcycle programmes that are available (excluding motorsport) demonstrating that there is not much variety targeted at women and that there is a position for one off documentaries.

ChannelResearch

Cultural and lifestyle programmes formatted in the way of a documen-tary reflecting and portraying a lifestyle genre would be My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding. Investigating the lives within a different culture. The show reveals a community that lives alongside but detached from mainstream society. Confession’s of the Ladies of Harley would work on a similar prin-ciple in regards to exploring a different sub culture and the influences held within the motorcycling lifestyle.

Control  &  Freedom  Socialising  Aspect  Transporta6on  

Being  rebellious  

Prove  women  can  ride  

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2  

3  

4  

5  

0%   10%   20%   30%   40%   50%   60%   70%   80%   90%   100%  

“One of the biggest shifts taking place in the motorcycling industry is the growth and impact of the female riding population. According to the Motorcycle Industry Council’s statistics from 2008, 25 percent of all motorcyclists are female—that’s one out of every four riders. Since 2003, the number of women riding a motorcycle has in-creased by 24 percent, making women the fastest growing group of new riders. Meaning that it’s not just a guy thing anymore.”

From the survey I conducted, 32 women riders responded to my questionnaire. The bar chart below shows how long each rider has been riding with 53% on started riding in the past 5 years. Taking into consideration this is a very tiny segment of motorcyclists it demonstrates that more women in recent years are taking control and is beginning to start riding. With regards to the reasons as to why, the most popular answer was to gain control and free-dom and to prove that women are capable and are able to ride.

0   2   4   6   8   10   12   14   16   18  

1  to  5  

6  to  10  

11  to  20  

20  to  40  

40+  

Control  &  Freedom  

Socialising  Aspect  

Transporta6on  

Being  rebellious  

Prove  women  can  ride  

TopicResearch

The stereotypical image of the hardened male road war-rior with the tattoos, long hair, muscles, and a bad attitude is definitely changing. A softer, yet edgy female version is developing. Women who have good jobs, marriages, education, and sophistication are venturing into the sport of motorcycling and discovering the lure of the highway. The Motorcycle Industry Council reports in 2008 that one third of the calculated 3 million female riders in the USA are college educated, with professional or manage-rial positions in the workforce and have a median income of $52,730. They are taking the next step and are moving into the drivers seat and becoming a new segment of the motorcycling world.

The Chart Above shows statistics from the Motorcyling Industry Council in 2008