Bicycling and gender equality . . . on CNN?
Uncategorized May 21st, 2008
How on earth this article about bicycling and women’s rights ever made it to the front page of CNN.com I will never know. Most TBL readers are probably aware of Susan B. Anthony’s famous statement about bicycles and women’s liberation, but this article goes a little ways into the history, too.
Some things haven’t changed of course. The articles states that “female cyclists were often accosted verbally and physically as they rode,” which will probably make most of my female readership here roll their eyes and note how little times have changed. But I think this article is pretty good. Here’s a sample:
The bicycle continues to endear itself to free thinkers. Even today, it’s the centerpiece of many reform movements. Jacquie Phelan, for instance, is a feminist mountain biker who founded WOMBATS, the Women’s Mountain Bike and Tea Society. A three-time world champion voted one of the 10 best mountain bikers of all time, Phelan is a tireless warrior in the fight for equality. She advocates two prices for bikes based on the 59 cents women make to every dollar earned by a man. (She was inspired to take action when she finished sixth in a race and was mistakenly given the $400 dollar men’s prize instead of the $42 allotted to the female finisher.)
–Erik Ryberg
May 21st, 2008 at 5:18 pm
While this may only be slightly related, I was made aware of this study awhile ago:
http://www.drianwalker.com/overtaking/overtakingprobrief.pdf
Basically, the researcher measured the distance in which he was overtaken by cars while riding under various scenarios, mainly whether or not he was wearing a helmet. One scenario he tested was wearing a wig to try and look like a girl from behind. On average cars passed him with 0.12 meters greater distance while wearing the wig.
It’s not all bad for you girls, you get an extra 5 inches of space.