It's time to delve into the history of this most feminist of machines. Yes, you read that correctly.
In ways both explicit and subtle, the invention and popularization of the humble two-wheeled bicycle in the 19th century helped move the cause of female equality and freedom forward in the modern world;
The first bicycles were almost exclusively for men; Bicycles were, up until 1890s, considered masculine accessories.
People Saw The Bicycle As A Sexual ThreatBicycling didn't just give women a way to get around freely; it also, surprisingly, played a role in women's sexual liberation — purely because some people believed that if women went around straddling something, they would start having orgasms all over the place (which, needless to say, these people thought was a bad thing).
Bicycles Helped Women Shed Restrictive ClothingThe phenomenon of the bicycle also helped women get out of long, restrictive skirts — because while many of them were perfectly happy cycling decorously in ankle-skimmers, some found the practicalities rather unbearable.
Bicycles Were Associated With The "New Woman" And Feminism
Bicycle-riding women were seen as exemplars of the New Woman, who didn't necessarily want to have children, be deprived of a career, or have no political voice, and were accordingly praised and/or browbeaten as such.
Suffragettes Championed Bikes As Tools Of Liberation
Suffragettes embraced bicycles both symbolically and physically.
Bicycles were strongly in the firmament of feminism, and there they've stayed.
The late 19th and early 20th centuries were filled with caricatures of lady bicyclists doing such ridiculous things as smoking, rushing off to protests, or trying to get the vote, often while wearing masculine clothing and leaving their husbands at home with the baby.
So, take your bike out for a run, ladies;
you and your forebears have earned it.
Feminismo y bicicleta. El feminismo empieza pedaleando. “La bicicleta ha hecho más por la emancipación de la mujer que ninguna otra cosa en el mundo. Me paro y me regocijo cada vez que veo a una mujer sobre ruedas. Le da una sensación de libertad y seguridad en sí misma. La hace sentir como si fuera independiente.” (…) ”Y ahí va, la visión de la feminidad libre de ataduras“ (…) “Para los hombres, la bicicleta en sus comienzos era un mero juguete, pero para las mujeres, se traba de un corcel con el que poder cabalgar hacia un nuevo mundo”
ReplyDeleteSusan B. Anthony, entrevista en el New York World en 1896
Fuente:
Una antropóloga en la luna. Pedaleo luego existo. http://unaantropologaenlaluna.blogspot.com.es/2014/09/la-bicicleta-es-humanismo-pedaleo-luego.html
Gracias por el comentario y por inspirar este post que sin duda trataremos en clase...
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