With all the talk about the 38th anniversary of Title 9 earlier this month, I heard a lot of interesting anecdotes about women and sports. A quote from Susan B. Anthony that the bicycle “has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world” really piqued my interest. Why the bicycle?
In the 1890s, a bicycling craze was sweeping the nation, and many of the purchasers of new bikes were female. Women hugely benefited from the increased freedoms the bike could bring. They were no longer dependent upon men for travel, and able to explore areas beyond their neighborhood. Additionally, increased athleticism required a change of clothes. Bicycling didn't lend itself to restrictive clothing such as corsets and hoop skirts, so in the name of exercise and mobility, women began to don bloomers (skirts cinched at the knee). This predictably sparked controversy about whether such garments were ladylike, but marked the beginning of practicality over fashion for many women. Bicycling also allowed women to be athletic, to have a little adventure in life, to experience nature- all things they were largely denied until the end of the 19th century. In short, the bicycle brought a lot of positive change for women in the span of a few years.
Today, only about a quarter of regular cyclists are women. It's time to reclaim the bike as liberated transportation! As Susan B. Anthony said, "It gives a woman a feeling of freedom and self-reliance. The moment she takes her seat she knows she can't get into harm unless she gets off her bicycle, and away she goes, the picture of free, untrammeled womanhood."
No comments:
Post a Comment