How the Bicycle Became a Symbol of Female Emancipation
Fettle | Monday 8th March 2021 11:47am
Let’s face it, we don’t need an excuse to espouse the merits of cycling. As a bunch of self-confessed bicycle nuts and keen environmentalists, we are physically incapable of keeping quiet about it!
Whilst we often hammer home the benefits cycling can have for wider society, it’s easy to forget just how much the bicycle has already done for us. So, in honour of International Women’s Day, we’re going to be looking at how the humble bicycle advanced gender equality in the 19th and 20th centuries, and say thanks to the women who smashed through social conventions at the time, to just keep on pedalling.
A Masculine Accessory in the 19th Century
From the mid-1800s to the 1890s, the only way in which women could experience cycling was through ‘companionate riding’, with a two-seater tricycle or tandem. The purpose was to ensure women stayed safe from the ‘dangers’ of cycling by allowing the man to stay in control, further reinforcing male authority.
Single rider bicycles were viewed as a masculine accessory (mainly because they couldn’t be ridden side-saddle) and marketing from the time reflects this, with early bikes referred to as ‘bone shakers’. It wasn’t until the advent of the safety bicycle (what we’d recognise as a modern bicycle) in the 1890s that cycling became more accessible.
For the first time, women began cycling independently, breaking the expectation that they should only travel by foot, carriage or horse back to enable displays of grace and delicacy. Women had found a mode of transport that afforded them freedom and self-reliance.
Of course, not everyone was so thrilled about it. Conservative opinion questioned how modest it was for a woman to ride a bike, whilst others felt women’s ‘weaker’ frames would be damaged by the vibrations of riding. Physicians and others claiming to be medical experts, believed riding a bicycle would lead to deformities on the arms, hands and legs. Others argued women would be more prone to tuberculosis and gout. Perhaps most shocking was the suggestion that ‘bicycle face’ (the concentration needed to ride the bike) would ruin a woman’s beauty.
It was not just the physical impacts of cycling that made some question its suitability. It was feared that freedom away from a chaperone could lead to immorality, if women were able to go wherever and meet whomever they wanted. In much the same way that some worry about the impact of technology on society today, bicycles in the 19th century were the modern day social media.
“The bicycle will inspire women with more courage, self-respect and self-reliance.” - Elizabeth Cady Stanton
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