"Granny gear" and sexism

[Ianboydsnr]

and some people seem to enjoy entering the thread to find fault with the motivations of others, so far we have had:

• its PC gone mad
• "womens rights" crap
• a battle for the high moral ground
• and now some people just seem to find fault just for the sake of it

no-one is forced to think about it if they don't want to. Rather than discuss the topic we get people trying to shut the discussion down by mocking or putting down other posters. If its blatantly not sexist I'm sure it would be easy to disprove rather than just attacking other people motivations.

Or they could just be giving their opinion,

Where is this mocking, or putting down?

 

[Katherine]

Mod note
Please keep the discussion to cycling using the smallest ring and what you think is the best language to use.

 

[Wixsteman]

Just curious if it was called the grampa ring would this thread exist?

 

[smutchin]

Just curious if it was called the grampa ring would this thread exist?

By coincidence, a few days ago entirely unrelated to this discussion, I wondered in an idle moment why we call it the granny ring and not the grandpa ring. And I made a decision there and then to stop using the term.

I think the point has been made several times in this thread that it’s not about being offended but simply a case of thinking a bit more about the language we use and the underlying attitudes it reflects - even if the intent is not overtly sexist, there’s an implied statement about power and privilege. It’s actually not that hard to avoid using gendered terms in situations like this where gender is irrelevant.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Can we call it the baby ring?

 

[smutchin]

It’s worth looking at other idioms and metaphors that use the terms granny and grandfather - eg a grandfather clause in a contract is one designed to offer protection. When something is described as the granddaddy it’s an archetype, something to be respected.

Compare and contrast ‘granny bashing’, ‘granny dumping’, ‘granny flat’ - why don’t we use grandpa in these phrases? What does this tell us about society’s underlying attitude to grandmothers?

 

[Wixsteman]

As stated previously I had never heard of it before cc. I don’t intend to use it as I think it’s naff. Is it just snobbery to ridicule people who use the bottom gear because they struggle uphill. I don’t know if females use this term or not when they cycle past me going uphill.

I had never heard of mamil either which I might be as I have padded shorts and just bought a xl cycling top, which made my wife chuckle

 

[Smokin Joe]

I
Compare and contrast ‘granny bashing’, ‘granny dumping’, ‘granny flat’ - why don’t we use grandpa in these phrases? What does this tell us about society’s underlying attitude to grandmothers?

Possibly because women live longer than men so there are far more grannies than grandpa's about.

 

[swansonj]

Please note, i have not got beyond this point on the thread yet - had a peaceful night.

I can't help but ask swanson, if you used the phrase guilt free for so long,what happened?

Some sort of epiphany? Or corrective lesson?

By the by, if you ride with mixed groups (always a nice idea) have you run the phrase past them?

Fair question.

No epiphany - more a gradual dawning. Self awareness of how much we are unthinkingly products and reflectors of the culture around us is a slow and painful process.

 

[swansonj]

Can we call it the baby ring?

We can, if we want to carry on disseminating the message that climbing hills sensibly and enjoyably is only for weak people

 

[Wixsteman]

W

We can, if we want to carry on disseminating the message that climbing hills sensibly and enjoyably is only for weak people

we could call it the sensible ring

 

[night rider]

oh ffs .

 

[PK99]

It’s worth looking at other idioms and metaphors that use the terms granny and grandfather - eg a grandfather clause in a contract is one designed to offer protection. When something is described as the granddaddy it’s an archetype, something to be respected.

Compare and contrast ‘granny bashing’, ‘granny dumping’, ‘granny flat’ - why don’t we use grandpa in these phrases? What does this tell us about society’s underlying attitude to grandmothers?

I think it says something positive.

Granny bashing and dumping are perjorative terms toward the person doing the bashing or dumping. The terms are protective toward Granny.

Granny flats are a way of providing a safe, semi independent living space to an elderly parent - most often granny after grandad has died.

 

[screenman]

We can, if we want to carry on disseminating the message that climbing hills sensibly and enjoyably is only for weak people

What is sensible climbing, sounds like a new invention that I have not heard about.

 

[Crankarm]

This thread is for people with too much time on their hands.