Inertia
I feel like I could... TAKE ON THE WORLD!!
Isn't that the point of the thread?, to find out why more woman don't cycle. It could be that some women want to cycle but for some reason, won't or can't 'just do it'.
What’s stopping women cycling?
- Thread starter Cycleops
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kingrollo
Guru
OK fair point.
As far as I am aware there are no barriers to women cycling. I can't think of any reason why women can't cycle - the big detriments, the weather, the effort, the risks are pretty equal for both sexes I would have thought.
Inertia
I feel like I could... TAKE ON THE WORLD!!
Those are shared but there are other detriments, that men suffer less of, that have been highlighted in this thread.
MontyVeda
a short-tempered ill-controlled small-minded troll
- Location
- Lancaster... the little city.
You haven't read the thread have you.
My partner gave up riding with our club because she just got sick of the constant sexist comments, of all kinds, both deliberate and out of ignorance.
I'm far from perfect, but I'm often shocked by how difficult many men find it to talk to women without causing offence.
Although more men than women cycle, more men don't cycle than do, I wonder how many men would say that it was the actions and attitudes of women that put them off cycling?
Yes, I have to say I find that totally incomprehensible. Some of the things I hear some men say, casually in everyday conversation and apparently without thinking about it, often make me cringe. I don't understand how some men can get through life without constantly being punched.
I've heard people saying "It's just lads' talk" as if that justifies it. But it isn't, certainly not in any of the social circles I've been in during my life, and it doesn't.
I come across people who seem to see the world as being made up of "men" and "women" rather than just "people", and maybe that's part of it. I often hear of men who "are not good at talking to women", but I don't get why that should be different to just "talking to people".
And maybe it's reinforced by needing to see things in black and white when the real beauty of the world lies in its subtle multitude of greys?
A lot of folk do appear believe the generalizations that people incorrectly extract from the various minor male/female bell-curve variations. You know the things like "Men are better at X, women are better at Y" stuff? I remember reading a rebuttal of such nonsense somewhere that went along the lines of "Do you realize that graph actually shows that 40% of men are more 'feminine' on that measure than the average woman?"
I've always wanted to be able to study psychology, and there's definitely a subset of male psychology that I find completely alien.
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nickyboy
Norven Mankey
- Location
- You want hills? We got hills
Perhaps a decent starting point might be the question of why spin classes are predominantly female (so I'm led to believe, I've never been to one) whereas outdoor cycling is predominantly male. The exercise is basically the same so why do women, in general, seem to prefer an indoor spin class?
There are plenty of hints and clues in this thread but, being a bloke, I should leave it to the women to shed some light
Julia9054
Guru
- Location
- Knaresborough
We are the wrong women to shed light. We cycle. You need to ask women who go to spin classes and who don't cycle outdoors.
nickyboy
Norven Mankey
- Location
- You want hills? We got hills
Well, the worst people to comment on why would be blokes that cycle outdoors (me and most people populating this thread). The best would be women who spin but they aren't here. Women who cycle outdoors are probably best able on this thread to provide insight
[QUOTE 5123968, member: 10119"]As to actual reasons why fewer women cycle than men - I reckon there's loads of contributory factors. It is quite important to distinguish between reasons that an individual of any gender does or doesn't choose to ride a bike for sport/leisure/utility etc and the the reasons that groups of people may experience barriers to participation. A few starters, for ten...
- we socialise girls out of, and boys into, being competitive from a fairly early age
- we encourage risk-taking behaviours much more in our sons than we do in our daughters
- boys are rewarded for being brave and strong and tough and girls for being pretty and well-behaved - so of course teenage girls tend to become incredibly self-conscious about sportswear and sweat and messed up hair
- Women typically have
- less disposable income
- less available leisure time
- and more caring responsibilities than men
Julia9054
Guru
- Location
- Knaresborough
Several of us have described the sorts of things that are specific to being women that annoy us when cycling and Pale Rider described his observations within his club which show that fewer women discourage women from participating in itself. Only a proper study will show what the real barriers are and the "women be like this, men be like that" comments from some contributors here are, at best, unhelpful
While I mostly agree with much of what you say - there's something niggling in this bit that I can't quite find the words to explain so I'm kind of quoting this and trying anyway in the hope that someone else will know what I mean and be able to do a better job. There's an issue with saying everyone is 'just people' when we have a societly structured to advantage/disadvantage on the basis of gender. It's analogous to the problem with the idea of countering racism by 'not seeing colour' when actually that 'colourblindness' denies the voice and identities and cultures and lived experiences of black people.
[QUOTE 5127577, member: 10119"]While I mostly agree with much of what you say - there's something niggling in this bit that I can't quite find the words to explain so I'm kind of quoting this and trying anyway in the hope that someone else will know what I mean and be able to do a better job. There's an issue with saying everyone is 'just people' when we have a societly structured to advantage/disadvantage on the basis of gender. It's analogous to the problem with the idea of countering racism by 'not seeing colour' when actually that 'colourblindness' denies the voice and identities and cultures and lived experiences of black people.[/QUOTE]
Yep, I get what you mean. "Colourblindness" and "genderblindness" are what would have prevented racism and sexism in the first place, and I think they're the right way to approach most new situations - but they're clearly not the solution to current racism and sexism. The "just people" thing would be an ideal outcome from a fair society.
I recall people pondering, when Barack Obama was elected, whether America had finally put racism behind it. Someone (I can't remember who) suggested that the need to ask that question in itself meant the answer was no - should America ever make it to a post-racism state, nobody would think to ask the question.
Yep, I get what you mean. "Colourblindness" and "genderblindness" are what would have prevented racism and sexism in the first place, and I think they're the right way to approach most new situations - but they're clearly not the solution to current racism and sexism. The "just people" thing would be an ideal outcome from a fair society.
I recall people pondering, when Barack Obama was elected, whether America had finally put racism behind it. Someone (I can't remember who) suggested that the need to ask that question in itself meant the answer was no - should America ever make it to a post-racism state, nobody would think to ask the question.
derrick
The Glue that binds us together.
- Location
- On the edge of London
My wife rides on the road, but she goes to spinning classes twice a week, the girls she spins with do not ride on the road, they are just not interested in cycling, simple.
