What’s stopping women cycling?

[vickster]

W....the government starts taking cycling seriously....

How? What does that mean?

 

[Inertia]

When you can control the idiot drivers out there, or the government starts taking cycling seriously. we might see a change.
There are many walks in life where there may be more of one gender or another, Do you really want a 50/50 split in everything, it ain't going to happen.
I would love to see everyone on a bike, again it will never happen, just except people will do what they are comfortable doing.

Of course there won't be 50/50, no-one has said that. I would want to be sure that they are not prejudiced against just because they are a woman.

 

[derrick]

How? What does that mean?

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...angerous-careless-driving-jesse-a7957996.html

 

[vickster]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...angerous-careless-driving-jesse-a7957996.html

I still don't follow? Surely it's about making cycling safer and more accessible for all.
I have no issue with cyclists who kill or hurt others due to their dangerous actions should be punished...as should drivers

 

[derrick]

I still don't follow? Surely it's about making cycling safer and more accessible for all.
I have no issue with cyclists who kill or hurt others due to their dangerous actions should be punished...as should drivers

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

[QUOTE 5128394, member: 45"]Apologies but I've not read 23 pages.

Shouldn't the question be what are the reasons that women don't cycle which are different to the reasons that men don't cycle? That should focus things a bit more.

Wrt commuting, I know one or two women who do cycle for leisure but don't commute because of the time it would take them at work to sort their hair, makeup etc out.[/QUOTE]
I don't know whether you're indirectly addressing my post from earlier today but my approach to rephrasing the question started with a general uptake basis rather than a specific gender uptake basis, reasoning that there's a fair chance that more people cycling will mean more women cycling as well. If that isn't the case and women get left out of the increased cycling activity, then there clearly is an urgent need to focus specifically on the case for women. But my impression is that the opposite is likely to occur: women will represent a higher proportion than they presently do.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Well spotted!

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

[QUOTE 5128410, member: 45"]I wasn't, but your reply is relevant so thanks.

I'm interested in the specific women-only reasons, because as you suggest addressing the unisex reasons will bring an increase overall.[/QUOTE]
I suppose my hypothesis is that fewer obstacles to cycling for all will lead to an increase in the proportion of women cycling. Why? Because it normalises cycling... I think that what may appear to be ''specific women-only'' reasons may also be found to apply to all.

 

[vickster]

Nope still none the wiser on your POV. Maybe you posted the wrong link. Forget it

 

[Lavender Rose]

I work in a leisure centre and I think women prefer fast paced spin classes for the fitness aspect rather than enjoying fresh air etc. I much prefer cycling outside, spin classes are my winter alternative when I don't fancy falling off my bike on icy roads! x

 

[PK99]

I work in a leisure centre and I think women prefer fast paced spin classes for the fitness aspect rather than enjoying fresh air etc. I much prefer cycling outside, spin classes are my winter alternative when I don't fancy falling off my bike on icy roads! x

At the Nuffield gym I use, almost all classes (spin and other) are predominantly female, machine use is more by women then men and free weights users are predominantly male.

There are several Watt bikes, it is rare to see women using these.

 

[MontyVeda]

[QUOTE 5128310, member: 9609"]we were at friends yesterday and she is a big gym goer / fitness fanatic and apparently does a lot of spinning, I asked why she doesn't get a proper bike and the reply was she and a friend had tried it, got the bikes the gear the lot, but just thought it was too dangerous, cars and lorries going to fast and too close. She does plenty jogging through parks etc so obviously not feared in being out there - So I would reckon she doesnt cycle as the roads are too dangerous and the only connection to men is that they are probably the biggest culprits with fast aggressive sort of driving.

without suggesting women can't be as brave as men, they certainly can be - In general women don't seem to take the risks men are willing to take ? probably something to do with our slightly different psychological characteristics, testosterone levels ?[/QUOTE]
That wouldn't explain why slightly more women than men cycle in Denmark though.

 

[User10119]

[QUOTE 5128310, member: 9609"]without suggesting women can't be as brave as men, they certainly can be - In general women don't seem to take the risks men are willing to take ? probably something to do with our slightly different psychological characteristics, testosterone levels ?[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE 5123968, member: 10119"]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

[/QUOTE]

 

[User10119]

At the Nuffield gym I use, almost all classes (spin and other) are predominantly female, machine use is more by women then men and free weights users are predominantly male.

There are several Watt bikes, it is rare to see women using these.

I seem to remember from my gym bunny days (stop laughing at the back there - when we had an accessible and affordable council-run leisure centre I was there doing some form of on-purpose exercise 6 days a week - sometimes doing different things two or even three times a day) there was a generalised trend of more women using mostly cardio/some resistance machines and more men doing free weights. My trainer commented that they often struggled to get women to use free weights* or do much resistance work in their routines because they were concerned about "bulking up". We (societal level, not necessarily individual) generally hold men and women to different (unrealistic) standards of beauty; men are 'supposed' to build muscle and be strong and all that, women 'should' be slim (but definitely not so thin as to lose their boobs) and toned but aren't 'allowed' bulging biceps etc. I don't find it very surprising that gender tends to affect the forms of deliberate exercise-for-fitness-health-and-body-image that people choose.

But surely, as others have said, cycling is about much more than exercise?


*since I didn't give a monkeys about getting 'too muscley' this was in the context of her being well chuffed that I had overcome my other unrelated anxieties about the free weights area and very much made it my own, as well as making extensive use of the resistance machines. I discovered weights are fun, that I loved having really powerful biceps and triceps and that a 5annasqueak foot ginger bird leg pressing multiple sets in excess of 150kg can make some of the mirror staring adonis types look at you in a slightly different light

 

[vickster]

I don't use the freeweights/weights area at my gym as it smells rather rancidly of sweaty blokes (which is my general experience of those areas of gyms) For that reason I stick to the cardio area and female only area of the gym