Why don't women cycle?

[Pat "5mph"]

That's sexist. Men can have valid insights into this matter.

Yes, they can, isn't it sort of info acquired second hand, though?
Let the women speak, but I'm afraid the women of this forum are the wrong ones to ask, because we already cycle.
@ManchesterRider to really get the big picture you should do a proper survey with statistically linked results.
Like the research linked above by @User10119.
I know of many reasons of why women don't commute by bike, because this is what I sometimes ask my work colleagues.
Then again, I know of many reasons why some women ride everywhere!
To me, it would be interesting to find out how many women ride for sport, how many for leisure, how many for transport, and the percentage from the whole (male and female) of these different kind of women riders.
It would be interesting because, if we want to increase transport by bike, we need convincing not the weekend rider, but the Mum that does the school run.

 

[User10119]

That's sexist.

Y'know, I don't think it is. It's a very polite request to let women speak for themselves. In the swamp of actual sexism this place sometimes is, have we really got to the point that a woman asking that women's opinions and insights about issues affecting women be listened to is considered discriminatory?

For what it's worth I think that @Pat "5mph" has a point, in that it is a bit daft to ask people who cycle why people don't cycle. Mind, I ride my bike so little these days I probably count as a non-cyclist. But some of the reasons behind that are complex, and not ones that I'd feel at all comfortable to share with the crocodiles.

 

[jefmcg]

That's sexist. Men can have valid insights into this matter.

They might.

But considering the first post, from a man was about his mother who gave up cycling before he was born sixty-eight years ago! So that is years before the end of rationing, a decade before hormonal contraceptives were available, 17 years before abortion was even partly legalised, nearly 30 years before the first female PM, 67 years before the first female front line graduate from Sandhurst, probably 45 before @ManchesterRider was born etc etc etc.

I do not see much similarity in the lives of women born between the wars and those born in the 21st century. If you think they are the same you have no concept of what it is like to be a woman.

But yeah, sure some men might have some valid insights

 

[slowmotion]

Is the general idea that women who don't cycle can only have their opinions relayed by women who do cycle, and that those opinions relayed to men who cycle are not allowed to be reported by men on this forum?

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Well, I really think we should have 3 categories of "why".
Sport: I want to ride further and faster, but I'll go to Asda in the car, how else?
Leisure and fitness: I want to ride the canal paths at 5mph with my friends, go for coffee and cake.
Utilitarian: I want to ride everywhere, don't have/want a car, give me the safest, fastest route to my destination.
Lots to talk about, but now I need to get some sleep, early shift tomorrow.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

If the general idea that women who don't cycle can only have their opinions relayed by women who do cycle, and that those opinions relayed to men who cycle are not allowed to be reported by men on this forum?

No, it's not.
Mod Note: Stop Stirring!

 

[slowmotion]

No, it's not.
Mod Note: Stop Stirring!

I'm not stirring, just seeking clarity.

 

[User10119]

Well, one bit of 'clarity'; nobody has said that anyone is or isn't 'allowed' to post. One person has politely asked that women's voices be listened to. But if people would rather be affronted at that mere suggestion, that frankly outrageous denial of their freedom of speech, and have yet another iteration of the PC-Gawn-Mad-the-Feminazis-are-after-us-boys nonsense then I give up.

Well done, you've succesfully silenced one of us again. For anyone remotely interested in why I think fewer women cycle than men I posted a link to the previous 34 page discussion of it, and I think this should be a link to the posts I made in that thread.
View attachment 413891

 

[slowmotion]

[QUOTE 5274306, member: 10119"]Well, one bit of 'clarity'; nobody has said that anyone is or isn't 'allowed' to post. One person has politely asked that women's voices be listened to. But if people would rather be affronted at that mere suggestion, that frankly outrageous denial of their freedom of speech, and have yet another iteration of a PC-Gawn-Mad-the-Feminazis-are-after-us-boys nonsense then I give up.

Well done, you've succesfully silenced one of us again. For anyone remotely interested in why I think fewer women cycle than men I posted a link to the previous 34 page discussion of it, and I think this should be a link to the posts I made in that thread.
View attachment 413891 [/QUOTE]
Isn't that a bit of an overreaction? Some males offered their opinions on why women may not cycle. Some people seemed to take exception. Anyway, for what it isn't worth, my wife thinks it's dangerous and my daughter doesn't want to end up at work sweaty. Besides, her bike parking facilities are crap, and the bus is easier.

Did you hear that George, amongst all the noise?

 

[theclaud]

I'm not stirring, just seeking clarity.

Give over!

 

[slowmotion]

Give over!

Oh, all right...

….

 

[Julia9054]

So we have a few wives/girlfriends etc asked who think it is too dangerous
From the page of statistics linked earlier, there are 10 reasons listed which could be summed up as meaning "too dangerous". The average percentage (I realise this is not a particularly good way to analyse as people have ticked more than one) for men listing these reasons is 43.4 compared to women at 49.2. This could be summed up as slightly more women that don't cycle think it is too dangerous than men. Do people think that a 5.8% difference is significantly large enough to conclude that this reason must account for the difference in the numbers of men and women who cycle? I am struck by how similar they are.

 

[glasgowcyclist]

There's a piece on the BBC about this at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-44446958 which contains a link to an older feature (from Jan 2018) : https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-41737483 which gives the following insight:

About 50% fewer women than men cycle twice a week or more, according to walking and cycling charity Sustrans, and when it comes to cycling on the roads, the number drops again.

Commonly cited reasons for shunning the benefits of getting into the saddle include sexual harassment, fears about appearance and concerns about safety. So what can be done to get more women on their bikes and out on the road?

Tackling sexist attitudes among male road users would be a first step, says Leigh Campbell, who leads all-women cycling rides in Nottingham.

"Sometimes, when I've been out cycling on my own, I've had male drivers shout at me as they're overtaking," said the 45-year-old British Cycling Breeze Champion.

"I've been told to 'read the Highway Code' and 'get off the road'. I've also been sworn at.

"I've even had 'keep pedalling, nearly there' - from a male cyclist. They wouldn't have said it to another man, it's so patronising and uncalled for.

"All I want to do is ride my bike and I don't think I should have to put up with abuse from other - mainly male - road users, just because I'm a woman."

​

 

[jefmcg]

Is the general idea that women who don't cycle can only have their opinions relayed by women who do cycle, and that those opinions relayed to men who cycle are not allowed to be reported by men on this forum?

There are two sorts of non cycling women: those who have never cycled and those who have given it up. I didn't start cycling until I was in my late twenties. Right now as you seem to be aware I am having qualms about continuing to cycle, so yes I think I might be able to relate to both types.

We could also divide non-cycling women another way, those that don't want to cycle, and those that want to cycle yet don't. Probably no one here can relate to the former, but everyone (male and female) have felt the pressure to stop cycling, and even though we have resisted it, we understand why someone might have given into it.

No one wants to be lying on the tarmac, nearly under the wheels of a Prius in Kensington after midnight. But I think it has a extra frisson of danger that I am a woman, and it is men in the car that hit me standing over me trying to bully me into not calling the police, men who run over in response to my screams, it's a policeman who stumbles on the scene. Every person involved could have physically restrained me, hurt me or worse. Sure, the policeman and the bystanders would have almost certainly stood up for me, but I don't want to rely on the kindness of strangers. And the next time, if there are no bystanders and passing police? I don't want to be in that situation again and the best way to avoid it involves 4 wheels, locking doors and an engine.

I could have shared this, but instead I ended up responding to butt hurt men who were offended at the principle that maybe there are a few times and places when they should listen rather than talk.

But now I have seen your vital hearsay anecdata, I understand the urgency of your need to have your say. Men have been silenced for too long! </sarcasm>

 

[MontyVeda]

Can I ask that men for once step back and let the actual women here answer? It's okay just to listen sometimes.

How women that cycle step back and let the women who don't cycle answer the question?

[edit] TMN to almost everyone