"you shouldn't be a second class citizen cuz you want to ride a bike"
Bump!!! this is pretty fucking beautiful and cool! thanks for sharing!
Gizzard03.31.10 - 12:55 pm
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You're welcome! The way to get women to ride is right there in that 8 min clip. There is a book to go with the full documentary too.
Girl Power responding to a
comment by Gizzard
03.31.10 - 3:09 pm
reply
This would be the time I snap back with a comment ...
OsnapsonJC responding to a
comment by Girl Power
03.31.10 - 3:14 pm
reply
Twinings named a flavor of tea after you, it's called Constant Comet. LOL
Girl Power responding to a
comment by OsnapsonJC
03.31.10 - 3:36 pm
reply
I'm going to tell my "internet safety expert on you"
OsnapsonJC responding to a
comment by Girl Power
03.31.10 - 3:40 pm
reply
I'm always a little irritated by how the "marketing riding to chicks" projects consistently reinscribe mainstream beauty standards and gender ideals. There has to be a better way than telling chicks that they can ride bikes and still look "cute" and be "fashionable"?
Ms. Stephanie responding to a
comment by OsnapsonJC
03.31.10 - 3:41 pm
reply
That's my biggest problem too. Do we have to still buy into that stuff? NO. What if I've never been fashionable? What if "cute" makes me feel 5 years old, and uh...I'm too old for that shit? I'd be much more attracted to something that markets the strengthening aspects, mentally, physically, etc.
sinaphile responding to a
comment by Ms. Stephanie
03.31.10 - 3:51 pm
reply
I agree, but, you have to pick and choose your battles - and vast majority of young women are always going to want to be fashionable, therefore it behooves cycling to equate bikes with beauty as an alternate means of transportation.
Girl Power responding to a
comment by Ms. Stephanie
03.31.10 - 4:03 pm
reply
Bikes have always been associated with beauty, if you ride a bike you're likely a healthier person, and healthy people are beautiful people.
braydon responding to a
comment by Girl Power
03.31.10 - 4:56 pm
reply
damn o snap son you're becoming quite the troll
_iJunes03.31.10 - 4:57 pm
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"Bikes have always been associated with beauty."
Heh. No, they haven't…at least not where women were concerned. As a matter of fact, women who rode bikes in the 19th century were often accused of being lesbians (and that, to many small minded individuals, is supposed to be the opposite of beautiful). Women in Spain have only recently begun to ride bikes because they weren't allowed to do so under Castro. That's some serious revisionist history you've got there, son.
“If you ride a bike you're likely a healthier person, and healthy people are beautiful people.”
That, I wholeheartedly agree with. However. It’s the definition of beauty that I’m talking about. If you watched the clip, you will see that the point is, like I said, being fashionable and cute in the way that girls are taught to try to be – in order to be popular, and fit in, and get boys, etc.
I think it’s sad that a project that is emphasizing the freedom riding a bike provides for girls and women isn’t also advocating freedom from mainstream standards of beauty that are forced on girls and women their entire lives.
Ms. Stephanie responding to a
comment by braydon
03.31.10 - 5:12 pm
reply
"A large number of female bicyclists wear shorter dresses than the laws of morality and decency permit, thereby inviting the improper conversations and remarks of the depraved and immoral. I most certainly consider the adoption of the bicycle by women as detrimental to the advancement of morality."
"Do not think of sitting down to a table until you have changed your underclothing."
alicestrong responding to a
comment by Ms. Stephanie
03.31.10 - 5:17 pm
reply
i like it. it sends the message that bikes aren't just for tattooed lesbians and poor people. bikes provide a mode of enjoyment and entertainment that everyone, females in particular, can enjoy and integrate into their daily lives, even those with a more "traditional" feminine aesthetic. and i don't believe there's anything wrong with wanting to be cute or embracing feminine traits, as neither precludes by any means a female's ability to be successful in other ways. it's like, serena and venus williams can kick any guy's ass any day, but that doesn't mean they can't enjoy dressing up or being fashionable or promoting their personal sense of style. there are many other examples of this type of modern woman.
those who don't necessarily agree with the message obviously aren't the targets of the documentary/marketing piece.
azn invazn03.31.10 - 5:26 pm
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I agree, Azn, and very well-said. We have to pick our battles, and cycling and feminism are two different issues. It's hard enough to show how great bikes are let alone trying to also make hard core feminists out of every would-be female cyclist.
The reality is that if bikes are considered fashionable, hot and sexy then guys and women will want to ride them! Heck, those are the reasons they spend money on expensive cars when a cheap car will get them from point A to point B just as successfully.
My new motto is that "all the cute boys and girls ride cool bikes; a cool bicycle is the new sports car!" ;P
Girl Power responding to a
comment by azn invazn
03.31.10 - 5:35 pm
reply
"bikes aren't just for tattooed lesbians"
Wow. Nice.
"and i don't believe there's anything wrong with wanting to be cute or embracing feminine traits, as neither precludes by any means a female's ability to be successful in other ways."
I didn't say there was anything wrong with it. I'm not going to go up to someone and give her a hard time or tell her she suffers from false consciousness because she wants to embrace what are stereotypically defined as feminine traits. I never said there is anything wrong with the individual girls or women who want to do so.
All I said is that it's irritating that every article, etc., I've seen about getting women to ride bikes emphasizes the same thing - fashion and mainstream beauty standards. There is so much more people could talk about, but yet these choose these themes.
If you want to get into a debate about the good the bad and the ugly of mainstream standards of beauty, I would be happy to discuss that with you, but I wasn't trying to do that here.
Love,
a straight girl often accused of being a tattooed lesbian, like shit like that shit somehow matters
Ms. Stephanie responding to a
comment by azn invazn
03.31.10 - 5:44 pm
reply
ok, obviously (to us) bikes aren't just for tattooed lesbians -- it's a stereotype that it seems articles, documentaries, etc, may be attempting dismantle. and not that there's anything wrong with being a tattooed lesbian, but it can make a world that much more unfamiliar. the fact that that's seen as unfamiliar can be another debate, but it's a fact of life for now.
maybe the articles you've read that construe bike riding this way, i.e., a way that doesn't necessarily clash with those mainstream beauty standards, because it's a more effective way to get them to embrace the idea of riding a bike on a regular basis. from what i've seen, there are many articles out there that promote bicycling as a healthy, economic, and environmental option because these benefits are agnostic to gender, and females who care about that stuff have probably already been reeled in. gotta cater to those particular interests/concerns.
like for people who like to party -- oh, midnightridazz provides a way to party and ride, come join, people join, they enjoy, they stay -- etcetc (though admittedly this can backfire).
yours truly,
also a straight girl often accused of being a lesbian, though clearly without tattoos
azn invazn responding to a
comment by Ms. Stephanie
03.31.10 - 6:03 pm
reply
I need a good recipe to remove the grease from my clothes...:)
alicestrong03.31.10 - 6:13 pm
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@azn invasion Thanks for explaining where you were coming from with that statement - it's so difficult to gauge tone on a forum, especially when you don't know someone.
I'm all for bike advocacy, and I completely understand your point, as well as Girl Power's points. I do. And I understand that some advocates trying to make riding attractive to as many people as possible would utilize the strategy used by the documentary. However, I still take issue with the approach. Or, perhaps I would take less issue with the approach if I saw a larger variety of approaches in articles and projects aimed specifically and girls and women to balance it out.
@Girl Power, feminism isn't an issue separate and apart from anything, in my opinion - that's what makes it feminism. Nor am I trying to turn anyone into a hardcore feminist, whatever you might think that means (we Hardcore Feminists, we're dangerous...we recruit, like the Gays).
How about we make a documentary on girls and women riding bikes because it's just a whole goddam bunch of F.U.N.? Maybe I'll start working on that.
Ms. Stephanie responding to a
comment by azn invazn
03.31.10 - 6:37 pm
reply
I think he was just trying to say "tuff girl" and it came out wrong.
But, we do use beauty and fashion to sale everything from cars to soda pop! Yes, I agree it's a bad message, but that is currently how things are marketed and sailing the idea of bikes as mainstream for men and women probably won't be any different.
Girl Power responding to a
comment by Ms. Stephanie
03.31.10 - 6:38 pm
reply
"How about we make a documentary on girls and women riding bikes because it's just a whole goddam bunch of F.U.N.? Maybe I'll start working on that."
The girls did say it was fun! But, when asked why they did not ride they specifically said that it was because they had the impression they could not wear high heels and the cloths they love and so it was not the producers of the documentary of the film that said that, it was the female interviewees themselves that said that they would be more inclined to ride bikes if more fashionable and trendy people were doing it too.
Like it or not, that is how these women feel and their feelings, like your feelings, are valid.
Girl Power responding to a
comment by Ms. Stephanie
03.31.10 - 6:42 pm
reply
I think
she was just trying to say "tuff girl" and it came out wrong.
Fixed that for you. Reading comprehension fail. Ms. Stephanie, I always agree with you.
danya responding to a
comment by Girl Power
03.31.10 - 6:44 pm
reply
How is it a reading comprehension "fail", I simply used "he" since I did not know the sex of the person making the comment...don't be an ass. LOL
Girl Power responding to a
comment by danya
03.31.10 - 6:49 pm
reply
I trust the Stephanie will point out far more kindly exactly why that
assumption is so wrong.
"yours truly,
also a straight girl often accused of being a lesbian, though clearly without tattoos "
And there's your fail.
I'll be an ass all I want to. You should get back in the kitchen.
danya responding to a
comment by Girl Power
03.31.10 - 6:52 pm
reply
You know what, if a woman wants to ride a bike, she'll ride a bike. If she doesn't, she won't. Who fucking cares. Women ride. I'm sick of people acting like females don't ride bikes, because they fucking do. All over the place. Guess what! Being a chick on a bike doesn't make you special! There's a zillion of us!!
btw, AMEN to everything Ms. Stephanie says, now and for all time.
shotgunBOOMBOOM03.31.10 - 7:01 pm
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And if I had to ride what those girls are riding in the video, I wouldn't want to ride bikes either!
shotgunBOOMBOOM03.31.10 - 7:02 pm
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""yours truly,
also a straight girl often accused of being a lesbian, though clearly without tattoos "
And there's your fail."
I did not read that, I just read the first paragraph and responded to that.
Yes, do be an ass, you seem to excel at it! Toodles!
Girl Power responding to a
comment by danya
03.31.10 - 7:03 pm
reply
Heh. I actually have to get my poon on my bike to go meet some Tren Ways for drinks, and I just lost a whole reply. Sonofabitch.
The jist of it was that there are so many other different types of girls out there, too, that aren't riding bikes, for a zillion different reasons. I wish that when articles or projects focused on girls or women, they didn't automatically focus on the same topic. I never claimed that their feelings were invalid.
The general use of the masculine pronoun as the default, well.....sometimes it just makes me feel tired.
Ms. Stephanie responding to a
comment by danya
03.31.10 - 7:08 pm
reply
Females can be so disappointing. It's tough being on our level of consciousness.
shotgunBOOMBOOM responding to a
comment by Ms. Stephanie
03.31.10 - 7:10 pm
reply
BROWN PRIDE 13
Member since: 04.1.10
Topics: 1
Replies: 3
view gallery contributions
Tell me what the future's like?
shotgunBOOMBOOM responding to a
comment by BROWN PRIDE 13
03.31.10 - 9:59 pm
reply
HELL YES.
shotgunBOOMBOOM
responding to a comment by BROWN PRIDE 13
03.31.10 - 9:57 pm
you're kinda jumping the gun, shotgun... still 2 hours away
braydon responding to a
comment by shotgunBOOMBOOM
03.31.10 - 10:04 pm
reply
LOL.... well shit we could have started the shenanigans 7 hours ago according to that logic....................................
braydon responding to a
comment by shotgunBOOMBOOM
03.31.10 - 10:08 pm
reply
"LOL.... well shit we could have started the shenanigans 7 hours ago according to that logic...................................."
Hmmm, well I *do* enjoy the shenanigans....
Girl Power responding to a
comment by braydon
04.1.10 - 2:25 am
reply
the internet is going to be all f'ed up today..... oiy
braydon responding to a
comment by Girl Power
04.1.10 - 8:19 am
reply
"Females can be so disappointing."
We still need to try to stick together, though. Keep discourse open, and be a force to be reckoned with, even with our differences.
Or, to put in MR terms, bring the poon to the party - but always on our own terms and always having each other's backs, so the MR pathetic poon pirates end up diddling themselves in a corner while we're out have fun on our bikes.
Ms. Stephanie responding to a
comment by braydon
04.1.10 - 4:02 pm
reply
Ummm..... I think you hit the wrong reply button.... cuz I didn't say that.
braydon responding to a
comment by Ms. Stephanie
04.1.10 - 4:05 pm
reply
@braydon No, I know you didn't say that. I just hit the reply button at the end of the thread because it was the handiest. Sorry 'bout the confusion.
Ms. Stephanie responding to a
comment by braydon
04.1.10 - 5:32 pm
reply