WOMEN IN MOTION
By: Iretomiwa Ekisola
Tags: Women, Bicycles, Womens Rights, Feminism, Transportation

Photo by Johan Mouchet on Unsplash

Honestly, I can’t ride a bicycle to save my life, one of the things I have made peace with is that Ireoluwatomiwa Ekisola may most likely never be able to ride a bicycle. Truly, I did not think about me transporting myself anywhere because I am a “very inside person”. In fact, I haven’t moved this much on my own till I started NYSC. I think this is one reason why I took wanting to move around freely for granted.

So for a little backstory, I was scrolling through Twitter (like I practically do a lot these days) and I came across a thread about “ how bikes are feminist” so I decided to read more. You know out of curiosity, just to know is this rubbish or common sense.

This is me sharing from my deep dive.

Side note: This is a very west centered perspective and couldn’t seem to find anything about black women anyway the story is still sweet.

Before bicycles existed, women were expected to move on foot, in carriages, or on horsebacks, always supervised. The type of movement was usually based on economic class. Various changes in the ability to move for women but bicycles may be the most crucial one, probably because it wasn’t expensive, easy to use and capable of high speeds.

The first set of bicycles made were made specifically for men. They were seen as a masculine product and it was marketed as such. The invention of the “safety bicycle” changed everything. It was considered to be safe for children and some women decided that it was safe for them too( because truly if it was safe for children it was safe for adult female humans). This was radical at this time for some reasons: bicycles were created for men, so you could ride fast without a chaperone. Women were basically in control of their movement/ transportation.

Unfortunately, a problem arose; some people ( mainly men) believed that if women went around straddling something, they would start having orgasms all over the place. Some thinkers did recommend the idea because it would help make them more fit for motherhood.

Cycling helped women shed restrictive clothing, helped women wear more “masculine” clothes that were way more comfortable and appropriate for cycling. Suffragettes embraced bicycles both symbolically and physically as tools of liberation.

When I read this story, the first thing that came to my mind was Saudi Arabia. I remember how wild it felt that in 2018, women were just legally allowed to drive. I had to go read about this because I kept thinking “You guys are just letting women drive?”. When I dug in I saw how women were arrested for even asking for the right to drive. Actually, we still have women like Loujain al-Hathloul and other activists who are still in prison for asking for the right to drive that women currently have.

When I read some of the reasons why women weren’t allowed, some men thought women driving would lead to women having orgasms while driving and other forms of ridiculousness. I was about to actually try and find solace in the fact that at least they got the goal, then I read about the guardianship law and I was disappointed. Under Saudi law, all females must have a male guardian (wali), typically a father, brother, husband, or uncle (mahram). So even if you can drive, you can not technically go anywhere without a male guardian.

The control of women movement has always confused me until it hit me you have a lot of control over a person if you control where they can and can not go. You can do and undo to a woman who you can restrict her movement. Limit her options, put her in a box then be the beginning and the end of her life.

Let me end by saying bicycles are feminists (lol) and let women move freely.

* You can read more about bicycles and women here.*