Interesting article in the Telegraph about sexism in cycling

msmancunia

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens ... de-on.html

Personally, I don't do girly although I do sometimes still get hassled - both by drivers and other male cyclists. It's a shame that this kind of behaviour keeps women off bikes.

sassse

Really interesting article, it is not something I have experieneced myself either.I wear lycra, but ride "mens" bikes and have never had abuse thrown at me for being a women, I have been told to ride on the pavement etc and other such gems.... but that was just aimed at cyclists not sexist in nature.

Although I have to say it doesn't surprise me, I find it really sad that this still goes on.

Omar Little

I think for some of the abuse from car drivers and people in the street then guys will get it too in a different form - i dont think it being sexist necessarily makes it any worse. Where it really differs is that guys wont get it from fellow cyclists...i dont mean in the form of banter (i expect to get a bit of stick from time to time amongst club mates!) but from random strangers on bikes i've never experienced it whereas i've heard it directed towards women on numerous occassions - usual shite about admiring the view when they are getting a tow and so on.

You see the sexism on here too, particularly during events like the Olympics, with the tacky comments made about elite women cyclists after they've won something

rubertoe

I have been thinking about this, Its not something that i have ever experienced personally nor heard from anyone directly but i imagine it goes on. Much like in anything, its women who are feminine that tend to get the most attention. but this is not an excuse.

Its just small minded behaviour from knuckle-dragging idiots.

it does happen to men as well, I have heard of men being inappropriately touched by women leaning out of cars . In any event none of it is excusable as at the end of the day, were all just trying to get somewhere.

ademort

It,s a shame that some women are insulted, jeered at and generally verbally abused just because they ride a bike. I live in the Netherlands and find it just a pity that road users in the UK cant adopt the same attitude as the Dutch. As far as i know i,ve never heard of women being verbally abused by other road users. Some people need to grow up.
Ademort

hjghg5

I've never felt like I've attracted extra attention for being female. I ride road bikes but have a fair amount of pink kit so am visibly female.

Sometimes I feel a bit out of place as a female cyclist, but by and large it's not because the men aren't welcoming, more that I wish other women would turn up to keep me company!

awavey

its not something I feel Ive been targetted for specifically as a woman riding a bike around, either in girly mode or full sporty lycra mode, ok I dont have a standout fluorescent pink bike and some of the cycling lycra stuff can be very non-gender specific,but I dont feel Ive been singled out for abuse because of who I am, its the cycling aspect thats the catalyst for it usually

and for sure the ratio of male vs female riders on the road, it can certainly feel like we are getting more of the flak :roll: but its never felt particularly sexist in origin, your just as likely to see a carload or group of idiots catcall or chuck abuse at a male cyclist, because they are idiots who dont like cyclists,its not because they are sexist, in my view anyway.

Vino'sGhost

awww come on luvs, some of you look hot in lycra, of course blokes are going to perv you.

rodgers73

rubertoe wrote:

...it does happen to men as well, I have heard of men being inappropriately touched by women leaning out of cars . In any event none of it is excusable as at the end of the day, were all just trying to get somewhere.

Not had that but have had builder-style "phwoar you've got f*ckin sexy legs etc etc" shouts from a woman driving next to me once. I was to the left of her car and she had to shout across what looked like her young son in the passenger seat!

I happily chat up any female cyclist I encounter, but only in a polite way. Lord knows what motivates those handing out the abuse are thinking!

slowbike

Vino'sGhost wrote:

awww come on luvs, some of you look hot in lycra, of course blokes are going to perv you.

Of course they do ... men and women alike can appreciate a good looking form - but at least they could keep it to themselves.... or at least half decent.

hjghg5

It does work both ways, having cycled up a moderately sized hill in spain some random people came over to us complimenting us in spanish on having strong legs, then squeezing my bf's arse to prove the point :shock:

ct8282

Not wanting to butt in on the women's board but I do have some views about this and the whole sexist thing in general that I wanted to share.

Being a guy, and one that certainly appreciates the female form, especially in a tight Lycra outfit , I often might find myself having a longer look than might be considered just a glance, and even at times I will pay an attractive female a compliment about their appearance, but this is usually only reserved for woman I know well and is done in a tasteful way and certainly not in a letcherous or vulgar manner such as 'oi luv show us your t*ts' for example. I have however witnessed this sort of behaviour from lots of other guys and my partner has even been the recipient of such unnecessary commentary.

However, I would like to point out that women also behave in this inappropriate way and I have been subject to such commentary and have had plenty of moments where women have 'manhandled' me when it was completely uncalled for and I did absolutely nothing to suggest to them that I was receptive to being groped! What really frustrates me is that women can largely get away with it and that we never really hear people discussing inappropriate behaviour from the girls. It's always, 'men are such animals and think they can do what they like'. Well, I've had girls say to me 'show us your co*k' and I've had girls come up to me in the pub after a few drinks and just grab my private areas. Short of just walking away there's nothing I can really do, but if a guy walks up to a girl and did the same, there's every chance he'd wind up in a lot of trouble.

My point in summary, is that in my experience girls can be just as bad as the guys. The fact that on the whole the cycling game is probably 90%/10% men to women means you are more likely to notice inappropriate behaviour from men.