The bike and the emancipation of women

"Before I thought that the worst thing a woman could do was smoking, but I have changed her mind. The worst thing I've seen in my life is a woman riding a bicycle."This was stated on July 25, 1891, Chicago Tribune's correspondent in a small column in which she claimed that she could make life impossible for her future daughter -in -law if she demonstrated her slightest inclination for cycling;The bicycle pioneers were beginning to cause overwhelming impression.

The bicycle path had been long.The first models, since 1817, consisted of a mere bar that linked two wheels.Around 1870 pedals were added, which apart from allowing assembly also increased the chances of being unscathed from the adventure.These "velocípedos", with the front wheel larger than the rear, were replaced by bicycles with wheels of equal size and chains that transmitted the pedal energy to the rear wheel.Much safer, bicycles from the beginning of the Belle Époque began to be sold at exorbitant prices to those who could afford it.

High -class women were daring to ride in this new invention, which put within their reach the possibility of moving freely and quickly in a world that condemned them to enclaustration in family housing.These pioneers attracted all eyes, which was already bad.The behavior manuals of the time made it very clear that the last thing a lady should do on the street was to get the attention of the pedestrians.Walking quickly was a sign of bad education, as well as talking high or moving your arms away from the body.

Breaking schemes

The woman who rode a bicycle broke the established rules on female behavior and became a person of moral dubious.A great scandal accompanied the first cyclists.The Emma Eades were received to the Londinense;Many others insulted and assaulted.As if that were not enough, the doctors of the time thought that cycling was a harmful activity for the female organism, considered weaker than the masculine.Bicycle, they believed, could cause sterility and nerve disorders.

But these pioneers not only faced the founded prejudices of the time.They had an even greater obstacle: female clothing, composed of heavy dresses (underwear weighed about six kilos) and tight corsets with which to do the slightest exercise without fainting was a prodigy.

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The Bloomers came to the rescue of the cyclists, very wide pants.But when some women dared to dress them, the scandal was capital.The priests dedicated sermons to highlight the sinful of the matter;The French teachers were forbidden to go to school and the aristocrat Lady Haberton prevented him from entering Bloomers, in a cafeteria where she intended to drink something before riding again on her bicycle.The battle for the pants was lost, but in the meantime a long stretch had been made in female emancipation.

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Bicycle popularization

Little by little, the image of the woman by bicycle was ceasing to be strange.More and more cheaper, bicycles became popular.A multitude of women's clubs emerged that offered the opportunity to travel in company and thus avoid street harassment.Examples such as the return to the world by Bicycle of Annie Londnderry in 1895 captivated the imagination of many and showed that women were capable of the same feats as men.Meanwhile, advertising presented cycling as a respectable activity.Now doctors recommended bicycle, and journalists saw the "new woman" in the cyclist.The female gender conquered a new land that had previously been forbidden.

In fact, the phenomenon had become so popular that, at the end of the beautiful Époque, a single woman complained that she could no longer bind without bicycle.As much as she widen her genre horizons, she was very bothered by the discomforts of this sport.She has never rained to everyone's taste.

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