Maciej Jarzbski, 2rok 2stopnia Praca zaliczeniowa wykadu monograficznego

Victorian wheels of change

Susan B. Anthony, a suffragist and a prominent American civil rights leader, once said, "Let me tell you what I think of bicycling. I think it has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world." However ridiculous it might sound, a revolutionary invention of the bicycle played, undoubtedly, a significant role in the early stage of womens liberation. Christopher Connolly, an American investigative journalist, in one of his articles describes the situation of the Victorian women as follows, Susan and her fellow 19th-century women had been severely trammeled their entire lives. Forget the glass ceiling; women in those days were trapped under the glass floor (http://articles.cnn.com). It goes without saying that the liberty of women in those days was snatched out of their hands and deliberately denied. While men became breadwinners, middle class women were confined to the four walls of a household. As for lower class women, they were more familiar with the world of work, but it was not the kind of life that women might dream of. Women sought emancipation in various spheres of life. The invention of the bicycle appeared to be the right tool to fight for their cause. For people of the western world, the Victorian Era was a time of rapid economic growth and significant social changes. Late in the 19th century, with the beginning of the industrial revolution came a new era of a rising middle class and for the first time many people had a lifestyle which included a certain amount of leisure time (http://crankedmag.wordpress.com). The upper and middle classes engaged themselves in various recreational activities such as croquet, roller skating, horseback riding or bicycling. The blossoming social scene created favourable conditions not only for mixing of social classes, but also for mingling between men and women to some extent. The social roles of men and women were clearly defined by a rigid class system as well as sex. While working class women toiled in factories the upper class ladies of the day were considered to be the fair sex, or the gentle sex (http://crankedmag.wordpress.com). The arrival of the first internal combustion engine was a remarkable breakthrough, but a bit earlier the inventive minds of the 19 th century developed yet another groundbreaking invention the bicycle. It is claimed that bicycles, introduced in Europe around 1863, were

the first democratic means of transportation. In practical terms, bicycles eliminated the reliance on the horse and buggy (http://thebicyclecritic.blogspot.com). Along with the 1890's came the "Golden Age of bicycles and by the mid 1890s the great bicycle boom was in full swing. They became extremely fashionable, especially in cosmopolitan cities like New York, Paris, or London. Due to increased production and a competitive market, prices dropped and bicycles became available to a progressively larger segment of society (http://crankedmag.wordpress.com). In 1817, Karl von Drais invented his Draisienne, which was the two wheeled walking machine. Since then the development of the bicycle fuelled the excitement of the public. Then, the Ordinary or Penny Farthing appeared, which was the next step in the evolution of the bicycle. Its design was distinguished by a large front wheel, which provided improved gearing making the bicycle faster. The Ordinary functioned by way of a front wheel direct drive and was designed to allow for the largest front wheel that a man could straddle so that the machine could cover as much ground as possible with each pedal revolution (http://crankedmag.wordpress.com). This machine was primarily designed for men and their entertainment. Only a few attempts were made to adapt this unlikely design to womens dress, but inventors found it particularly difficult to get around the hoopskirt issue. Because of this male-oriented design of the Ordinary, women had to wait for nearly twenty years for their chance to participate in the activity of bicycling. As the bicycle evolved further, different methods of propulsion were devised. With the establishment of the chain driven rear wheel and reduction gearing the wheel sizes became smaller, opening up many new possibilities in design (http://crankedmag.wordpress.com). The booming market for bicycles started expanding in different directions. The bicycle manufacturers came up with an idea to create a machine that would allow women to ride in skirts and corsets preserving their dignity. In order to solve this dilemma, many experimental designs were developed. The gradual acceptance of female cyclists started with the invention of tricycle, which provided women with opportunity to ride the machine in their complete attire. Unfortunately, the heavy structure of the tricycle as well as restrictive clothing limited women whenever they wanted to go farer and ride faster. Moreover, it was not until the 1890s that a lady could go for a ride alone without any male companion (http://crankedmag.wordpress.com). One of the greatest developments in bicycle ingenuity came in the late 1870s with the invention of the Safety Bicycle. The Safety Bicycle was named for its relatively safe design compared to the Ordinary which perched the rider on top of a large wheel high in the air (http://crankedmag.wordpress.com). The major change concerned the position of the rider

who sit between two equally sized wheels closer to the ground. This model was much more comfortable and fit for women. It was truly revolutionary, because it allowed people from virtually all walks of life to enjoy this pleasant and healthful exercise. Another great development in bicycle ingenuity, which also enhanced the ability of women to ride, concerned the introduction of efficient pneumatic tires. These were the two major technological advancement in the development of bicycle (http://crankedmag.wordpress.com). The fashion for women at that time tended toward helplessness and frailty. (...) The frailty of a lady was such that preventing females from studying, working, voting and doing much of anything at all seemed a rational measure (http://articles.cnn.com). At the beginning, women struggled for their right to ride a bicycle at all, and this debate continued until the early 1890s. Convincing society that women should be allowed to ride a bike was not an easy task, because a large part of society shared a firm belief that machinery and athletic activity should remain part of a mans world. The Victorian lady before the arrival of the bicycle boom rarely exercised or engaged in physical activity, therefore, her fitness was very low. The issue of women on bicycles raised many questions. One of them concerned what clothing they should ride in (http://crankedmag.wordpress.com). It is an undeniable fact that the cumbersome Victorian attire worn by ladies of that time did not help them in participation in the sport. Their garments were typically thick, exaggerating the female form while concealing the flesh. Curves were accentuated by tightly laced corsets, which, when coupled with long and heavy underskirts, greatly limited women's ability to move or even breathe (http://articles.cnn.com). In order to avoid entangling in the bikes chain, women needed to wear shorter skirts or even long baggy pants narrowing to a cuff at the ankles called bloomers. As the new transportation possibility for women appeared, they established a rational dress movement, which objected ride in full skirts, wearing the average of thirty-seven pounds of clothing. Unfortunately, these women who were brave enough to don rational dress were treated by society as a social pariah. Female cyclists were often accosted verbally and physically as they rode. Emma Eades, one of the first women to ride a bike in London, was attacked with bricks and stones. Men and women alike demanded that she go home where she belonged and behave properly (http://articles.cnn.com). Due to the bicycle boom, bloomers in the 1880s, after several years of struggle for their acceptance, at last became a viable fashion option for women (http://articles.cnn.com). Susan B. Anthony once said, Women and bicycles proved to be a winning combination. The use of bicycles expanded around the world and women using bicycles found confidence and freedom (http://www.suite101.com). Despite all of the efforts to stop

them, women still cycled individually and in groups and to the surprise of the doomsayers, they didnt faint or commit moral crimes. In fact, they became more fit, relaxed, and engaged in life. Cycling gave them self sufficiency, health, and freedom from restrictive clothing and social bonds (http://www.suite101.com).

References:
1. http://articles.cnn.com/2008-05-20/living/women.bicycling_1_victorian-lady-bicycles-

women/4?_s=PM:LIVING, DOA June 28, 2011.

2. http://crankedmag.wordpress.com/issues/issue-4/the-importance-of-the-bicycle-to-the-

early-womens-liberation-movement, DOA June 28, 2011.

3. http://suite101.com/content/women-bicyclists-break-their-glass-cages-and-ride-into-

liberation-a244349, DOA June 28, 2011.

4. http://thebicyclecritic.blogspot.com/2009/10/bicycleswomen-and-liberation.html,

DOA

June 28, 2011.