You know you are only riding to impress men...
Yeah, well we all get old and crabby, and THAT is MY EXCUSE but...
I am getting a little disappointed in some of my fellow lady riders.
One a certain scooter forum, in the midst of a very blasé conversation about wanting more scooter choices in the USA, one lady rider said, that she felt that other women riders were just riding to, "Impress men".
To which I was like, HUH!???
I responded that I rode a scooter for a lot of reasons, zero of which was to impress a man. And I was quite sure that most lady riders that I met, were basically the same.
To which she responded that she was talking about women who rode bikes, not the lady scooter riders on this forum. Oh, it was the ladies who rode on BIKES that she had a problem with...
Hmmm....this gives me pause, let me digest this little statement...
I mean, did you ever talk to a fellow lady rider, whether it was on a bike or a scooter and they said to you:
"You know, I am just riding this to impress men. I don't ride for the freedom, the exhilaration, to save money on gas, to beat the traffic... nope, not me. I am doing it just to impress men. Basically, I am doing it for the dudes."
Do I take umbrage with the previous statement. Maybe the lady who made is of a different generation, maybe she has a personality disorder, maybe I think she is just full of crap, but this is where this really gets my goat... a few other women riders agreed!
No mind you, I don't think THEY thought that THEY were riding to impress men.. Oh no, NOT THEM, but other women were. Mind you the statement was a total bitter rip that MOST WOMEN... MOST of us RIDE TO IMPRESS MEN.
They said they had seem other women riding in little skirts or outfits that they deemed were a bid for attention.
See, I am going to give my fellow lady riders the benefit of the doubt, and not rip on them for looking super fly while they ride. Why because sometimes we ride, totally dressed as woman, because we want other women, and little girls to see us, recognize us as a female and realize that THEY TOO CAN RIDE.
Maybe it's because I am from another generation, a generation of women who remember the fight for women's rights. With Billy Jean King challenging Bobby Riggs and beating him, with Geraldine Ferraro breaking ground for women in politics, Cha Cha Muldowney, first lady drag racer, with Sally Ride, first female astronaut, soaring into space.
Maybe you are all too young to remember educational experience like this:
In1975, when my teacher asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I said, "I want to be an astronaut".
The teacher laughed, and in front of the entire class he said, "Women can never be astronauts. Women are secretaries, or teachers, or nurses, or Moms. But not astronauts, or anything like that"
And that little bon mot of wisdom burned it's way into my brain.
Hmm... I thought, Hmmm... I think this guy, this teacher is...
FULL OF CRAP!
See ladies of the younger generation, We get to ride today, because of all the women who went before us, fighting tooth and nail, to be taken seriously.
We get to ride, wearing what ever we want, because our country makes it possible for us.
See, I DO SEE THE BIG PICTURE, and no, I don't have a disorder to hide behind when I get challenged, and the BIG PICTURE lies in solidarity and not ripping on other lady riders, and what they choose to WEAR or RIDE. Because the important thing is that WE CAN RIDE, and we don't have to ride under a blanket with a peep hole, or any other crazy "cultural/religious" restrictions.
So Ladies, I don't care what you ride when you ride. I don't care if you ride a bike or a scooter or a segway, or a little rascal. YOU GO GIRL! You keep riding. Wear your little outfits, and ROLL in the face of all the BULLSH*T.
And I would make damn sure I try not to rip on you for it. But if you fall, you may loose your ass, but Cie la vie.
And if I really wanted to, "Impress men" I would take my scooter money and buy myself some new boobs, not a bike or a scooter. But hey, that is just me.
Martha, I love this blog! I can't believe that '75 ass of a teacher! Fun and interesting read.
ReplyDeleteI think the gender of the poster is still an open question. I got into the discussion only out of solidarity with the girl shaped like a stick.
ReplyDeleteYep my wife was (is) very good at math and currently teaches at a local state college. When she was in middle school it was noticed so she talked to a guidance councilor who asked her if she had any ideas about what she wanted to do. She told him she wanted to work at NASA. He answered pretty much the same as your teacher did.
ReplyDeleteThanks guys, its nice to see some of you "get it".
ReplyDeleteNice piece. Nothing wrong with "riding like a girl" in my opinion. My girlfriends daughter wants to get her motorcycle licence and get a "real bike". Yep, she don't like my scooter.
ReplyDeleteWell I am going to chime in here, I miss that little Scooter forum & can't seem to log in anymore & have sent emails with no luck being able to log in.
ReplyDeleteI ride both scooter and motorcycle and I am passionate about both, as one of those 'other riders' I can say for myself and the other 62 female riders in a riding group that I started is that not 1 of those ladies rides her motorcycle to impress a man. We ride because it gives us freedom, empowerment, adventure, fun and sisterhood when we ride as a group or when we go solo. None of us care what is ridden scooter or bike. We just ride truly for ourselves and the love of riding.
Nice rant Bel! I managed to miss that thread on MV.
ReplyDeleteAs I was reading your post, I was thinking of the women I know who ride (and they all ride MCs not scooters) and there isn't one of them riding for the dudes.
I have three sisters, and a daughter, and a bunch of nieces, and a wife, and I have colleagues who are women, and one of my former law partners is now a judge, and none of them, not one of them, as far as I know, has done anything as significant as riding a motorcycle, or any other worthy achievement, to impress men (well, maybe some were influenced by their fathers or husbands or significant others.
Nicely ranted.
I agree! Here in Denver, we have a few gals that do like to dress in their style, but I don't have any illusion that it's to impress men. They just like that look.
ReplyDeleteWe have tons of female riders, and they all ride because they like it so far as I know. My wife and I wear gear all the time, but one caveat is that it looks decent. OK, I look like a power ranger in my winter gear, but, sometimes you have to be comfy, warm, AND safe :P. The artsy shots look great and you clearly have fun.