Reframing the Bicycle: Advertising-Supported Magazines and Scorching Women

Garvey, Ellen Gruber

doi:10.2307/2713325

Cited by 28 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…39 Ellen Garvey reiterates this sentiment in her analysis of female cycling and advertising-supported magazines, where she claims that "women's riding had to be made socially acceptable to sell safety bicycles to a larger market". 40 While such representations were possibly helpful in the short term, they ultimately commodified the progressive demands of female cyclists and feminists, and did so for the purposes of brand-recognition and profit by "turning rebellion into money". 41 The main reason why it is important to consider such factors within the context of cycling technologies is that many cycling histories conflate feminist re-appropriation of bicycles with changes in clothing; a scenario that acknowledges the advances of female cyclists, but ultimately neglects the role of advertisers who perpetuated a myth of liberation-through-consumption.…”

Section: Early Feminism and Bikingmentioning

confidence: 98%

Biketivism and Technology: Historical Reflections and Appropriations

Furness

2005

Social Epistemology

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In Western society bicycling is commonly perceived as either a sport, a form of leisure, an activity for children, or at best, a utilitarian transportation technology. In this paper, I contest these assumptions by discussing ways in which both bicycling and bicycle technologies are politicized as a response to the cultural, social and political norms of Western society.Through historical examples that include 19th century Socialists, 'first wave ' feminists, and 1960's Dutch Anarchists, I provide a theoretical context in which one can understand how present day activists appropriate the bicycle through a dialectic of action and communication. In short, I demonstrate how a seemingly neutral technology (the bicycle) and an everyday activity (bicycling can be utilized as tools for dissent, protest, and cultural critique.Bicycle activism, or biketivism, is multi-faceted, contemporary form of social activism that appropriates and politicizes the bicycle as a powerful weapon against the homogenizing impetus of the automobile industry and "car culture"; a term that has been used by bicyclists and transportation activists in reference to the direct relationships between automotive technologies and the development of an undesirable popular culture. Specifically, "car culture" refers to a particularly American ideology that values automotive mobility at the expense of public transportation, ecological health, sustainable growth, and safety. Among the most obvious symbols of American "car culture" are the suburbs (which contribute to "white flight" from the city and the decay of urban areas), strip malls, endless miles of paved roads (most of which restrict access by other forms of transportation), and an ongoing traffic problem that reduces the efficiency of automobiles to approximately 5 miles an hour, when one divides the average amount of hours (a year) spent in cars by the number of miles traveled. 1 Zack Furness is a Ph.D candidate in the Department of Communication at the University of Pittsburgh. He is currently writing a dissertation on bicycles, activism, and technology. Zack is also a member of the Bad Subjects production team and the singer for Voice in the Wire. Downloaded by [UZH Hauptbibliothek / Zentralbibliothek Zürich] at 14:53 17 September 2013 402 Z. FurnessLike many culture jammers, biketivists have an astute understanding of the relationship between commodities, space, and technology, and they politicize the bicycle as both an alternative form of transportation, and as a radical critique against cars. Biketivism has a number of different components that are indicative of the wideranging political affiliations, attitudes, and technological dispositions of the people who make up this burgeoning movement. In addition to legitimately integrated bicycle advocacy groups and alternative transportation organizations, biketivism is lived and advocated through; (1) direct action groups such as Critical Mass; a non-heirarchical, non-dogmatic, international organization of cyclists who occupy hundreds of city st...

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Section: Early Feminism and Bikingmentioning

confidence: 98%

Biketivism and Technology: Historical Reflections and Appropriations

Furness

2005

Social Epistemology

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“…These articles provide an important starting point for historians of women's cycling but not a thorough investigation of the topic. Both Patricia Marks and Ellen Gruber Garvey document the anti-feminist discourse of women's cycling in tum-of-century popular periodicals, focusing on short stories and cartoons (Marks 1990, Garvey 1995. While helpful in the use of popular culture to investigate women's cycling, neither author allow for the possibility that women readers could find any sources of empowerment within this discourse.…”

Section: The Most Recent Major Text In Cycling History To Include Wommentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Women also voiced their passion for cycling as consumers. By the late 1890's, it was common to see women riders in popular periodical advertisements for bicycles, bicycle accessories and even unrelated products; and women designed, marketed, sold and purchased a large number of products specifically to meet their cycling needs (Garvey 1995;Gray and Peteu 2005).…”

Section: Secondary Literature: Women's Cyclingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This was a critical undertaking, because it was a commonly held belief among medical professionals, especially in the first half of the 1890' s, that cycling could harm women in a variety of ways (Smith 1972). Many medical professionals argued that the speed, repetitive motion, cycling posture and exertion of cycling would increase women's susceptibility to a number of existing aliments, such as spine, bone and muscle deformities, internal organ malfunctions, heart irregularities, gout, kidney stones and mental illnesses (Smith 1972, Garvey 1995. Bicycle-specific diseases were also highly discussed, most notably kypohsis bicyclistarum, a spinal deformity due to an aggressive riding posture, in which a number of tonics were also sold for treatment (Smith 1972).…”

Section: Established By Lucy Stone In Response To the Radicalism Of Smentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Both of these concerns threatened women's sexual innocence and reproductive potential, key aspects of Victorian notions of womanhood (Garvey 1995). Due to these concerns, social practices were designed to not allow women to straddle anything, such as women being taught to ride horses sidesaddle (Gray and Peteu, "Invention, the Angel of the Nineteenth In suffrage press articles, it was common for riders to argue that cycling was no more dangerous than other sports or exercise regimens that had met their doctors' approval ("Cycling for Ladies" 1891).…”

Section: Established By Lucy Stone In Response To the Radicalism Of Smentioning

confidence: 99%

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Cycling and women's rights in the suffrage press.

Neejer¹

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Responding to research gaps in both cycling and women's rights history, the purpose of my thesis is to investigate conceptualizations of cycling in the 1890' s suffrage press. I analyze six aspects of cycling in suffrage periodicals: advice and tips to women cyclists; dress reform and women's cycling; women's cycling clubs; health, medicine and exercise; travel and touring; and cycling among anti-suffrage women reformers. I argue cycling and women's rights activism should not be framed as separate aspects of women's lives in the 1890' s, but j oint practices that influenced and informed the other.Suffrage press authors did not view cycling as mere recreation, but located it within the broader context of women's political activism and social reform. To the women cyclists who contributed to the suffrage press, cycling was ultimately a meaningful and practical way they could challenge Victorian gender constructs and implement women's rights ideology in their everyday lives.

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