History of the ladies bike

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Ladies bike

The history of women's bikes and women's cycling begins in 1819 with the running machine specially made for women and leads to the development of the low bike , from 1889 without the upper connecting tube or with a low step-through, which is now known as the Dutch bike .

History and technology

The Englishman Dennis Johnson took over the license and sales of the Drais walking machine in 1818 . Johnson developed a trolley with a low step through for women. How often this construction was used by women is not known. Decades passed before the first Michaulinen or Boneshaker were developed; few women used them. The first two, Mademoiselle Julie and Mademoiselle Louise , are known from an all-women race that took place on November 1, 1868 in the park of Bordelais near Bordeaux and in which four women took part on Michaulinen . Michaulinen with a seat height of only 60 cm were apparently also made for smaller people (and thus for women). Yet few women were seen on Michaulinen. The high wheel , manufactured from 1870 onwards , was used almost exclusively by men. In very rare cases (female artists, female cyclists, including Elsa von Blumen) women used the dangerous penny farthing. As a replacement, the women were offered the Otto Dicycle , while the gentleman next to it rode a high- bike . According to the Berliner Tageblatt in 1908, the first German female cyclist was “ Frau Choralist Schneider ”, who - already 73 years old in 1908 - had been “a loyal friend of the bike for 25 years”.

With the development of the safety low bike in 1885, women were able to use a bicycle due to social constraints. The bicycle model with a cross frame (1886) was already used by women. The Rover Lady's Safety (1889) model by John Kemp Starley with a down tube and low step-through was the breakthrough to the modern women's bike. It had a 28-inch wheel at the front and a 26-inch wheel at the rear, both with solid rubber tires . Neck control , stamp brake on the front wheel, spring saddle and a chain guard completed the construction, which was available for £ 20 . Three other English manufacturers offered comparable designs at the same time. In 1892 women's models with pneumatic tires appeared and in 1898 with free-wheel hubs . Dutch manufacturers took over the English designs and continued to develop them up to today's standard Dutch bike (with two connecting tubes ), which is equipped with full chain protection and rear wheel side panels. In 1982, the versatile designer Luigi Colani designed a model for the bicycle manufacturer Schauff with a streamlined cover for handlebars, frame and rear wheel. A glove compartment and a child seat were integrated into the cladding. Series production did not take place because of the high manufacturing costs.

  • Ladies Hobby Horse (1819)

  • First women's race (November 1, 1868)

  • Cross frame by Adler (1886)

  • Rover Lady's Safety (1889)

  • Fonger's Dutch bike (1898)

  • Burgers Dutch bike (around 1925)

  • Dutch bike (today)

  • Prototype by Luigi Colani in 1982

Clothing and emancipation

The Niederrad offered women the possibility of independent mobility. Traditionally in the 19th century the sphere of activity of women was mostly limited to the house and yard. However, the bicycle made it possible for them to achieve mobility beyond the domestic sphere. However, around 1890 cycling was considered "unfeminine". “The bicycle freed women from the confines of the house. It took them out of the city, into the country, into the fresh air and nature. ”In addition, women were brought up to be more sedentary activities such as handicrafts. In this sense, in 1895 the Dutch women's movement De Evolutie propagated "cycling as an act of liberation, with which women could escape the narrow and suffocating atmosphere of the city and satisfy their need for physical development".

The usual long skirts and corsets worn by women at the time were extremely cumbersome when cycling. Women increasingly started shortening their skirts, taking off their corsets, or even wearing practical culottes and bloomers . Because of this practical clothing and the spread-leg posture when cycling, female cyclists came under strong criticism at the end of the 19th century, up to and including the suspicion that cycling even promoted masturbation . Doctors also feared that female drivers could contract various diseases, such as ulcers, or become sterile. In 1891 a bishop compared women's cycling with an old woman “riding a broomstick”. Many of the women who had the courage to use this modern device to move around on the streets despite hostility and to swap their “chaste” clothes for those suitable for cycling also had the courage to possibly demand political rights for themselves. They became pioneers of the women's movement . In 1896, the American suffragette Susan B. Anthony spoke about the bicycle in a newspaper interview with New York World :

"I think it did more for the emancipation of women than anything else in the world."

- Susan B. Anthony.

In various cultures there is still the idea that the hymen could tear from cycling and that the virginity of girls is in danger, which is why they are not allowed to ride a bike.

  • Le Vélocipède illustré (April 1, 1869)

  • High bikes and bicycles (1887)

  • Rover ladies bike (1890)

  • Bicycle costume for women (1895)

  • Women on bicycles (1896)

  • Cyclist in "Bloomers" (1897)

  • Holland wheels (1897)

  • Cyclist in what was then modern cycling trousers (1898)

Prohibitions

Women in Saudi Arabia have been allowed to ride bicycles since 2013 , but "only in recreational areas, accompanied by a male relative and in compliance with the legal clothing regulations". The religious leader of Iran , Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Chamene'i , stated in a fatwa in 2016 that "women are not allowed to ride bicycles in public and in places where they can be seen by passers-by". Rabbi Eliezer Moshe Fisher takes a similar view for girls aged 5 and over.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Arthur Judson Palmer, p. 29.
  2. ^ John Woodforde, p. 122.
  3. ^ Andrew Ritchie, p. 148.
  4. ^ Keizo Kobayashi, p. 56.
  5. ^ John Woodforde, p. 122.
  6. ↑ Amelie Rother: The ladies driving. In: Paul von Salvisberg, p. 112.
  7. ↑ Jutta Franke, p. 78.
  8. ^ The first German female cyclist , in: Berliner Tageblatt August 21, 1908, morning edition, 1st supplement, p. 3 , digitized by the Berlin State Library.
  9. ↑ Harry Hewitt Griffin, p. 41.
  10. ↑ Amelie Rother: The ladies driving. In: Paul von Salvisberg, p. 112.
  11. ↑ Dörte Bleckmann, p. 35
  12. ^ Anne-Katrin Ebert, p. 131.
  13. ↑ Dörte Bleckmann, p. 59 ff
  14. ↑ See Kat Jungnickel at Goldsmiths, University of London: http://bikesandbloomers.com , 2018.
  15. ↑ Gudrun Maierhof, p. 45.
  16. ↑ Jutta Franke, p. 76.
  17. ↑ Rüdiger Rabenstein, p. 154.
  18. ^ Pryor Doge, p. 130.
  19. ↑ See Seyran Ateş : The multicultural error. P. 8; Stefanie Graul: The conflict of recognition among the three genders of the Binnizá. P. 208.
  20. ↑ welt.de (accessed on September 27, 2017)
  21. ↑ leader.ir (accessed September 27, 2017)
  22. ↑ bento.de (accessed on September 27, 2017)
  23. ↑ timesofisrael.com (accessed September 27, 2017)