When modern day bicycles were invented in the late 19th century, a bicycle boom engulfed the nations. Suddenly, the dangerous high-wheeled bikes were replaced by a safer design model that could be ridden by almost anyone — including women.
Victorian men expected women to possess feminine qualities as well as innocence; otherwise, they would not be of marriage potential. But after the availability of the modern day cycle, it afforded women an accepted way to be outside as part of society including when it came to business and politics.
Through simple mobility, the bicycle also helped to accelerate many women’s rights.
As women started dealing with the realities of riding bicycles in Victorian dresses, they started to realize the limitations and dangers of their clothing. The reformers called for the rational dress for women and it was the first-wave of feminist in the United States.
Women’s rights activist Susan B. Anthony successfully described the correlation between cycling and women empowerment.
“I think it (bicycling) has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. It gives women a feeling of freedom and self-reliance.”
“I stand and rejoice every time I see a woman ride by on a wheel — the picture of free, untrammeled womanhood,” she added.
Like Susan B. Anthony, American writer Elizabeth Cady Stanton also believed in the power of bicycles to empower women’s lives.
She said, “The bicycle will inspire women with more courage, self-respect, and self-reliance and make the next generation more vigorous of mind and of body.”
Recently Dhaka University (DU) wing of Bangladesh Students Rights Council has organized a cycle ride training for DU female students aiming the above mentioned women empowerment.
Seeking the application, the coordinator of the full-free training program Sadia Islam Muna released a google form on Tuesday in the DU based Facebook groups.
Disclosing the motive behind the program Sadia said, “We took the initiative with some motives including women empowerment and to make a safer movement for the Dhaka University female students.
“Since most students of Dhaka University are from the lower-middle income family, they have to work to support themselves and their family. For this purpose they have to move outside of the campus. They have to face several problems while moving outside including safety issues and transport expenses, it will also help them in this regard,” she added.
Eco-friendliness of cycling is known to all, if we become able to engage more people in cycling it will have an impact on the ecosystem as well as the environment in future, she hoped.
The female students of the university will be volunteering in the program.
“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep balance, you must keep moving,” once Albert Einstein, the physicist who developed the theory of relativity, remarked.
Women can keep moving to keep balance in the society and to take the society forward.
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