Helmets are for sissies.
I actually said that once. Of course, that meant I would soon don the best head protection available at the time: the Bell "turtleshell." At that time, I told myself that a real man can indeed wear something more substantial than a Team Peugeot cap on his head. But, of course, that wasn't the real reason why I--a manque transgender woman--wore a cranial shield.
In time, most cyclists I'd ride with in clubs, training or races would wear them, too. Women, it seemed, were more willing, even if they were worried about messing up their hair.
Well, I just learned something I never expected: Women may have less reason to wear helmets. Now, I'd like to think because we're tougher and more resilient, or because we have so much more brain matter that we can afford to lose a little.
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| From Femmecyclist |
The real reason, though, is that helmets may do less for us than they do for men. According to a recent study, although we're more likely than men to wear helmets, we have higher rates of serious head injury (in spite of less head injury overall).
What accounts for this difference? The study posits that it can be one of two things: sex disparity in helmet-testing standards or "intrinsic incompatiblity between available helmets and female anatomy."
This reminds me of the "female problem" in medicine: Most of what doctors and other medical professionals learn is based on studies done on males. So the data is biased; so is the perspective of doctors. Most standards for everything from blood pressure readings to medication dosages are thus based on data gleaned from studies done on men.
I know that many women have difficulty finding helmets (and other apparel and equipment) that fit them. I wonder whether the helmet issue has to do, not only with the differences in size and shape between women's and men's craniums, but also in the ways our heads move and balance on our bodies.
