The other day, I wrote about Tessa Hull's lecture on female-identified cyclists during the first "bike boom" of the late 19th and early 20th Century.
I didn't attend the lecture: It was on the other side of the continent. But I did read the promotional material for the lecture, and a bit about Ms. Hull. She laments the fact that, in some ways, female-identified cyclists of today are second-class citizens to a greater degree than they were 120 years ago, when advertisements showed women riding on the front of tandems and in packs.
So, wouldn't you know it?, yesterday I came across this:
It's part of a German cycling safety campaign. The other photos, while they show men who aren't wearing much more than the women, are notable for their complete lack of bicycles.
Now, I'm sure that whoever created that campaign understands that some people won't wear helmets because, well, they're not sexy. (Of course, that depends on what you're into!;-)) Still, you have to wonder what is accomplished with a campaign that looks more like one created for safe sex (Yes, sex really is safer with a helmet. Don't ask how I know!) or, in the first photo, something to get "bros" to buy something that will make them feel more like men.
One thing that really surprises me is that the campaign was started in Germany. If any country in the world should know about female empowerment, it should be Germany. I don't agree with much of her politics, but you have to admit that Angela Merkel being, arguably, the most powerful person in Europe is testament to the fact that we don't have to take our clothes off to get people to do what we want them to do.
Oh, and she can't stand Donald Trump, and the feeling is mutual. That must count for something. That alone is reason, I believe, why someone in Germany can, and should, come up with a more enlightened bicycle safety campaign than this one--or any I've seen in the US!
I didn't attend the lecture: It was on the other side of the continent. But I did read the promotional material for the lecture, and a bit about Ms. Hull. She laments the fact that, in some ways, female-identified cyclists of today are second-class citizens to a greater degree than they were 120 years ago, when advertisements showed women riding on the front of tandems and in packs.
So, wouldn't you know it?, yesterday I came across this:
It's part of a German cycling safety campaign. The other photos, while they show men who aren't wearing much more than the women, are notable for their complete lack of bicycles.
Now, I'm sure that whoever created that campaign understands that some people won't wear helmets because, well, they're not sexy. (Of course, that depends on what you're into!;-)) Still, you have to wonder what is accomplished with a campaign that looks more like one created for safe sex (Yes, sex really is safer with a helmet. Don't ask how I know!) or, in the first photo, something to get "bros" to buy something that will make them feel more like men.
One thing that really surprises me is that the campaign was started in Germany. If any country in the world should know about female empowerment, it should be Germany. I don't agree with much of her politics, but you have to admit that Angela Merkel being, arguably, the most powerful person in Europe is testament to the fact that we don't have to take our clothes off to get people to do what we want them to do.
Oh, and she can't stand Donald Trump, and the feeling is mutual. That must count for something. That alone is reason, I believe, why someone in Germany can, and should, come up with a more enlightened bicycle safety campaign than this one--or any I've seen in the US!
