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Perspective

US Cities Are Failing Their Female Cyclists

America’s bike infrastructure isn’t meeting women’s needs. With a flood of government funding and surging e-bike popularity, now’s the time to invest.

A depiction of the “new woman” in 1895, for whom the bicycle represented a means of escape from oppression. Designed by F. Opper From Puck. 

A depiction of the “new woman” in 1895, for whom the bicycle represented a means of escape from oppression. Designed by F. Opper From Puck. 

Photographer: Library of Congress/Corbis Historical
By
Cara Eckholm

In the late 1880s, Victorian women became early adopters of the contemporary bicycle, and began to shed their corsets for bloomers. In 1896, American suffragette Susan B. Anthony wrote: 

These early women cyclists helped cultivate the image of the “New Woman” — able to ride away from her household chores and oppression. Bike culture spawned a whole sartorial movement, chronicled through attractive ads of women in slick cycling gear.