In Halfords this week getting essential car stuff...and had a look at the bikes. I was a bit taken aback to see these ladies bike names from the Apollo brand. Entice & Virtue. There was also Jewel.
AIBU ? If so, any suggestions who to shout to about it
The male ones seem worse than the female ones to be honest, especially evade and phase. (Although so many men go through a ‘cycling phase’ so perhaps quite apt!).
Jewel doesn't bother me but Entice and Virtue are crap and play into female stereotypes where we must be either alluring or pure. I bet the names were chosen by a predominantly male design team.
I totally get why to some people it's a non problem, but for me, letting this kind of sexist nonsense, whilst seemingly unimportant continue, just allows everyday sexism to pervade.
OP, angry feels a bit extreme however I agree the girls bike names seem heavily gendered and the others have either neutral or names which imply a positive attribute. Maybe swap the tags over? Every day sexism grinds my gears and this is a great example.
As an aside, there an odd feel to MN this evening. Getting the impression some people have nothing left on Netflix to binge ...
Because its part of the culture of everyday sexism that reminds us we don't live in an equal society and a reminder that the perceived role of women is to be decorative (Jewel), alluring/sexy (Entice), and virginal/pure (Virtue) even when doing something as mundane as exercising.
OP, you can tweet the Everyday Sexism Project about it. They collect examples like this as part of their mission to challenge everyday sexism.
My bike was called Ellie. Can't remember why I chose that name. She was purple, and I got her secondhand as a student. She was lovely until you tried to go uphill. Last time I cycled I had 3 of us on the bike. Dd1 on the back and dd2 inside me. That was an interesting, if uncomfortable experience. She's in retirement in the shed. I sometimes say "hello" to her when I'm getting the birdfeed out.
Erm no as a cyclisf I really don't care about the names, I mean when your cycling noone can see the name anyway unless your super fast when they cycle past and catch it between their leg moving or at lights.
I get more annoyed at the colours being girly in pink and purple and flower patterns ...Nice for kids not so much on adult bikes. No give me a nice white, black and dark blue any day.
Every day sexism grinds my gears and this is a great example.
