I'd quote the research presented at this body's last symposium, in Oxford,
that suggests women's age related pattern of cycle use is intrinsically
quite different than men's. The research suggested that men tended to be
more consistent in their use of bicycles throughout whilst women tended to
have a more broken pattern, at certain times of their life using other modes
more consistent with their (family and social related) transport needs.
So I think this numbers game of gender equality lacks a certain connection
with the real world and risks falling into the "administrator target" trap.
That said, and having spent a major part of my career living in the
Netherlands, in respect of the wider utility function of a bicycle a lot can
be put down to (at least in the UK) a very limited and uninspiring range of
accessories to make utility tasks easier along with a lack of knowledge,
and/or confidence to use knowledge, of how to adapt a bike to many utility
transport tasks.
Cheers
John Meudell
-----Original Message-----
From: Cycling and Society Research Group discussion list
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Paul Rosen
Sent: 21 June 2011 14:17
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Bicycling's gender gap: It's the economy, stupid | Bikenomics |
Grist
An interesting article here, that challenges the assumptions behind cycling
promotion in the UK as well as the USA, I think. I'd be interested to know
how true it rings for those who've been doing more recent research on
cycling than I have.
http://www.grist.org/biking/2011-06-20-bicyclings-gender-gap-its-the-economy
-stupid
Paul
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