I wouldn't take the risk of the attention, you know? Just a lone girl biking

Examining the Gendered and Classed Embodied Experiences of Cycling

Bibliographic Data

ID3978102
AuthorsLéa Ravensbergen (0000-0003-3259-6673, University of Toronto, corresponding author)
Year2022
Volume23
Issue5
Pages678-696
Publication date2022-06-13
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocial & Cultural Geography (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1464-9365 • E-ISSN: 1470-1197
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14649365.2020.1806344
OpenAlexW3048508692
LanguageEN
Citations received23
References cited39

This paper frames the embodied experience of bicycling using theories of performativity and materiality. In doing so, the paper provides insights into embodied processes that regulate the gendered and classed cycling body across age. Drawing from interviews completed with newcomers to Toronto enrolled in a bicycle mentorship program, this paper highlights how context-specific social norms exist around who is read as cycling appropriately. Two norms consistently discussed are that cycling can be at odds with femininity and that it is a symbol of poverty. These norms act as discursive regulatory frameworks for gender and class performativity. Cycling can also be an experience of 'intense embodiment' in that it can bring the absent body back into consciousness. This experience is dynamic and elicits diverse emotions. Furthermore, cycling is not only found to increase people's awareness of their materiality, but also their bodily fluids challenge the notion of 'secure' bodily boundaries. These material processes can be gendered and/or classed, and can affect access to mobility and public space. By studying identity formation processes as they relate to cycling, this paper sheds light on the power-laden underpinnings of identity-based differences in cycling

Cycling · Developmental psychology · Embodied cognition · Epistemology · Girl · Sociology · Adventure Sports and Sensation Seeking · Children's Rights and Participation · Gender Studies · Geographies of human-animal interactions · History · Philosophy · Psychology

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