>>116683710modern style bikes (low with chain drive, not high-wheeled death traps) were invented around the time of suffrage when women in the west were getting the first taste of Independence.
bicycles were bought by women in droves because they didn't need no man to escort them places and getting exercise for it's own sake was a new and therefore empowering thing for women then.
so, bikes became one of the more visible symbols of women's liberation.
the first women's pants, for example, were to facilitate cycling since dresses were difficult to cycle in.
since someone brought it up, I'll post some stuff from my bicycle history book. a few from punch are already ITT.
