HI Christine,
Thanks for the links... they are certainly food for thought. Would it
show cultural insensitivity on my part to try to win the immigrant
population of Amsterdam Noord over to the cycling lifestyle?
One thing I have personally observed... the women who show up at the
bicycle lessons are not really enthused about the cycling itself. It
is more that they get a chance to hang out and mingle together outside
their homes.
This research result ( In the German study) does not surprise me:
'Even after comprehensive training and instruction, cycling is for
many of them an “uncanny,” “dangerous,” and also “weird” activity
predominantly reserved for the ethnic Dutch'
Yup, that would explain a few things...
I used to think that, given the vast sums of money spent by the Dutch
government .. tens of millions of euros each year!!... to encourage
immigrant women to ride bikes, a more effective campaign might be to
instead send teams of cyclists to rove around major cities in Holland,
handing out 20 euro notes, to each woman seen riding along with a head
scarf on...every single day.
I am also wondering how well an earn-a-bike program might go over in a
youth population of Moroccans,... ' where the bicycle has a bad image
and little status value..'
Would they even show up for such a program?
I'm thinking an earn-a-bike program might be a tough sell, unless it
is marketed as job-training of sorts, for a future career of repairing
scooters and cars. It is a sorry state of affairs, to those of us who
came from a California-style bike culture. But it may be the social
reality here.
Oh Noooo... I just started reading the second article...( thanks,
Google Translate!)
"The latest controversy reported by the website Elaph.com "(29/12/207)
is a sad illustration, verging on the ridiculous, as was the fatwa on"
nursing major. "Indeed, the last discovery of a fatwa that forbids
Muslim women to practice cycling, because according to the religion
that spread, "straddle the saddle of the bicycle engender women as
sexual arousal, and the bike becomes this point of view, a prohibited
object. "
My first reaction being, ' Oh damn, now Men know our
Secret!!' (Just kidding.)
I don't even know what to say, after reading THAT. I guess I will
sign off and read the rest of that article...
cheers,
Wendy