I didn't want to detract from that conversation, so I started a new one. I really am interested in people's feedback.
On Wed, Oct 28, 2009 at 9:40 PM, Mark Rehder mark@re-cycles.ca wrote:
While the tone of this makes it sound like there's some sort of conspiracy (and maybe there is and no one told me about it), as a male I'd personally be interested in what you come up with.
I'll ditto what Mark said. I feel weird asking to be involved, but I am
interested in how I--as a male bodied, male identifying person--can help make things more equitable in the spaces I occupy. Of course, the quick and dirty solution is to remove myself. I guess I should make myself ok with that.
After some of the discussions I had in Minneapolis at bikebike this year about racial and gender inequality in our organizations, I've thought about what the implications are of me --again, a white male of upper middle class background-- assuming that the bike shop I'm involved with is something that people of other cultures and backgrounds would be interested in, and working towards making the space inclusive and welcoming.
- Of course* I want everyone of every culture and economic and educational
background, every oppressed class, gender, etc, to feel comfortable and welcome to partake and have access to the things I do. I just wonder if there isn't some sort of cultural bias that sort of goes the other way, and that makes this bikes-are-awesome thing less attractive to the (generalizing here for convenience) non-white, non-male elements of our community. At some point, it just comes down to someone who's not going to come into our shop just not being into bikes, or bike culture, or what we do, no matter what accommodations are made, right?
I don't have a background or that much experience talking about this stuff, so I apologize if my word choice offends. I'm really interested in hearing people's thoughts on this. I really REALLY hope it doesn't come across as the white dude saying that other backgrounds/genders/etc aren't welcome. It's not that at all.
In my other life I'm a musician, and we generally have a history of non-discrimination; you can be male / female / white / black / disabled / whatever - we don't care as long as you can do the gig.
Based on that, I've been kind of surprised that our shop has never been able to recruit an experienced female mechanic. Women are of course involved with our shop, both as staff and as customers, and I would say at least half of our bike purchasers and a third of our do-it-yourselfers.
I guess the lack is due to so few women mechanics in general. And is this is a cultural thing (usual suspects of "women are less likely to be mechanically inclined / do not want to get their hands dirty", etc.) or is it deeper than that? Is there a bias? Is there gender discrimination? I imagine that there is, though the idealist in me is appalled at that.
If you can change the status quo I'm all for it!
Mark
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What would be interesting is to find some cycling stats based on
gender - how many women ride bikes compared to men? How many do so
for commuting or casual riding, and also as a competitive sport (pro
or amateur)? Here in Ottawa I would give a very rough estimate of a
3-1 ratio on the street.
But that does not seem to translate into the industry. Of the shops
around here, the ones that have women even just doing sales tend to
the larger "sports" stores, and there's only one shop I'm aware of
that actually had a woman wrench (McCrank's in the Glebe, where I
used to work part-time). And it's a bike-only shop.
Is it the old thing of women still not being socialized to do
mechanical things? As I was growing up I thought feminism would
finally help push all this gender-related crap aside, but we all know
it has not. But how deep is the mind-set? I need to read up on my
gender studies to see if little girls really do prefer dolls and
little boys prefer trucks.
What has been heartening is how many younger women are showing an
interest in fixing their own bikes. We don't get too many women over
35 coming in, but lots in the 18-35 group. We've had a few with some
experience say they'd like to be come a Head Mechanic, but
unfortunately none have so far followed through. One of our current
Shop Assistants did say last summer that she plans to become our
first female HM, but then her new job seems to have kept her away
from the shop, so we're no closer to even that modest goal.
Women have told us they appreciate seeing other women in the shop,
especially as staff, answering questions and selling bikes. While we
are gender lopsided in terms of mechanics, we're at least doing
better in terms of committed volunteer staff. But it is certainly
not representative of the general population.
One thing I've always found interesting (from the aspect of
mechanical aptitude) is how many women will sew their own clothes and
have good knowledge of how the machine works, while most men confess
complete ignorance regarding sewing machines. It seems to be that
one mechanical place where most men will not go. But of course
sewing and knitting, etc. were traditionally considered as "women's
work" so maybe the old gender thing does apply...
Mark (who will now read up on the concept of "male privilege")
It seems to me that this discussion is sufficiently on-topic (that is, relates to community bike shops) to keep as a part of this listserv. I, for one, appreciate this conversation.
Angel
On Wed, Oct 28, 2009 at 10:19 PM, Mark Rehder mark@drumbent.com wrote:
What would be interesting is to find some cycling stats based on gender - how many women ride bikes compared to men? How many do so for commuting or casual riding, and also as a competitive sport (pro or amateur)? Here in Ottawa I would give a very rough estimate of a 3-1 ratio on the street.
But that does not seem to translate into the industry. Of the shops around here, the ones that have women even just doing sales tend to the larger "sports" stores, and there's only one shop I'm aware of that actually had a woman wrench (McCrank's in the Glebe, where I used to work part-time). And it's a bike-only shop.
Is it the old thing of women still not being socialized to do mechanical things? As I was growing up I thought feminism would finally help push all this gender-related crap aside, but we all know it has not. But how deep is the mind-set? I need to read up on my gender studies to see if little girls really do prefer dolls and little boys prefer trucks.
What has been heartening is how many younger women are showing an interest in fixing their own bikes. We don't get too many women over 35 coming in, but lots in the 18-35 group. We've had a few with some experience say they'd like to be come a Head Mechanic, but unfortunately none have so far followed through. One of our current Shop Assistants did say last summer that she plans to become our first female HM, but then her new job seems to have kept her away from the shop, so we're no closer to even that modest goal.
Women have told us they appreciate seeing other women in the shop, especially as staff, answering questions and selling bikes. While we are gender lopsided in terms of mechanics, we're at least doing better in terms of committed volunteer staff. But it is certainly not representative of the general population.
One thing I've always found interesting (from the aspect of mechanical aptitude) is how many women will sew their own clothes and have good knowledge of how the machine works, while most men confess complete ignorance regarding sewing machines. It seems to be that one mechanical place where most men will not go. But of course sewing and knitting, etc. were traditionally considered as "women's work" so maybe the old gender thing does apply...
Mark (who will now read up on the concept of "male privilege")
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