Contents of Susan B. Anthony (1896)

Lecture Notes

As Susan B. Anthony is quoted as saying in 1896: "the bicycle has done more for the emancipation of women than anything else in the world." Why? Well, at least for the middle classes - and here we have an example of intersectionality: bicycle riders were largely white, male, and middle class. Women riders too were largely white and middle class. So, for these middle class riders, the bicycle represented mobility - the kind of mobility that used to be reserved for the upper classes who could afford horses and carriages. For women, mobility meant even more: it meant the ability to leave the private sphere of the home, to travel, to engage in social events outside of the home.