Cycles and Suffragettes!

“The bicycle has done more for the emancipation of women than anything else in the world.” ~ Susan B. Anthony

One of the organizers for the Sport, Gender and Media conference pulled her suffragette costume from the closet (doesn’t everyone have one?) and went to Leicester on 5th November to join in the “Cycles and Suffragettes” flash mob.

“Cycles and Suffragettes” was created “to celebrate and promote women’s cycling in Leicester.” Last Saturday, women dressed as suffragettes bicycled around Leicester for a suffrage tour of the city, met at the City Rooms for a flash mob where an impassioned suffragette rallied participants to take to their bicycles for freedom, and continued the day with screenings of Pedaling for Freedom, The Day I Became a Woman, and a talk by Peter Barratt about his great-grandmother, Alice Hawkins, a cycling Leicester suffragette. Not at the event? You can browse an online collection of Alice Hawkins' suffrage memorabilia, including her first arrest warrant. It's worth a visit!

There were many wonderful organisations represented at the event. The Breeze Network organises free bike rides for women. Visit their website to see if there’s one near you. Additionally, I met a woman named Elie who does bicycle training through Groundwork Leicester: (link to be added). She works with children and adults to improve their cycling confidence. She certainly helped me as I struggled to ride a bicycle in my long black skirt!

You may even be able to spot me in my suffragette attire in this lovely video of Breeze at Cycles and Suffragettes. 

We hope to see all our new friends at our Sport, Gender and Media Conference, in York, on 10th March 2012! Thank you for making my day at Cycles and Suffragettes so enjoyable!

 A cycling suffragette during the Leicester suffrage cycle tour. The empty storefront she is standing in front of was once the active Leicester headquarters of the Women’s Social & Political Union.