When I Quit Cutting My Hair, I Learned How Men Treat Women On American Roads

[ScorpioVI]

Interesting article on Road & Track.

http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-cul...earned-how-men-treat-women-on-american-roads/

 

[clutchslip]

Well, I use to get picked-on as a "hippie". It had nothing to do with gender, I can guarantee. Fortunately, I am who I am, and sometimes I had friends. Guy is lame. He is looking at ONE experience and applying it to the entire world. Sexism is rampant, but not where he is looking, in my hippie opinion.

 

[rodr]

Meh. Guy drives like a dick, gets raged at and thinks it's his hair.

 

[Reli]

Dude needs to start applying some root dye between his regular dye sessions (as it's clearly obvious he dyes).

 

[ThumperX]

He pretty much nails it.

 

[dirty birdy]

Well, I use to get picked-on as a "hippie". It had nothing to do with gender, I can guarantee. Fortunately, I am who I am, and sometimes I had friends. Guy is lame. He is looking at ONE experience and applying it to the entire world. Sexism is rampant, but not where he is looking, in my hippie opinion.

He spoke of more than one incident for sure.

While I agree article writer is overgeneralizing, he's got a point.

Some but certainly not all men take out their anger on women they don't even know, but they would be less likely to react the same way to a man (since men are more likely to retaliate). There's no scientific proof this is true, but until you've been in the body of a woman, one can't really say it has nothing to do with gender. But guys that are assholes to women are in general assholes to the entire population.

In my experience, drivers tend to be nicer to me on my moto, but perhaps that's all in my head and maybe the drivers who are nicer to me on my moto are just nicer drivers period.

 

[Reli]

Sadly, it also helps if you are what society thinks is attractive. I doubt that guy looks like an ATTRACTIVE lady (when he's being mistaken for one).

 

[cfives]

He pretty much nails it.

Interesting, do you feel that drivers are more aggressive towards riders that they think are female?

I only read a couple paragraphs before I dismissed anything he might have to say. It seemed that his arguement was that dudes feel their manhood is questioned when passed by female riders, and then they respond with a physical threat or challenge because they could totally beat up a 100 lb chick.

The bit I read seemed like road rage that the author attributed to people thinking he was a woman due to his long hair (but not because he was over 6' tall, 240 lbs, and had a beard).

 

[clutchslip]

He pretty much nails it.

Hmmm. Well, I am surprised that YOU are still alive, then, or at least still riding. If his story was accurate, I would have stopped riding, if I looked like you, or I would be dead. I don't buy it, sweetie. People can't tell. I have known lots of long-haired boy riders that NEVER had his guy's tales, including myself. A bunch of them belonged to some famous clubs.

 

[ThumperX]

Hmmm. Well, I am surprised that YOU are still alive, then, or at least still riding. If his story was accurate, I would have stopped riding, if I looked like you, or I would be dead. I don't buy it, sweetie. People can't tell. I have known lots of long-haired boy riders that NEVER had his guy's tales, including myself. A bunch of them belonged to some famous clubs.

I feel your finger pointing and nearly poking me in the chest. Well YOU!!!!

You are not a woman and you would have no clue what a woman experiences daily. What the author noted is no different than being cut off in the commute. It's just standard behavior from a bully.I usually just sigh and giggle and hope the ding dong is having a better day now that he yelled at someone who is a lot smaller than he is :dunno

 

[Reli]

I still think it's not because he looks like a chick, it's because he looks like an UGLY chick.

I know that will come across badly, but seriously, "ugly" is discriminated against, by all genders.

 

[clutchslip]

I feel your finger pointing and nearly poking me in the chest. Well YOU!!!!

You are not a woman and you would have no clue what a woman experiences daily. What the author noted is no different than being cut off in the commute. It's just standard behavior from a bully.I usually just sigh and giggle and hope the ding dong is having a better day now that he yelled at someone who is a lot smaller than he is :dunno

What are you doing when you ride? Wearing a skirt and all pink, and ribbons in your hair with no helmet? Seems rather extreme for drivers to be picking on girls. I can rarely tell who is riding a bike, and I notice those things, being a chauvinistic a$$hat and all.

 

[ThumperX]

I have a long white ponytail and some obvious body features. I don't think that drivers in general are picking on women, I do think that a weak man is more inclined to engage a woman where as he would not a man. This is not an everyday thing but it is a thing none the less.

 

[FXCLM5]

Meh. Guy drives like a dick, gets raged at and thinks it's his hair.

:rofl:rofl:rofl:rofl:laughing

i stopped reading afterwards, the guy is wearing a very feminine helmet complete with koi fish waves and colorful rainbow flowers :wtf

im not sure wtf he thinks he is expecting

and if a woman riding or driving on the road doesnt drive like a dick - then they wont get raged at right ?

 

[lam@barf]

He spoke of more than one incident for sure.

While I agree article writer is overgeneralizing, he's got a point.

I think he's talking about his direct experiences and speculating, is that really generalizing?

Interesting, do you feel that drivers are more aggressive towards riders that they think are female?

I only read a couple paragraphs before I dismissed anything he might have to say. It seemed that his arguement was that dudes feel their manhood is questioned when passed by female riders, and then they respond with a physical threat or challenge because they could totally beat up a 100 lb chick.

The bit I read seemed like road rage that the author attributed to people thinking he was a woman due to his long hair (but not because he was over 6' tall, 240 lbs, and had a beard).

So you didn't read it but you have an opinion about it?

I know that will come across badly, but seriously, "ugly" is discriminated against, by all genders.

Yup and everybody does it. So often it's subtle enough that even the person doing it doesn't realize.

What are you doing when you ride? Wearing a skirt and all pink, and ribbons in your hair with no helmet? Seems rather extreme for drivers to be picking on girls. I can rarely tell who is riding a bike, and I notice those things, being a chauvinistic a$$hat and all.

I have short hair, wear a stich and a full-face, work boots and heavy gloves. I've had guys pull up next to me at a light and try to "chat me up" telling me how cool it is that a chic rides. Just cause your "radar" is broken doesn't mean nobody else can tell who's who.

:rofl:rofl:rofl:rofl:laughing

i stopped reading afterwards, the guy is wearing a very feminine helmet complete with koi fish waves and colorful rainbow flowers :wtf

im not sure wtf he thinks he is expecting

and if a woman riding or driving on the road doesnt drive like a dick - then they wont get raged at right ?

There are always bullies. They don't need anyone to drive / ride any particular way. They're alway looking for / inventing excuses on the "See what you made me do" plan cause nothing is ever their fault don't'cha'noe.


Of course there are guys that do this. They're the same guys that will kick someone as long as they think it's someone that can't get up. They're convinced that they deserve more than they have, that everyone else has what should have gone to them, that they never make a mistake and they're always getting blamed for someone else's screw-up. No matter how much they smile they're grinding their teeth looking for someone else to take their frustrations out on. Poor miserable SOB's. The only ones worse off are anyone that has to have any contact with them.

 

[clutchslip]

I have short hair, wear a stich and a full-face, work boots and heavy gloves. I've had guys pull up next to me at a light and try to "chat me up" telling me how cool it is that a chic rides. Just cause your "radar" is broken doesn't mean nobody else can tell who's who.

:cry I am going to step in for my sensitive side and say that I give you ladies a break because I see all riders the same. If you want me to do my male thing, then wear red stiletto boots and push-ups and STAND BACK, YO! I will melt yo' icicle-ness with my hot. That's right. Note the Avatar for perspective. Humph. (Or Hump). :x

 

[cfives]

So you didn't read it but you have an opinion about it?

The article still comes across as self aggrandizing sensationalism after reading it completely. I definately think that road rage is more likely to come out if the rager feels like they can intimidate or impose their will on an "offending" motorist without repercussion.

The only personal example that supports that is when he honks his horn with two cars in front of him. It also shows that he is likely to start or escalate a road rage interaction which is the lens I view all his other examples through.

People get pissed at him because he rides like a dick, not because they mistake a bearded 6'2" 240 lb man for a defenseless woman because of long hair and a colorful helmet.

 

[U26A1]

the guy is wearing a very feminine helmet complete with koi fish waves and colorful rainbow flowers :wtf

im not sure wtf he thinks he is expecting

Holy shit. Well, thanks for providing a lovely example of the ridiculously fucked-up societal bullshit of which this guy's article barely scratches the surface.

Random forum member on the internet going "duh if you don't want to get harassed, don't wear a 'feminine' helmet!"

Jesus.

 

[Z3n]

Holy shit. Well, thanks for providing a lovely example of the ridiculously fucked-up societal bullshit of which this guy's article barely scratches the surface.

Random forum member on the internet going "duh if you don't want to get harassed, don't wear a 'feminine' helmet!"

Jesus.

Yup.

Metacomment:

2 women come in and say "hey, yo, this shit happens", and a bunch of dudes show up to tell them how wrong they are.

Also violence/road rage directed towards women has the societal weight of massive amounts of sexualized violence against women loaded into it, so that's something to be considered as well.

As to me, well, I've been riding over a decade, and my wife rides, and let me tell you, the reactions range from (at best) completely ignoring her, to trying to boast about how badass a bike they're riding, which usually falls flat when she swings leg over the 1290 SuperDuke. :laughing Oh, and I've watched some absolutely fucking hairball bullshit take place like guys trying to touch her while passing her midcorner on public roads.

I've also seen women over the years who have dialed up the aggression to 13 to match the environment they live in on track. It's not a good outcome, and certainly not something I ever had to deal with as I went from C group to AFM racer.

If you're not seeing this shit, it's because you're letting the social defaults blind you, women don't trust you enough to talk honestly about their experiences, or you're not listening when they talk. Any woman who rides long enough will experience gendered harassment that a guy would never get - it's a matter of when, not if, as the writer of the article discovered.

 

[littlebeast]

when i first started riding, it was obvious i was a girl (ponytail, gear, etc.), and i drew significant and constant unwanted attention from men (chasing me down to keep pace, yelling at me - my fav was always 'pull a wheelie for me' lol). went underground, deliberately looking as much like a dude as possible. no hair showing. bulky, non-descript black gear, black helmet and dark face shield. i blend now (your average short dude on a bike). and it has been peaceful ever since.