Get Creative! Open call for submissions...

[Large Marge]

Community Bicycle Network 2005 Poster Project

Community Bicycle Network (CBN) is looking for creative people to submit an art piece for this year's Poster Project theme:

Women and Cycling.

Selected artists will have the opportunity to see their work in a 30"x40" poster which will be exhibited at various locations in Toronto during Bike Week and throughout the year!

This year’s theme of Women & Cycling was born from the desire to explore the unique and endless means of expression that spring from individuals who make cycling their passion. With a focus on women, this project goes further to create, inspire and challenge perceptions.

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS IS APRIL 22nd 2005

Check out the details!

[GWB]

how's this. it took me all afternoon

[Alexis]

maybe this is mannish of me to say but, what the fuckeroo? why do women - or to be technical "minorities" in general need special versions of everything for themselves? i can understand maybe something special for something we were denied many many moons ago, but cycling? COME ON. when will people realize that by demanding special exceptions you're doing nothing to dispense of stereotypes and prejudice. eugh. i'm a person, a human being. let's celebrate people cycling, saving the eart, no more cars, F the US and their war for oil plans and anything else you can think of. there are so many better things for cycling to be associated with than women. (no disrespect to the vaginal bearing half of the population)

thanks for the info margey, i dont mean to be down on the cycling, i'm not, or the women, i'm not either. or the creative poster making idea but this whole "celebrate what's different about me, even though i'm the same as 50% of the planet" thing really urks me.

[GWB]

here i draw another one

[Lazlo]

here i draw another one

I'd sure love to be that seat.

[Thorgnor]

"i dont mean to be down on the cycling, i'm not, or (down on) the women, i'm not either." - Alexis

Well... I am. ::

[bokonon]

alexis i love you.

[Large Marge]

there are so many better things for cycling to be associated with than women. (no disrespect to the vaginal bearing half of the population)

I wouldn't call it disrespect so much as misguided thinking Maybe it's the T.O. cyclist cult-like tendencies in me, but what I see here is a great opportunity to celebrate the beauty of women (of independant means) riding pointedly through the chaos of our auto-dominated streets.

Regardless of what you've dubbed as the "better things" you would have had us associate this year's project with, one of our main objectives with this year's theme is to drum up some funding for the award-winning and highly-demanded Wenches with Wrenches program (another beautious fem-oriented CBN initiative).

I guess I may be more apt to stop this "demanding of special exceptions" if I felt assured that none of my "vaginal bearing" friends are afraid to take thier bike to work and if I knew they weren't more inclined to take same-sex rider-safety courses.

Men, Women, Transgendered all welcome to submit.

BTW...

Wenches with Wrenches is an ongoing program of CBN volunteers who host bicycle repair workshops run by and for women in downtown Toronto. The idea has been to make basic bicycle repair skills accessible to women in the hope that participants will then share their knowledge and their confidence with others in the community.

Wenches with Wrenches brings women together in a safe, non-competitive and friendly learning environment. The workshops are run by women for women because, many times, women are just more comfortable learning from other women.

There are three, six week courses that run in the spring and in the fall. Courses are held at CBN in the evenings once a week from 6:30 to 8:30PM. The first half of the class consists of the main lesson; the second half is the hands-on application of what was taught (your chance to fix your bike yourself!).

Here is a sample of what is covered :

Lesson 1 : Bike fit and Bike Parts

Lesson 2 : Flat Fix

Lesson 3 : Brakes

Lesson 4 : Ball Bearings

Lesson 5 : Drive-Train

Lesson 6 : Miscellaneous (wheel truing, winter biking, etc.)

Hope I'm not the only one who LOVES chicks on bikes... looks like GWB might have found a winner

Cheers!

[SaggyBalls]

why be a hater?

[Display_Name]

What a great reply Large Marge!

::

This does sound very interesting

Lesson 1 : Bike fit and Bike Parts

Lesson 2 : Flat Fix

Lesson 3 : Brakes

Lesson 4 : Ball Bearings

Lesson 5 : Drive-Train

Lesson 6 : Miscellaneous (wheel truing, winter biking, etc.)

[bokonon]

i can fix my bike and i didn't need a special course only for women so that i felt safe. and what's wrong with competition? i got a book, read it and fixed my bike. not too hard. in fact, when i was stuck on something, i asked a man. not because he's got a great big schlong but because he knows how to fix stuff. i promise i didn't feel marginalized in any way. these all-women courses and gatherings are emphasizing the gender roles, not eradicating them.

my mom is a retired engineer. i didn't know that it's not normal for women to be in math based occupations or wear work boots. why? because she didn't make a big deal out of it. i don't feel "unfeminine" because i know more about cars than my brother, or because i got A's in math all through school. it's me. the only difference my gender makes to me is where i pee in public buildings.

[bONES]

Wenches with Wrenches is an ongoing program of CBN volunteers who host bicycle repair workshops run by and for women in downtown Toronto. The idea has been to make basic bicycle repair skills accessible to women in the hope that participants will then share their knowledge and their confidence with others in the community.

i think that's awesome

women should have the option of taking the bokonon route or having a community of other women to hang and learn from/with.

If this empowers women then where's the conflict?

[bokonon]

i just see all of these womens groups as taking us two steps back in the "women's liberation movement" (oh how i hate that term). it just emphasizes the perceived differences instead of highlighting that we are all humans with individual attributes and can not be classified by gender, race or age.

[bONES]

i just see all of these womens groups as taking us two steps back in the "women's liberation movement" (oh how i hate that term). it just emphasizes the perceived differences instead of highlighting that we are all humans with individual attributes and can not be classified by gender, race or age.

i think that's equally as awesome ::

good outlook Bokonon...a realistic one that I share myself

[Large Marge]

i just see all of these womens groups as taking us two steps back in the "women's liberation movement" (oh how i hate that term). it just emphasizes the perceived differences instead of highlighting that we are all humans with individual attributes and can not be classified by gender, race or age.

i think that's equally as awesome ::

good outlook Bokonon...a realistic one that I share myself

I agree that this is indeed a fabulous outlook, but unfortunately, I don’t think it is borne of the average women's experiences, even here in Canada. Bokonon, you are so fortunate to have had your Mom as such a great role model and that you have not been faced with/downtrodden by a hell of a lot of sex-based discrimination - I admire your confident outlook. I’m sure the Suffragette’s and Women’s Liberationists would be very pleased (as am I) to hear that young women of today are finding gender equality to be a non-issue. Hell, it’s been a mere 23 years since our right to vote was finally adapted as constitutional law!!!

I suppose I am a little longer-in-tooth than most on this board ::, being raised within the heavily patriarchal aftermath of the WWII baby-boom; I guess I’m still wary of becoming too comfortable while that repression is still so fresh in mind and while there are so many inequalities that I see within my own day-to-day reality.

As I said, I am happy and inspired that gender equality has already become a non-issue for some of you lovely young peeps out there; I just hope you can forgive/understand my accompanying grain of salt, that’s all.

FYI - a March 2nd statement from Liza Frulla, the Canadian Minister responsible for Status of Women (yes, our Government still sees fit to devote an entire ministry to the Status of Women in Canada) reported that “women must stand strong not only to ensure the gender equality bar remains high but to also ensure it is not lowered.”

United Nations Commission on the Status of Women 10-year Review of the Implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action

From the same report:

Canada recognizes its need to:

- reduce rates of poverty among women that are still too high, particularly among groups such as lone-parents, recent immigrants and unattached senior women.

- improve the situation of Aboriginal women who face discrimination. We know that their historical, legal, social and economic situation makes them more vulnerable to poverty and violence.

- implement a national childcare system, for our children's development, without doubt, and also as a vital building block for gender equality that enables women, as paid and unpaid caregivers, to improve their own economic autonomy, security and well-being.

Cheers!

BTW - I didn't even touch upon the effect of globalization on women's rights, or on genital mutilation, or on aboriginal women's affairs, or on domestic violence or so many other issues. Until these really are non issues, then it's up to all of us to raise awareness and eradicate the inequities.

2¢

[Paan]

Are photos allowed??? This one makes me want to cycle.

http://cheef.com/nudist.news?695

[Del]

Paan wins!

[MoMack]

i just see all of these womens groups as taking us two steps back in the "women's liberation movement" (oh how i hate that term). it just emphasizes the perceived differences instead of highlighting that we are all humans with individual attributes and can not be classified by gender, race or age.

So does that mean we should do away with the CPP; burn down the churches; close senior homes and daycares etc. etc. etc.

The differences between genders are not perceived and your experiences are the exception not the rule. Women face discrimination in most or at least many aspects of life. To encourage them to break free from the traditional gender role is not a step backwards.

With all due respect, it is the "I made it, why can't you" attitude that is one of the biggest obstacles in the push for equality rights and similar pusuits. Projecting your experiences on others, or expecting them to move in the same direction leaves the pack behind.

Also, because I watched Swing Kids recently, let us not forget how easily our rights can erode. If I was a women in North America I would be paying close attention to our southern neighbours and the 'family' movement. It doesn't take long...

[Calamity Jane]

VERY well put MoMack and Large Marge.

I agree that it's often difficult to see beyond one's "privledge" and recognize that the world is not the same palce for one and all. Most women can usually understand some form of repression (sexism) from sheer experience (and lucky the gals who never experienced it -- we are moving in the right direction!!), but recognizing white-skin privlegde is a whole other difficult journey and I'll leave it at that, since this thread really is about gender.

But I wanted to say that I concur with LM's assertion that sometimes women benefit from learning from a community of women -- it can "level the playing field" so to speak, because as women we do have common experiences and can share/learn from each other. Also learning from/with other women can make some women feel more relaxed (a conducive state for learning, obviously.) This is why the self-defence program I teach is only taught by women, for women. Women's expereince of violence/the threat of violence in this world is vastly different from that of men.

Another thing I do is help organize the yearly T.O. TAKE BACK THE NIGHT MARCH and as such I frequently deal with men (and sometimes even well-meaning female friends) who are incensed by the idea that women don't want men on the march (there are so many other ways we can encourage their support) but the march is a very symbolic taking-over of primarily male-space and space that feels threatening for a lot of women, i.e. streets at night. I see this poster competition as in the same vein -- hardcore urban cyclists may indeed more often be male and so there is a need to encourage and support more women in this pusuit. How can this possibly be a bad thing?

[Calamity Jane]

oh yeah -- MoMack. enlighten me on "Swing Kids" please.

[bokonon]

i never said i have not experienced gender discrimination, i just said that i think these groups are self-inflicted discrimination.

[Del]

So does that mean we should do away with the CPP; burn down the churches; close senior homes and daycares etc. etc. etc.

Yes, especially the churches, senior homes and daycares... ::

[MoMack]

oh yeah -- MoMack. enlighten me on "Swing Kids" please.

An AMAZING movie. Set in Germany during the war. The "Swing Kids" are basically the hippies / pacifist / left wingers or whatever of their time. They listen to American swing records and resist fascism. Its a good 10 years old now, but I bought it a couple weeks back and I would say its one of my all time favourite non-comedy movies. Check it out.