Originally Posted by anastrophe
I hear the "it'll mess up my hair/I can't wear nice clothes" excuse a lot. But I think there's more to than than simple vanity--women are much more likely to be criticized in a corporate workplace for inappropriate dress, or judged based on their appearance rather than their competence, than their male counterparts are.
This is very true. In many offices where I've worked, male workers have gotten away with looking like complete slobs (visibly dirty/worn/torn clothing, body odor) while females have been "spoken to" by managers about wearing (clean!) pants and sweaters rather than skirts, hose, and jewellery. I even worked (VERY briefly) in one place where the dress code stated female employees MUST wear makeup. That one went down in flames, by the way.
Originally Posted by anastrophe
But I also think there's a misconception about what kind of risks there are--on a bicycle, you might get in an accident, you might have a mechanical problem, etc, but those are things that you have some amount of control over if you are skilled at riding and have the willingness to learn some basic repairs.
And if you have similar problems in a car, you usually have LESS options for on-the-spot repair! Most people don't seem to think of that though.
Originally Posted by anastrophe
And yet many women I've talked to are unreasonably afraid of the least common forms of attack--namely, being assaulted somehow. You are much, much more likely to be assaulted by someone you know, in a place where you think you're safe, than you are to be jumped on your bicycle--and yet a lot of people I've talked to seem to think it's a major danger.
Most of my current co-workers seem to think that getting caught in the rain is the biggest danger anywhere ever
Once in a while someone will mention "but what if someone chases you?" and they are always very taken aback when I point out that date **** or assault by co-workers and acquaintances is a hell of a lot more common than predators in the bushes. That's not to say there never are any of the latter, but statistically, I like the odds of being on my bike and able to sprint.
Then again, my reaction to "but you can't do that, you're a GIRL" has always been something along the lines of "Bite me, I refuse to live in YOUR fear." Ladylike, I'm not
