Comments on: Men & the PPS

By: MKE’s Pedal Pusher Society- Introduction | Grease Rag Ride & Wrench

Sun, 10 Jul 2011 05:05:33 +0000

[...] allies are important in every movement. Shout-out to all of our non-WTF readers and friends! While men [...]

By: Jay

Jay — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 17:29:08 +0000

It’s important for one’s mental health (which includes body image) to have people around you that look like you, act like you, talk like you, etc. (Not exclusively, but easily available when you want it.) This is one reason why even fucked up families hang out together – they deeply know and identify with each other and this is in itself nourishing.

So, empowerment includes the ability to meet and hang out with people that look and act like you and have similar tastes and values. Again, not exclusively, but easily and when you want it.

As a privileged straight white male of bland tastes I can easily find safe places to hang out with similar folks just about anywhere in our society. It’s so easy I don’t even think about it most days. I wonder, Cary, if you are in the same boat as me. Might this be why you don’t see the value in creating safe spaces for people with radically different tastes and values from mainstream society? Imagine you are a tattooed lesbian with purple hair…would you feel safe walking hand in hand with your bull-dyke lover to church every Sunday? And then to George Webb for brunch with your neighbors?

By: thearbanmethod

thearbanmethod — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 20:08:50 +0000

Clearly you’ve not read the rationale for creating a safe-space for women and trans-identified riders. Living in a racist, mysogynist, and androcentric environment means one must carve out these spaces of empowerment (because they are not automatically assumed or bestowed). The biking world is, to my mind and experience, one of the more hostile cultures for sisters and trannies to enjoy because of rampant and uncritical misogyny and systemic exclusion. So just relax–crank your testosterone down a bit and listen to people when they say that there’s a problem.

By: Cary

Cary — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 18:55:02 +0000

This angers me. You want men to help you create an environment where “everyone is empowered”, yet you deny men full membership. I’d put on a pair of pedal pushers and crash your party if I could. Your rule barring men is ridiculous.