Gender, Freedom and the Bicycle in India

• In Event: Gender and Mobility in Pakistan and India

Abstract

While there are a number of studies exploring the relationship between the bicycle and women’s empowerment in the United States and Europe, there is relatively little research on the gendered life of the bicycle in India. This paper addresses this problem. First, it provides an historical overview of how anxieties surrounding ideas of masculinity and femininity shaped the meaning of the bicycle in early twentieth century India. Secondly, the paper draws from research with cyclists in contemporary Mumbai. I show how the significance of the bicycle for many women exceeds the simple link between mobility and women’s empowerment. Among women cycling enthusiasts, the bicycle becomes an object to transform oneself, the family and society. The bicycle, in other words, enables the production of new kinds of gendered persons.

Author

• Jonathan Shapiro Anjaria, Brandeis University