I got this mail from a friend of mine recently. She, Urmishtha Jagtap, rides a Karizma and has been into biking for quite some time. And like you and me, she is a biking enthusiast too.
The mail, which I have posted below, really made me think a lot. What she mentioned never struck me at all... but after going thru what she wrote, I did think a lot and agree on what she mentions. I do have a lot of other friends (girls) who are bikers or love bikes to the core (but dont ride them). I m sure they will also agree with Urmishtha...
Go thru the text below and think... do you agree with her?
I love her power, her style, her performance, her … hold on; here are no quotes of anyone expressing love for his partner. These feelings are natural for any male to express / emote about his bike, his love. Me(a)n machine, is what it is called. Referred to as a boy’s first love, bikes and biking have always been considered a male domain.
And, this very notion is forced and imprinted in to our minds through the most influential form of media, advertisements. Let me talk from my point of view, than just generalizing my concern. Whenever I watch an advertisement of any bike, I have always felt that they promote these bikes for ‘boys only’. I don’t mind watching boys zooming on those wonderful machines but, it really gets irritating to see girls being portrayed as puppets who get lured to a boy just because he happens to possess one of those bikes’!
This gives me a reason to sit and think over it. When I see myself or like minded girls who have a passion for bikes and biking, this very notion of the bikes being called as me(a)n machines sends a rage through me. I am tired of this stereotypical attitude. Especially after myself experiencing a series of reactions and comments from number of people. When will people come out of their way of convenient thinking and mindset regarding the female abilities or capabilities? The least these girls do is, ride the bike. Let them do it with peace!
Why cannot it be accepted that a girl, who rides a bike, does it through sheer passion and love for the bikes, just as it is considered for boys? Weird reactions like a disgusting second look, street side comments, laughs, disbelief, and lunatic gossips about girls riding bikes, so much so that people have come up to me and asked if I am just trying to show off my outrageous or rebellious act. In the first place I don’t understand why such a thing should be thought as outrageous or rebellious when a girl loves to live with her aspiring in life. Nothing grows on ice. So I feel that the frozen thoughts and beliefs towards girls should change and let them live the way they wish to, with no bothering from others cynical notions.
I don’t think that I or for that matter any girl is going out of her way when she hits the road on a bike. Sometimes I feel that these bike manufacturers should take in to account of their female customers and try to make a difference. I would like to see female models in their advertisements, not as puppets but, as riders. It is disgusting to see them as dumb models wooing those guys possessing the bikes.
I don’t know the statistics, but there are quite a number of girls who ride bikes. The number might be minute as compared to male customers for the manufacturers. So it might not be a suitable target audience for them to invest in to advertising. After all, for them the product is ultimately getting sold. But at least I feel that female models must not be used as dumb puppets in these advertisements.
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