Bringing sexy back...

Before I started cycling I was fairly ignorant of gender discrimination issues in modern society, even dismissive. I was part of the group of people who thought feminism meant dungarees (there is nothing wrong with dungarees) and being so anti male it meant boyfriends were an evil not to be thought of. I thought feminism meant a step in the left direction too far, a distance I wasn't willing to go. I worked in an industry dominated by males, and (apologies guys) historically dominated by chauvinists. Those attitudes rubbed off on me, and rather than them making me think, they simply moulded my mind into their way of thinking. How wrong I was. A lot has changed for me since I harboured those uneducated views.

Nowadays, I'm pretty damn proud to be a woman. I'm also pretty damn proud to call myself a feminist. When I go out drinking (all of once a year), I wear trainers, and skirts, and I swear a lot, I like heavy metal, I like boys (just one, actually, and he's WELL fit), and I like boobs, I ride bikes and the only damn person I'm trying to keep up with is myself, but I fucking love it when I beat other people. I work in technology, I like sports and real ale, I wear eyeliner and I don't take any shit off people regardless of their status. I don't slag people off behind their backs and read magazines about how to make my man orgasm like he's never done before. I don't get pissed off about skinnier girls, and I don't get pissed off about girls who are bigger. I giggle like a child at accidental innuendos. I throw massive diva fits at least once a month and I cry at things that aren't even sad. I know how to straighten my own hair, and change a wheel on a car even though I don't even drive. I know how the offside rule works despite the fact that I think footballers are pathetic. I have an outstandingly high capacity to learn and I also frequently forget where I put my house keys. I don't do as I'm told, and like most guys I know I'm pretty well independent. This doesn't make me a rebel, this doesn't make me uncontrollable, this doesn't make me a loose canon. This makes me human. 

Do you read this and wonder why I'm making so many contradictions? Because you shouldn't, because they aren't. If the answer to this is "yeah"  then the only contradiction here is the fact that you think you're not sexist. 

"Woah hold on a minute...I'm offended" - OK OK, before we go any further let me explain sexism to you. Sexism isn't just about being out and out abusive to women, nor is it discriminating against them, or being rude about them. Sexism, to me, is the idea that women are different. "But you are!" Sure, we look different, we act different, but those differences are about as important as the differences between the colour of your underwear and your bosses socks. Do you understand? Those differences do not matter. Do not, ever, expect a female to behave in a certain way, dress in a certain way or speak in a particular way simply because culture has defined your expectations. I will swear, it's not ladylike because being ladylike is no longer important, it's not something that even enters into my mind. Being quiet and dressing nicely got no one anywhere, ever. I'll talk like a "bloke" if I like - because to me, I'm not talking like anyone but a person. I'll wear lipstick whenever I like, not because I'm 'being girly' but because I enjoy wearing it, just like a guy who chooses to do the same. I like dressing up because I like how I look when I do it, not because I'm trying to fit into an expectation or an image. I think I'm hot, I couldn't give two flying bats what you think. 

So what's the beef with cycling? OK, so recently I've seen this spate of people (OK, men) becoming very supportive of women's cycling. Notably, young women's cycling. That's cool. Women's cycling is awesome, the racing is aggressive and deserves an equal chance at popularity compared to the men's sport. 

What's happening at the moment, though, and apologies for the paraphrase, is that these fans of the sport are beginning to 'put the pussy on a pedestal' (that's from a film..). The sport is being separated out to the point that normal cycling fans are actually afraid of getting into the sport for fear of being tarred with this separatists brush. There's nothing wrong with only liking women's cycling, and there's nothing wrong with liking men's cycling, there's also fuck all wrong with liking both at the same time. I don't want my friends to endure judgement from their counterparts because they think liking women's cycling means they are different, or for them to avoid women's cycling simply because the examples they see on the internet are surrounded with an almost one-sided rage. 

If you're male or female, and you're a fan of women's cycling - do what you can to help. Helping is
not abusing people for not doing everything they can to make the sport accessible to you. Helping is not becoming a groupie for 16 year old girls, yeah, that's just weird to be honest. Helping is being open minded and treating the sport as equal to the men's. And yeah, before you say "oh yeah women's sport is different because it's cleaner and fairer" - get this, women dope too, women cheat too, it's sport, it happens, wise up.

Us ladies would like a domestic scene similar to the guys, it's a while before that happens, but it's getting there. Not all of us are pros, not all of us are even 2nd cats. Not all of us are going to be in the Olympics any time soon and not all of us have 100% of our time to dedicate to riding a bike. That doesn't mean we're any more or less deserving of support or encouragement to someone like Lizzie Armitstead, or Katie Archibald, or whoever. Helping the women's domestic scene isn't idolising one team over another. It's not publicly sexualising the best looking riders (yeah, fucking quit it, you know who you are, it's embarrassing). It's watching bike races, it's talking about bike races, it's about not ostracising people who just bloody enjoy bike racing - be it men's or women's. It's not giving high profile women abuse for not entering races when they're working their socks off. It's about treating all women, indiscriminate of age or ability, the same - because you know what? We all work just as hard as each other to do what we do. 

Sometimes I feel sad about it, because I look at my friends who are into men's domestic racing and there is no inequality, there's just lads who like bike racing. Whether you're a staigaire for a small Belgian  team or you're name's Dean Downing, it doesn't seem to matter for the fans, it's just bike racing. That's how it should be.

So what I plead for, to all of you who are doing a brilliant job of supporting the women's sport, please just sometimes take a step back and look at it more broadly. Don't be creepy, don't be over the top, just be a fan. Love the sport itself, and love the fact that everyone does things in their own way. 

We work tirelessly hard to race bikes, we aren't here to satisfy anyone but ourselves in doing so. Remember that. It's cycling, it's not a showpony.