Here's a list of ridiculous "don’ts" for women riding bicycles in 1895

Crushed my plans of cultivating a "bicycle face".

During the 1890s, when bicycling was at its peak, there was a lot of discussion over whether women should be permitted to ride or not. Until then, we were supposed to travel on foot, in carriages, or on horseback - almost always accompanied by a man and/or supervised. For that reason, the bicycle was considered a possible corrupter of female innocence since it was an easy, autonomous mode of transportation.

And independence means freedom.

American suffragist Susan B. Anthony once said:

“Let me tell you what I think of bicycling. I think it has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. It gives women a feeling of freedom and self-reliance. I stand and rejoice every time I see a woman ride by on a wheel…the picture of free, untrammeled womanhood.”
— The New York World, February 2, 1896

The list below - half ridiculous, half amusing - of 41 don'ts for female cyclists was published in 1895 in the newspaper New York World:

• Don’t be a fright.

• Don’t faint on the road.

• Don’t wear a man’s cap.

• Don’t wear tight garters.

• Don’t forget your toolbag

• Don’t attempt a “century.”

• Don’t coast. It is dangerous.

• Don’t boast of your long rides.

• Don’t criticize people’s “legs.”

• Don’t wear loud hued leggings.

• Don’t cultivate a “bicycle face.”

• Don’t refuse assistance up a hill.

• Don’t wear clothes that don’t fit.

• Don’t neglect a “light’s out” cry.

• Don’t wear jewelry while on a tour.

• Don’t race. Leave that to the scorchers.

• Don’t wear laced boots. They are tiresome.

• Don’t imagine everybody is looking at you.

• Don’t go to church in your bicycle costume.

• Don’t wear a garden party hat with bloomers.

• Don’t contest the right of way with cable cars.

• Don’t chew gum. Exercise your jaws in private.

• Don’t wear white kid gloves. Silk is the thing.

• Don’t ask, “What do you think of my bloomers?”

• Don’t use bicycle slang. Leave that to the boys.

• Don’t go out after dark without a male escort.

• Don’t go without a needle, thread and thimble.

• Don’t try to have every article of your attire “match.”

• Don’t let your golden hair be hanging down your back.

• Don’t allow dear little Fido to accompany you

• Don’t scratch a match on the seat of your bloomers.

• Don’t discuss bloomers with every man you know.

• Don’t appear in public until you have learned to ride well.

• Don’t overdo things. Let cycling be a recreation, not a labor.

• Don’t ignore the laws of the road because you are a woman.

• Don’t try to ride in your brother’s clothes “to see how it feels.”

• Don’t scream if you meet a cow. If she sees you first, she will run.

• Don’t cultivate everything that is up to date because yon ride a wheel.

• Don’t emulate your brother’s attitude if he rides parallel with the ground.

• Don’t undertake a long ride if you are not confident of performing it easily.

• Don’t appear to be up on “records” and “record smashing.” That is sporty.

Needless to say that my plans of cultivating a “bicycle face” were totally crushed.

If you want to read more about the history of women and bikes, I recommend the following:

Source

How the Bicycle Paved the Way for Women's Rights

A 19th-century health problem made up to scare women away from biking

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My new book, “A Woman’s World” is coming out in August 2022. Please consider pre-ordering it!