9 November 2021
By Elaine Murphy
elaine@TheCork.ie
Cycling in Ireland is “a boy’s thing” according to research conducted by the Green-Schools Programme of An Taisce as part of its #andshecycles Campaign. Speaking at the inaugural #andshecycles Ambassador Awards in Dublin on Thursday, November 4, researcher Robert Egan presented the findings of Green-Schools’ research into the uptake of cycling among young women, which explored the experiences and perceptions of cycling among teenage girls and boys in Ireland.
Midleton College student Alannah Berkeley was honoured at the award ceremony on Thursday, November 4. Alannah was involved in getting cycle parking for her school and in the Instagram account created by this year’s ambassador group. Alannah has also been involved in speaking about the gender gap in cycling from very early on in the campaign.
In Ireland the number of girls who cycle to school remains shockingly low, with only one girl in every 250 students using a bike as their primary mode of transport to school. Through focus groups conducted with boys and girls in 2020 and 2021 students explored their experiences with cycling. In seeking to understand why teen girls do not cycle in the same numbers as their male peers, researchers found that cycling is a social practice that is normal for boys to engage in and socially deviant for girls.
Award ceremony
Midleton College student Alannah Berkeley with her #andshecycles Ambassador Award, presented by the Green-Schools Travel Programme at an award ceremony in Dublin on Thursday, November 4.
The award ceremony celebrated 23 students from nine secondary schools who trained as #andshecycles Ambassadors in the 2020/2021 academic year. The #andshecycles Ambassador Programme began in early 2021 with three objectives for participants including the development of role models and shaping the cycle-friendliness of their school. Attendees were also treated to a performance of Elaine Gallagher’s Freedom Machine.
At the ceremony, Senior Programme Manager with Green-Schools Jane Hackett said: “When we first launched the #andshecycles campaign we spoke about the reasons why girls were choosing not to cycle. We now know that it’s often not a choice and that the social practice of cycling as a “boy’s thing” prevents young women from experiencing the joy and independence cycling can bring. It’s great to be here to celebrate these 23 amazing young women who are working to deviate from the norm, let’s hope they bring their friends along with them!”
Sweat, helmets and harassment
The event’s audience also learned that sweating, the impact on one’s appearance, uniforms, helmets and harassment are some of the main deterrents for teenage girls cycling to school. For young women in Ireland, opting to travel by bike is an act of defiance, deviance, and a break from gender and social norms.
In speaking about cycling as a means of transport for boys – a boy’s thing – the research found that the perceived athleticism needed to cycle; a level of audaciousness needed to tackle seemingly un-cycle friendly roads and a lack of concern for personal safety were linked to showcasing masculinity, leaving girls subject to judgement from peers and social stigma for aligning themselves with male peers through cycling.
Incompatible skirts
A perception of cycling as incompatible with femininity or dominant feminine traits linked to appearance also impacted on the uptake of cycling among teen girls, research found. Modesty was found to be a concern, with uniform skirts in danger of “blowing up” while cycling.
Cycling is also found to be another arena where young women feel “regulated” for engaging in an activity seen as a “boy’s thing”, Participants felt “stared at”; they were “heckled” and in one instance, intimidated and chased by a group of young men on bikes in a public space.
Bike style and #andshecycles
At the awards event Egan concluded that intersectoral policies and programmes are required to undo cycling as A Boy’s Thing during adolescence, a move which would benefit all genders. Making cycling compatible with femininity is one avenue towards increasing uptake: actions such as promoting Dutch-style bikes which are more compatible with uniform skirts and increasing the number of safe segregated cycle lanes are two which could be considered. The other avenue towards increasing uptake is to promote a rejection and subversion of the practices which keep girls from cycling, by all genders and none. Programme like #andshecycles can form part of this, through the #andshecycles Ambassador Programme which was celebrated at the ceremony. ENDS
#andshecycles Ambassadors, 2020/2021:
St. Louis Secondary School, Dundalk
Rhiannon Dolan
Eman Derouiche
Claregalway College, Co. Galway
Kai Wise, Coláiste Bhaile Chláir – Claregalway College
Beech Hill College, Monaghan
Emile Lileikyte
Caitlyn Van Tonder
Aoife McCarron – OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT
Newpark Comprehensive School, Blackrock
Noinin Cooling
Silvia Ciulli Cummins
Isobel Smiley
Dominican College, Taylor’s Hill, Galway
Haleema Lamidi
Isobella-Mary Quinn-
Presentation Community College Terenure
Aimee Kavanagh-OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT
Amina Abbassene
Olivia Campbell
Aleda Brady
Andreea Ciobanu
Ashbourne Community School, Co. Meath
Aoife White
Laura Bolster
Mollie White
Presentation College Carlow
Abby O’Neill
Hannah Regan
Isabella Kendellen, Presentation College Carlow
Midleton College, Connolly St., Midleton, Co Cork
Alannah Berkeley
About Green-Schools:
Green-Schools is Ireland’s leading environmental management and education programme for schools. Promoting long-term, whole-school action for the environment Green-Schools is a student-led programme with involvement from the wider community. The programme is operated and co-ordinated by the Environmental Education Unit of An Taisce (FEE member for Ireland). The Green-Schools Travel theme, which includes the #andshecycles campaign, is funded by the Department of Transport and supported by the National Transport Authority.
