How many times have I heard someone tell me, “My Father / Brother / Uncle / Husband / Grandad / Boyfriend, has one of those !” whilst pointing at one of my bikes…..
I’ve never heard “Mum, Sister, Aunty etc.”
I have no idea on the statistics, but I’m fairly sure that the bulk of full licence motorcycle riders over here in Australia, and across the rest of the Globe are Male, in fact I would go so far as to hazard a guess at around 90% Male.
I guess this is why the Gent who was getting very creative photographing my bike from all sorts of angles this morning, was so confused. He should have realised something was odd because the bike was parked outside of a Sewing machine shop. His shocked expression and rapid retreat without speaking told a story.
He, like almost everyone else, had looked at the bike and made an assumption…This is a Masculine toy….What he was presented with, and obviously challenged by, was someone who was making great strides in removing all vestiges of Testosterone from “her” system. Complete with lipstick, jewellery, over the knee boots, and a some rather splendid, C cup Boobs.
Had it just been the single odd look, I probably wouldn’t have given it too much thought, but this event marked the start of a trend. I checked the Vanity mirror I fitted to the bike, to make sure I hadn’t grown an extra head.
As I moved around the town, carrying out various errands, it became more and more apparent that people were challenged.
When I popped into the Jewellery shop, I was asked by the curious assistant, “Is that your bike, outside…?” With the question phrased as if someone like me couldn’t possible be a Motorcyclist.
In the Gift Shop as I placed my helmet on the counter, The question “Whats it like on the back of that bike ?” was posed…
I guess for many people, they view a motorcycle as a massively Masculine machine. A projection of power.
I’ve never seen my bikes like this. For me, my motorcycle is a primary form of transport. Last year I covered 48,000 km on various bikes. This year its just a little bit less than that, but I was kind of ill for a couple of months.
If I am completely open, there was a period where I enjoyed socialising with a group of riders who would be viewed today with some suspicion, and again being completely honest, at that time, I was trying hard to build a tough guy persona. It was never going to work, its just not me.
Motorcycling is a liberating, exhilarating, and very social activity. Most of my closest friends are motorcycle riders.
Motorcycling is also not the sole preserve of the Male species. I’m immensely privileged, and very proud to have been welcomed into a couple of Ladies Motorcycle groups.
I’m going to keep challenging those assumptions, just because I have long pink nails, it doesn’t mean I’m not prepared to get a little bit of grease behind them working on a machine that makes me smile.
I will close by paraphrasing a favourite thinker…..
“She who has a why to live, can bear almost any how, even a chipped nail or two.”
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