Remember when your mother used to tell you to quit making faces or your face might get stuck that way? Apparently doctors gave the same warning to women when they started riding bicycles. In the 1890s women got into cycling in a big way since it offered them a freedom they hadn't known before and allowed them to travel when and where they pleased. This empowerment caused a bit of a moral panic among the men, even doctors warned women that cycling could cause uterine displacement and "bicycle face". At this point you're probably wondering what bicycle face is, it was described as, "usually flushed but sometimes pale, lips more or less drawn, dark circles under the eyes, an expression of weariness, a clenched jaw and bulging eyes." The anxiety subsided in the 1900s and was redirected to "horseless carriage face."
No comments:
Post a Comment