par Pelgrims, Claire 
Référence Joint Seminar Centre for Mobilities Research and Institute for Social Futures (3 March: Lancaster University)
Publication Non publié, 2025-03-03
Référence Joint Seminar Centre for Mobilities Research and Institute for Social Futures (3 March: Lancaster University)
Publication Non publié, 2025-03-03
Communication à un colloque
| Résumé : | Bicycles aesthetics, mobilities of care and equipment trajectories: an international comparison of gender construction processes around cycling equipmentSince the 1990s, European cities have been developing policies to promote cycling. However, in traditionally car-centric cities, these mobility policies tend not to take account of the gendered aspects of cycling cultures, and more generally of the complexity of gendered mobility trends. Like cars, bicycles are gendered ‘attributes’, emotionally invested objects at the heart of micro-practices that respond to dominant norms of femininity and masculinity. The diversification of bicycles and accessories that has been taking place over the last decade or so has opened the door to new gendered uses and tactics. It democratises cycling, modulates the sporting dimension of cycling and creates new assemblages of bicycles and cyclists. Yet gender norms continue to hinder the development of cycling. My postdoctoral research analyses the tensions that the aesthetic relationship between the body and the bicycle creates in the dominant norms of femininity and masculinity. It describes the assemblages formed by cyclists and their equipment within equipment trajectories that differ in the five Belgian, French and Swiss contexts studied. The original approach of this research analyses the processes of gender construction around cycling from their aesthetic dimension, linking bodily sensibility and affectivity. The presentation will focus in particular on affective investments in cycling objects, customisation practices and the role of bicycles in an ethic of care, especially when escorting children. |
