Q: Are We Not Women? A: We Are Wasabi Warriors

In light of the upcoming Tour de ‘Toona’s gender-equitable policies, and recent allegations of sexism in local training races, it seems like a good time to examine the status of gender in cycling. The sport certainly has trended towards equality since the days of women's top tubes being sloped for their skirts, and Quaker City Wheelmen being just men, but lingering issues of inequality lead me to believe that women’s cycling is stuck in a state of what I’ll call “Bachelorettedom.” There are a lot of similarities between women’s cycling and the cheesy reality TV show that separates the sexes from each other and forces them to compete amongst themselves, all the while perpetuating gender stereotypes. Let’s look at some similarities:

1. Wussy suffix:

Well, in cycling’s case, a prefix. The original dating show about a man, The Bachelor, came first of course. The 'ette came along later. In cycling, race promoters still often list the men’s races as just the “races,” while specifically distinguishing the women’s fields, sometimes with a “W” prefix. Check out this current registration page, where women, kids, and handicapped riders are distinguished, while the men’s fields are just assumed to be such.

2. More is expected of men than of women:

Both The Bachelorette and cycling require men to be courteous and brave. The current Bachelorette recently asked one of her suitors to “be a man” and break up with her. On the cycling side of things, I'm definitely part of the problem. I've recently tried to relieve my own "wussiness" by entering men's races. A more controversial example is the infamous -woman elbowing a man- incident at a recent training crit near Philly. Check out the comments, where the alleged elbower suggests that the elbowee be a “real man” and let a woman go first. If a “real man” is a brave or courteous person, then I think the popular excuse of “it’s just bike racing,” precludes all of us cyclists, male and female, from being real men.

Besides being courteous, men are expected to do more work. The Bachelorette's suitors have been tested with competitions in boxing, dragon boat racing, and performing manual labor for charity. When the current bachelorette was competing as a "suitor," the hardest work she had to do was look better than her competitors in a swimsuit.

Look familiar? Liz Hatch, anyone?

Cycling also requires men to work harder. At Fitchburg last year, the women's amateur field competed in half as many stages as the men's amateur fields, and the women's pro field had only a fraction of the distance and payouts of the men.

3. The women get serious sooner:

Women on dating shows are constantly "falling for someone," finding a "connection," and even saying the L-word before their male counterparts, and women cyclists seem to get the racing bug with the same kind of urgency. I suspect this has to do with field size. Someone might enter several Women's Cat 4 races, all with fields half the size of their Cat 4 counterparts, and easily dominate all of her races. She'll quickly ascend the ranks to cat 3, maybe cat 2, and suddenly be racing with pros. At The Tour of Somerville, for example, a cat 3 woman had a single choice, which was to enter the women's combined 123 field and race against the likes of Laura Van Gilder and world champion Giorgia Bronzini. There wasn't a sign-up sheet for cat 3 men to race with Thor Hushovd. The difference in field sizes presents awesome opportunities for women to win small races, and rub (or throw?) elbows with the pros in others. Consequently though, it tests women's L-word for racing by forcing them to be competitive with elite and pro riders, even as amateurs.

What can we do to save cycling from plummeting further into Bachelorettedom?

We could start by revising our naming conventions. Let's start listing men's races specifically, and while we're at it, how about this: Instead of printing separate KOM and QOM jerseys, why not use the gender-neutral “Monarch of the Mountain?” Who wouldn’t be proud to earn the title of MOM after laboring intensely up a hill? Having equal payouts and distance will be tough until women's racing becomes more popular, but the Tour de 'Toona has the right idea. The only stage race in the country that has equal payouts and distance for the pro men's and women's fields, this race is sure to be a really challenging (and hopefully fun) event for CAWES. Stay tuned next week to hear how it goes.