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21Jan
Oi! Sexist Marketing! On Yer Bike!!
In the run-up to Christmas 2011 I went looking for a bike for my three-year old daughter. My first point of call was my local Raleigh stockist, a company whose tagline is ‘For All Your Biking Needs‘. Unless, it seems, you happen to be female…
Since starting preschool my daughter has developed a love of all things pedal-related, and can’t wait to get there to show off her new pedalling skills in the playground. So a bike was the obvious choice for Christmas. I immediately thought back to my first bike. Red Raleigh Apple, circa 1985. Storming the back lanes with my pals… I loved that bike. Off to our local independent bike shop I went, with that quiet smugness you get when you know exactly what you want and are supporting local business instead of going to an out-of-town superstore. This will be easy, right? WRONG!
I was shocked at what I found. The ‘First Bike’ range was completely gender stereotyped and creatively limited. They had a lousy selection for girls; sporty bmx types, clearly labelled as for boys, and a small selection of pink and glittery accessories, with girls’ bikes buried underneath, passing for a girls range. Girls bikes were almost all pink, tassled and featuring dolly/teddy carriers, whereas the boys bikes were sporty. The choice was horrible, so I decided to look online instead.
I headed to the Raleigh website to see whether my local stockist was just missing some of the range. They weren’t, and what’s more the descriptions of the bikes provided by Raleigh in their online catalogue just compounded matters by giving across a patronising and sexist attitude to children’s ability and perceived aspiration based on gender.
The boys ‘Striker’ bike was described with “training to become the next England no 1 striker” and the MX14 “designed for the up and coming motoX star of the future“. Contrasted with this, the girls descriptions offer no sporting aspiration whatsoever, instead containing reference to the main features being their prettiness “equipped with great features: Molly bag, ribbon streamers with beads that glitter…” (Molly bike) and “your little angel will be exited about her new miss bike with a hot paint finish…“.
It couldn’t have left me with a clearer impression that Raleigh sees a boy’s role to aspire and achieve, and girl’s to simply look pretty. I searched their website, hopeful for something to disprove my impression of this company for whom my lifetime’s respect was rapidly slipping away. But alas, I could find no reference to female cycling success or aspiration at all. The news stories were all about male professional cycling, quoting male product users, and images of male sporting achievement. The team they sponsor ’Team Raleigh’, is a men’s team. No problem with that but do they sponsor women’s cycling too? I couldn’t find it so have to assume not). In fact the only reference to gender was about their recently launched ‘fashion label branded’ bikes for women. It’s important to look fashionable when exercising right ladies? YUCK.
Raleigh have got it so wrong. Any child, boy or girl may like streamers, but that’s not what they like about the bike. They like getting on it and moving themselves faster than they can run. They like the exhilaration of seeing how fast they can go before they get wobbly and panic a bit. They like chasing their friends and siblings around the park and seeing who’s fastest. They, like adults, like the rush of the exercise and adrenaline. That has no gender. A bike requires no gender.
I don’t want my daughter to grow up thinking that being a pretty princess or caring for dollies (she doesn’t like them) is preferable to just being fit and having fun, and I don’t understand why a bike needs to be so overloaded with sexist stereotype. It’s about being a mobile CHILD, not mobile ornament. Is it really too challenging in the 21st century to offer a sporty alternative to girls, or has Raleigh, as their site and range implies, decided serious cycling is the preserve of boys and men? Perhaps if they did open their minds a little there would BE more women in professional cycling. They may well shift a lot of these bikes. I had to search a while to find a half-decent alternative (or at least one without tassels etc) so there are no doubt parents who are rolling their eyes but purchasing them anyway for convenience or lack of choice. But this doesn’t make it a good product range or an acceptable marketing strategy. I’m sure Raleigh’s kids bikes sell very well, but so did their red Raleigh apple. Without needing streamers or glitter.
I want to support British companies, and I want to buy local; but I don’t want to sell out to sexist stereotypes to do it.
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The gendered marketing to kids is so absolutely frustrating. Even the yogurt geared to kids has princesses or cars and the flavors line up too, the pink strawberry with the princesses and the vanilla that my son doesn’t care for with the cars, which he happens to be crazy over. Other brands have actual children on them, girls on the container with strawberry banana yogurt which is pink. Should my son not like strawberries? Am I supposed to buy the yogurt with the boy on it? Ridiculous and offensive to me as a parent, forcing me to buy into the gender stereotypes with their marketing. And the bikes- we haven’t gotten there yet, but Ahhh! So sad! How would things be different for women if as girls none of us were ever all tassled out in pink princess hype? Interesting! Thanks for sharing!
As I’m sure lots of people have said – try Islabikes. Local and great. Got my 5 year old a great purple, but sporty, bike! (Its not about the colour, its about the messages they send.)
It doesn’t get hugely better as you get older. I’m a keen female road cyclist, and have to put up with men trying to sell me rubbish bikes because I’m clearly a rubbish cyclist (I won’t need such high gears, ‘obviously’ won’t be riding very far so won’t need x, y or z).
Then there are female specific accessories. I have a women’s helment (was in the sale) – are our heads so very different now? In fact, a mate has the same lid but ‘for men’ and we can’t see a single difference between them. And don’t even get me started on women’s specific heart rate monitors and how they’re marketed…
Worst of all, some companies persist in making ‘women’s’ bikes when there is technically no need for them. It’s been clear for several years that the only difference that women generally need on a race bike is narrower handlebars and a different saddle. (There is a video on Cervelo’s website explaining this). Yet, we still find categories such as ‘bikes’ and ‘women’s bikes’ on makers’ wesbites. At the lower end of the market, you still get dropped top bars (the top bit of the frame sloping downwards) so that women can ride in skirts and preserve their decency. Surely that is pure Victorian nonsense in this day and age? At very least it’s not
a necessary feature of all non-race women’s bikes, surely? You even get mountain bikes like it! WHO is mountain biking in a skirt??? I ride men’s bikes, always have, and they fit me perfectly. The category of women’s bikes exists purely for marketing purposes, and whenever someone collects data on actual riders’ needs, it’s proved to be a redundant category altogether. Yet only a couple of the most expensive makers have accepted this and stopped producing women’s bikes, thinking that their particular market is made up of women who are likely to have realised this. It’s actually a brave move as several women riders have told me they’d feel awkward about buying gear/bikes that isn’t especially for women – an insane social stigma.
It is insane, although understandable when you see how young these gender rules are being foisted on us all!
The very youngest bikes seem to be the balance bikes, which aren’t that bad generally. Most popular seem to be wooden frames in red or blue trim. It weould make more sense to me to have a generic set of bikes in base colours and then sell the accessories – truly make it a choice if parents want to add on tassels, flags, bells etc. Maybe then at least the stereotyping comes from a parents choice and not from sheer lack of choice. Meh.
Thanks for commenting
>>You even get mountain bikes like it! WHO is mountain biking in a skirt???
*coughs* Um, possibly people like me? I’m rather fond of skirts, and while obviously cycling is easier in trousers/shorts/similar, there are always times when you want to go out for a quick ride without stopping to change into specialist clothes. As for the mountain bike – I live in a hilly area of the country where there are vanishingly few flat roads, so I got my first mountain bike in primary school.
Actually, come to think of it, that mountain bike was a Raleigh, and it was (light) purple with a mountain lion or something similar on the side. I think they had a theme going of athletic wild animals for all their teen bikes at the time. It’s a great pity that their range has become so ridiculously polarised. Turns out some things get worse over time rather than better!
Have you looked at Islabikes? http://www.islabikes.co.uk/
They’re a British company and their website states that you won’t find tassels on any of their bikes. There is also a fab gallery with pictures of girls and boys enjoying their cycling – be they touring, racing or just hanging out playing with their chums. (I don’t work for them)
I don’t have any kids, so I haven’t had to deal with this issue personally, but I can say that the gender specific bike issue carries on into the adult bike world. The approach to building women specific bikes tends to be of the “pink and shrink” variety – just smaller, prettier versions of men’s bikes. When you get into the more serious end of the market, the choice is pretty much non-existent – they’re all marketed at men. Personally, I’m fairly tall and so can get away with buying a man’s bike and just tweaking some of the components to get it to fit me better. One benefit of this is that I get to choose a decent coloured frame with no frilly flower designs all over it!
It’s a theme isn’t it – lack of encouragement or promoting of cycling for cycling’s sake at a young age for girls, lack of women further along the line. I’m not saying Raleigh are to blame for this, but they are certainly reflecting it impressively. When there are people actively looking for a product that isn’t there from the youngest to the serious cyclist, and the industry appears to compartmentalise and marginalise girls, it’s crazy. It’s another market at the end of the day, smart and reputable companies ought to be leading the debate not becoming it.
How depressing!
The only reason for a ‘women’s frame’ is surely for those women who choose to ride in a skirt – I guess there are a few. Or possibly people who haven’t the confidence to ride a bike with a crossbar – for reasons of age, injury or similar.
Absolutely no reason to distinguish on gender lines though – and especially for kids – though I remember the shocking-pink frame ‘Pink Witch’ bikes when I was a youngster. At least they had a bit of zing about them – even in the name.
I don’t remember those – but you’re right – it’s the presentation as much as anything. If they’re hell bent on gendering the bikes they could still have great fun with it; I know I’d buy a ‘miss speedy’ bike over a teddy based one!
Thanks for the comments
I’m a guy and would be very happy to use a step through framed bicycle instead of a bike with a high crossbar. They become especially useful when you have a lot of luggage on the rack, or it is a bike designed to carry goods or people.
It’s massively easier to use a bike with a low crossbar or a step through frame, yet they are frowned upon in many cycling circles.
I feel exactly the same kind of sexism when I go shopping in sports shops in France. For women, everything seems to be pink ! and of poorer quality. I managed to buy a bike (made in the US !) that doesn’t look too girlish, but it has been difficult.
Thanks for publishing articles like this one.
Shame to hear that the same problems exist abroad. Glad to know I’m not the only one who will try to avoid it though!
Thanks for the comment
I’ve found a photo on Flickr (b & w) of a Pink Witch from – - – 1958. No wonder you don’t remember it. It’s definitely girly, but lloks faairly practical – but then, you expected sexist marketing in the 50s.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mando_gal/497680644/
There are links to others on that page.
Thanks for the feedback folks – we’ve heard your suggestions and we’ll look to see how we can incorporate them into our product designs and marketing later this year.
Raleigh Marketing team
Thanks – I have posted a blog highlighting that you have responded. I will be delighted to see what improvements you make!
Update here: http://inadifferentvoice.wordpress.com/2012/01/27/over-to-you-raleigh/
Just don’t pick up only on the old Pink Witch, please!!
[...] to the Pink Stinks Twitter feed I was alerted to a great blog post about Raleigh bikes. I too have fond memories of Raleigh bikes and I was horrified to see how gender-stereotyped [...]