Not to be forgotten - Limewave:
Attachment 3332
Let me know if I missed anyone!
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Not to be forgotten - Limewave:
Attachment 3332
Let me know if I missed anyone!
Thanks for posting those ShubieGA. :)
And thanks for the comments Knot and Zencentury. :cool:
I"m drowning in the shallowness of Bicycling magazine. Is a "makeover" all they think women are interested in?
It wouldn't be so bad if they had been up front about it. Thanks so much for putting these up for us to see, but I am sad that they used personal victory stories to advertise products.
Well they did say they were going to make recommendations to help us achieve our goals. I was kinda hoping it would lean more towards training suggestions.
Little tiny portrait of each of you, models on the bikes. You all look waaay better than the models (sorry if the models are lurking).Quote:
Originally Posted by mimitabby
Oh but if I buy all that stuff, I'll look like the model won't I??? :rolleyes: :p
I think so, because all those models look exactly alike from wearing the gear! If we all buy that stuff, we're sure to look just like that too! :pQuote:
Originally Posted by kelownagirl
(or... is it all the same model??) :confused:
P.S. The model in KelownGal's article looks like either she's taken too much Claritin or else she is screaming in pain from the TORTUROUS CONTORTIONS she is in!!! =8-O
well, I am a little disappointed but not surprised. Originally I thought we would get coaching tips as well. I was also asked about how cycling has changed my life and what skills I would like to work on. So, maybe the intentions originally were to do more with the article but got scaled back later????
I was looking forward to this issue to see my TE friends. :) I am sorry the magazine took your stories and boiled them down to the point where your achievements do not shine through and the use of teeny, tiny pictures of the actual woman, verses the huge pictures on the models is sad. :( All three of you are beautiful, no models were needed. You three are athletes! :cool:
So, what did the article teach me about my TE friends? :rolleyes:
-KG girl uses "cheater platforms" on one side because she fell. :rolleyes:
-CWR-owns a heavy bike, has thick hair (which I wish I had), and recent bunion surgery. :rolleyes:
-Limewave-has very, very wide feet (I have never seen your feet, just the impression the article gave). :rolleyes:
I am proud you three are my TE Sisters and I am proud you three were willing to write about your passions. :D It iws indeed a pity the magazine did not focus more on each of you, as individual athletes, rather than the silly little "problems" the mag reported...see above.
As an engineer who looks at marketing folks with a wary gaze, this episode has got to be going into the marketing hall of shame. Here a magazine which has had a reputation of catering primarily to the male gender had a fantastic opportunity to reach out to the female audience. If they had done this issue right, there would be many new readers out of these forums alone.
Instead, they did a pretty good job of insulting us. No training...just buy gear. Yeah, that will make us better riders...not!
Very sad. My guess is that the TE members interviewed must have mentioned TE once or twice, but clearly Bicycling didn't come here and find out that here there a women who ride; who train; who love the road and trails; and, most importantly know that the tools don't make the rider. Sure, we love our toys just like anyone else, but there is more to riding than kit. Sigh...
i'm disappointed they didn't mention Cold Bay. Hey that's a feat in and of itself! I have so many more goals than that. Just because my bike is heavy doesn't mean I don't rock it. It was bunionette surgery (hey, they are cuter!) and I wish I had thick hair, no idea even where that one came from. All in all, they did spell my name correctly.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bikingmomof3
Oh and for the record, I did find a pair of shoes. I LOVE my new Sidi's.
Ok my rant is over. I guess we couldn't have expected more......
I must say KG and Lime you do look very pretty.
yeah! and the fact that they didn't send it to everyone! How many guys that get Bicycling magazine have a woman in the house?? I mean, really, talk about stupidity!!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by Thorn
Why not?Quote:
Originally Posted by chickwhorips
Boo. CWR's WAY cuter than the chick they had modeling the bike and the gear! (but Iiiiiii know what piiiiiiic you uuuuuused....!!! I <3 that pic. :D)
oh, and yeah, crappy write-up, too. Ahh, Buycycling mag is turning into commercialist pr0n. Joy. Hey, CWR, we should get our tank bikes out and tear up some singletrack... :D ...very slowly. ...bring bandaids. :D
It's things like this that make me want to be a freelance writer for such magazines. ...then I really think about it and realize all my ideas would be rejected- they'd have substance. :rolleyes:
kit i love ya. you always make me feel good. btw slow and steady wins the race right? and I have tons of band aids!
next thing to do, is get you published!
That is something. :) If nothing else you could use the write up if you apply to be a contestant on a game show. :eek: Seriously, I think the writer(s) did a dreadful job and you are much, much better lookingthat the model. :DQuote:
Originally Posted by chickwhorips
Fantastic!! :cool:Quote:
Originally Posted by chickwhorips
Why? Write and express your displeasure. I have not even seen that section (besides what was posted here) and I subscribe to the magazine. I am a very displeased customer.Quote:
Originally Posted by chickwhorips
Agreed. All three you you look fantastic! :DQuote:
Originally Posted by chickwhorips
I got a response:
Dear Mimi:
Thanks for your interest in Bicycling. It's true that the women's insert was only in selected issues, but you can read all the articles that were in it at bicycling.com/womenriders.
Sincerely,
Emily Furia ( Emily.Furia at rodale.com ) (remove the at and put in @ )
Associate editor
Bicycling magazine
www.bicycling.com
But no explanation of how they decided who gets the insert and who doesn't. Do you think they left it out if the subscription was in a guy's name?Quote:
Originally Posted by mimitabby
I still liked to read the articles because it was about such cool women, even if it is only peripherally. You know the thing is those gear recommendations were really short and superficial. I wish they had gone more in depth somewhere, either in the bios or the gear recomendations. It felt more like a marketing tool.
But for anyone who wants to read the online version
http://www.bicycling.com/article/1,6...6028-1,00.html
I wrote back discussing that very point.Quote:
Originally Posted by MDHillSlug
Thanks Mimi, let us know if you hear anything back.
I haven't gotten my July issue yet, but I'm one of the "women riders" featured on the website (goal: Bike to Work). First and most upsetting is the complete fabrication that "she needs to be able to tote papers and clothes around. .... And she doesn't want to create a spectacle of her backside." I cannot bring papers home because most of my work is classified, so I don't know where they got that comment. And I never said ANYTHING about my backside. I'm 44 years old, really could care less, and at the risk of sounding immodest, am pretty proud of my strong, biker's glutes. I am all about performance and comfort when I ride, not how I look, for crying out loud. I'm not renewing my subscription to Bicycling. It's more targeted to adolescent males than serious riders
I don't like how the write ups made you all sound needy and wimpy, because you're not. It didn't take into account that you already have a bunch of gear, including bikes and helmets.
It was just a chance for them to advertise more.
And it was LAME!
I rarely buy a Bicycling issue and this article didn't improve my opinion of them any.
V.
Good grief! I just looked up the Internet versions of these writeups. They're a bit better (no model) but still manipulative. They USED you women! Here you are, strong riders all, willing to stand up for women riders, willing to be an inspiration by telling about achievements and goals ... and they 1) misrepresent your achievements, 2) misuse your goals, and 3) show that they lured you into this by misrepresenting their intentions. I'm glad there've been write-ins to complain about this. I'm glad there've been women cancelling their subscriptions. If you want to make an even stronger impact, I suggest writing to the advertisers. Tell them you're potential customers, been looking at their products seriously, but that after this debacle you've really been turned off.
Good grief, that could get you into big trouble at work!Quote:
Originally Posted by Velobambina
::helmet in hands, pleading look on face::
I am not finding the online version of the article. Can someone post a link, please?
:o
http://www.bicycling.com/topic/0,661...23-0-0,00.html
bicycling.com/womenriders
I wanted to echo what others have said....I don't think the article is well done, or that it accurately represents the women portrayed.
Nevertheless - I (some how) ended up with a subscription (I've never subscribed or paid for it), and I do have the insert. If someone wants it for some reason, I'll be happy to pass it along.
CA
Luckily, I've never been one to take work home. LOL. My conscience is clear and I'm known for my honesty at work (not always career enhancing, as I will speak my mind! haha). The "rearend" thing bugs me more. Makes me sound like a twit, not an athlete. "I can't commute because my bum looks too big in bike shorts." Jaysus....Quote:
Originally Posted by mimitabby
I'm so appalled by the lack of integrity in the article. I have a BS in Journalism and as part of my required J-school classes in college, had several courses in ethics, law, etc. I guess the advertisers strongly influence the content of the articles. It's not a magazine---it's a catalog.
Makes you wonder if they would have done the same thing---make the subjects sound like wimps---if this had been an article on men?
Okay, so Velo has a background in journalism.
This is an article for Salon, folks.
Agreed?
How kickass riders were turned into whiney simpering wimps in one fell swoop of advertising -- which didn't even get put into all the issues!
It would best be done by a person who actually was interviewed and had expectations, a first-hand account.
Velo, how about it? Want to interview CWR and KG and see if you can sell the story to Salon?
Me again.
I'm a writer. As a published romance writer I got stung more than once by journalists who interviewed me and either twisted my words/story to fit their preconception about that they wanted a story about "romance writers" to be, or who took things I said out of context and ran with them. (This was not difficult to do the first couple of times, because I tend to be either a smartass, or to use self-deprecating humor.)
A journalist friend told me, every good journalist goes into an interview knowing the story they want to write, and interviews accordingly, but if they're good, they drop that idea as soon as you give them a better one.
So what am I saying? The temptation to chat easily with a writer/reporter/journalist is natural, but you never know what will come back and bite you in your wide bum, kick you with your wide feet, or clip you with your cheaters.
Bottom line, that was never meant to be an article of profiles; it was always meant to be advertising masquerading as a "makeover" article for which they needed real women. They knew what they wanted when they interviewed you, even though you didn't. I'm not sure it's really that awful a thing, considering what the press can and does do to celebrities, political figures, etc.
I suggest that the three TE women write a joint letter to the editor where they briefly list their accomplishments (that were left out of the profiles) and voice their disgust with how their images were used.
But I really think a personal article in Salon or elsewhere could be interesting and entertaining and infuriating while it makes a number of valid points about how women are viewed, but from the magazine's point of view they probably didn't do anything wrong.
I think the real issues where I believe the magazine really hurt us are:
A) They only put this section in some of the magazines.
B) Their "makeover" was totally superficial and expensive -- and had nothing to do with training and serious cycling.
Bite me, Buycycling.
And what other mags are out there instead?
(By the way, I got the issue with the women's section; my subscription is in my name, obviously female. What about the others of you? Female name, female section?)
I think that's an excellent idea, pooks.
I have that issue (not sure how I got it either) and I would never have "recognized" any of you, based on the way the did the write-ups.
Our issue came to Mr Raleighdon, so no women's foldout for us!
I agree with you Pooks.
(washing my hands with bleach)
What's Salon?
It's an online magazine. Independent. Some of their articles are excellent, there's a lot of women represented; but you need to buy a subscription. (Last I looked, there was a free one day pass you could use though) It's probably WORTH the subscription too.
I don't know if it's the best choice, but it's a great site:
http://salon.com/
as is Slate:
http://slate.com/
Others may have other/better ideas.
I would love to put out a zine on biking and how it really is. Looking back, I get bored of hobby/ sport about three months into a subscription. The magazines fail to inspire, make me feel like I have to spend all of my money to be worth anything, and don't really give me worthwhile training hints even. I think I have really found the antithesis of that in this forum: so many cool established riders and newbies who are psuhing their limits and showing others how, great gear advice, and helpful/detailed training and fit advice. So I guess this is a thanks to everyone here who have helped me learn to ride my bike.
I went back to find the original email that asked for our "stories" and I hate to admit that they didn't really misrepresent the story idea. That's not to say I like what was eventually written but here's what they were asking for... It's pretty much what they wrote...
We're looking for six women-all of whom have a goal to do something for the first time on a bike. We'll run a photo or illustration of the woman and include a mini-profile that describes her characteristics as a rider and her goal. Based on her profile and goal, the editors will then suggest the gear that will help her-and other women like her-reach her goal.
We're looking for a wide range of women. Newbie, advanced, roadie, mtb or cross rider, commuter, racer, messenger, rec rider, young, old and in
between. The important thing is that she has a goal to do something she's
never done before, such as:
Start riding for the first time since childhood
Enter her first race (road, mtb, or cross)
Start commuting
Ride a century
Do a triathlon
Start work as a messenger
Take a touring vacation
Ride an epic distance (24 hour solo race, an endurance race, or ride across
the state/country)
Start mountain biking/road riding/cyclocross riding
Move up a category or a class, or make it to the podium
Keep up with her friends/significant other
Lose weight
Well, just got mine yesterday! You guys look great. :D