Huge bike shop, limited women's cycling apparel

[tulip]

I'm 44 and I love to wear skorts. I wear them on club rides--even fast ones--and multi week high mileage tours, and of course on my daily commutes and city utility cycling. I cannot stand the notion of some feminists that what I choose to wear is somehow "oppressive" in their eyes. The whole point is that women have a choice on all matter of life decisions, including what to wear. Don't judge me because I wear a skort, goodness!

/rant

Oh, and I'm not a big shopper, but when I do buy cycling and swim clothing, TE is my first, and often only, stop.

[Susan Otcenas]

Oh, and I'm not a big shopper, but when I do buy cycling and swim clothing, TE is my first, and often only, stop.

Thank you, tulip!

I'm 44 and I love to wear skorts. I wear them on club rides--even fast ones--and multi week high mileage tours, and of course on my daily commutes and city utility cycling. I cannot stand the notion of some feminists that what I choose to wear is somehow "oppressive" in their eyes. The whole point is that women have a choice on all matter of life decisions, including what to wear. Don't judge me because I wear a skort, goodness!

I'm 42. My personal apparel choices run the gamut from some fairly racy stuff, all the way to skorts and dresses. Far from being oppressive, I actually find wearing skorts and dresses on a bike to be somewhat empowering. I kinda like the idea that I can be purposely feminine in appearance, yet keep up with the boys when I want to. It always seems to throw them for a loop when the chick in the dress doesn't get dropped. To me, it's a way of *busting* stereotypes about what women are capable of, and communicates that "appearances" can be deceiving, so perhaps they'd be better off not having a pre-conceived notion about what someone is capable of simply based on how she looks.

It can also be a great conversation starter. I wore dresses for the better part of PBP last year, and it was remarkable how many people asked me about them. And not just women (since there were hardly any women on the ride anyway). Had I been dressed in standard kit, I'd bet far fewer people would have had a reason to speak to me, and I'd have been the worse for it. I like meeting new people.

[PamNY]

I cannot stand the notion of some feminists that what I choose to wear is somehow "oppressive" in their eyes. The whole point is that women have a choice on all matter of life decisions, including what to wear. Don't judge me because I wear a skort, goodness!.

I didn't say anything was oppressive; I simply mentioned skirts/skorts seemed that way to me based on experiences from years ago. And I certainly didn't express judgement toward you or anyone else.

If you go back and read what I wrote (and it was very carefully written), you will see evidence of open-mindedness on my part.

All of us, whether we realize it or not, have attitudes and opinions based on past experiences. An awareness of these influences, which is what I expressed, is a good and healthy thing. It's also interesting to share with other people (though perhaps not you).

I have had many fascinating discussions on topics like this with a much older friend (and much younger friends, for that matter).

Tulip, here is something that might help you understand what I'm talking about:

http://www.beloit.edu/mindset/2014/