Althouse: Things worried about in 1895: Women getting "bicycle face."

July 8, 2014

Things worried about in 1895: Women getting "bicycle face."

"Over-exertion, the upright position on the wheel, and the unconscious effort to maintain one's balance tend to produce a wearied and exhausted 'bicycle face'... usually flushed, but sometimes pale, often with lips more or less drawn, and the beginning of dark shadows under the eyes, and always with an expression of weariness... characterized by a hard, clenched jaw and bulging eyes."

11 comments:

traditionalguy said...: OK, the woman leaves and returns home 4 hours later showing a flushed face, dark shadows under the eyes and bulging eyes, and her story is she went out riding her bike.

That is something to worry about. Especially if she had no birth control.; 7/8/14, 9:50 PM
Tyrone Slothrop said...: I'm pretty sure Bicycle Face was one of Dick Tracy's adversaries.; 7/8/14, 10:34 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: in the 1890s, bicycles were seen by many as an instrument of feminism... Now? not so much; 7/8/14, 10:45 PM
ALP said...: Are you sure that's not a description of the "O Face"?; 7/8/14, 11:11 PM
chickelit said...: Yesteryears's worry. Nobody calls that era "The Gay Nineties" either. The last time I heard that phrase was a PBR beer commercial in the 1970's.

Instead, today's woman worries about the growing epidemic of resting bitchy face; 7/8/14, 11:29 PM
Toad Trend said...: Its always about agendas - this sounds like a cockamamie ruse thrown at newly-mobile women to dissuade them from riding bikes. As traditionalguy alludes, bicycle face could be attributed to a much different participatory activity, in which case I find little reason for concern. Men, women, fish, bicycles, no wonder we have so many confused people walking and talking about.; 7/9/14, 4:58 AM
tim maguire said...: The unconscious effort to maintain one's balance? Had this person ever ridden a bicycle?; 7/9/14, 5:51 AM
Darrell said...: b-b-b-bicycle face, b-b-bicycle face
(Mum mum mum mah)
b-b-b-bicycle face, b-b-bicycle face
(Mum mum mum mah)
(Mum mum mum mah)
(Mum mum mum mah)

b-b-b-bicycle face, b-b-bicycle face; 7/9/14, 9:14 AM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: In SoCal we call that "commuting face" and the description is exactly the same.; 7/9/14, 9:55 AM
paul a'barge said...: ...usually flushed, but sometimes pale, often with lips more or less drawn, and the beginning of dark shadows under the eyes, and always with an expression of weariness... characterized by a hard, clenched jaw and bulging eyes

Wait.

I thought it was feminism that made women's faces look like that. You mean something else does that?; 7/9/14, 11:01 AM
Sam L. said...: I. Am. Horrified! I do think Tyrone is right. And if a woman rides down a bumpy road, does she get off her bike?; 7/9/14, 11:10 AM