Blog 5 India's women bikers: Trailblazers in more ways than one

India's women bikers: Trailblazers in more ways than one

 

Seeing a woman on the back of a motorbike is not uncommon in India but today many women are hoping into the driver’s seat.  Many people have criticized women driving motorbikes because they say women cant kick-start bikes or put them on a stand without help. This growing number of women wants to prove them wrong.  Female biker clubs and meet-ups are gaining more and more popularity around India. 18 months ago, the Association of Female Bikers, was founded and now has grown to over 100 active members. There are estimates that there are over 4000 biker women around India right now. About 1/3 of scooter riders are female riders, only about 5% ride large motorbikes.  Many of these biker clubs were started to give women a sense of empowerment in a country where they usually take a back seat in more than one way.  The numbers of women driving motorbikes are on the rise while India’s changing moving to change its ideas of women’s roles. Companies are beginning to introduce lighter, shorter bikes into the economy. Freedom and independence are two passengers that these women take along for a ride on their motorbikes through the roads of India.

            Globalization has changed the way we think about men and women’s roles in society. While women’s roles and choices are becoming broader and encompassing, men’s roles are becoming more limited. Companies around the world are seeing the need for smaller and shorter motorbikes and are making changes. Companies like Italy’s Ducati have launched new bikes in India to meet the needs of this growing population.  With globalization these women are being able to have more options in what kind of motorbikes they could ride.  Women around the world have seen effects of globalization though some have been positive while others have been negative. Women's purchasing power in economies is starting to be felt more strongly.  Women being able to make better wages lets them have a little more freedom in what they can purchase. Such as in India with motorbikes and women in Korea with Host Bars, women around the world are starting to provide more to their economies.

            A religion’s ideas on the roles that women hold, influences how our societies view women. In Hindu texts women have been depicted as being subservient to the men in their lives.  In the caste system Hindu’s believe that women cannot be twice born and must be reborn as men in order to make religious progress.  Sitting on the back of the motorbike these women were symbolically and figuratively representing the idea that women are inferior to men.  Jumping into the drivers seat allow these women to gain freedom from the roles assigned to them by religious and social ideals. Around the world riding motorbikes have been dominated by males in the past but with changing societal views of what is masculine and feminine more and more women around the globe are joining in this for of entertainment.

            http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19697067

Further Resources:

http://www.patheos.com/Library/Hinduism/Ethics-Morality-Community/Gender-and-Sexuality