19th CENTURY

In 1893, a prayer-meeting was held in a New York church to address a serious problem that tainted the church. An active church member, a widow, did the unthinkable. She purchased a bicycle. Such actions were unladylike, unchristian, and a disgrace to the church. “The bicycle,” judged the moral guardians, “is the devil’s advocate agent morally and physically.” Calling on all “true women and clergymen” to support them, they denounced cycling by women as “indecent and vulgar,” and for good measure demanded that “married women should not resort to riding the wheel unless they wish to prevent motherhood.”