Some of these are oldies but goodies that you’ll find on other sites—others are freshly picked.

Women, Fashion, and Emancipation

Don’t be afraid of going fast and getting hurt. You can always wear black stockings to cover up the scars! —Marla Streb; spotted at Pedal Panties

Let us now observe a moment of silence for the shiny Lycra stretch pants and neon nylon windbreakers that have been considered, for the past ten years, de rigueur for anyone traveling on two wheels…. A hot-pink boa works as well as a lime-green Gortex windbreaker to make you visible on the road. —Jennifer Worley, The New Colonist

The bicycle . . . has been more responsible for more movement in manners and morals than anything since Charles the Second . . . Under its influence have blossomed, wholly or in part, weekends, strong nerves, strong legs, strong language . . . equality of sex, good digestion and professional occupation—in four words, the emancipation of women. —Novelist John Galsworthy

[T]he bicycle will accomplish more for women’s sensible dress than all the reform movements that have ever been waged.  —Author Unknown, from Demerarest’s Family Magazine, 1895

“What shall we wear?” is a query rising from every channel of woman’s life: for upon each occasion we must be suitably clad to enjoy its peculiar benefits. This is especially noticeable for such exercise as bicycling, for, in this case, it is not only a matter of appearing well, but the health, the comfort and safety demand a carefully selected costume and equipment. —From The Ladies Standard Magazine, April 1894

Let me tell you what I think of bicycling. I think it has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. I stand and rejoice every time I see a woman on a wheel. It gives a woman a feeling of freedom and self-reliance. —Susan B. Anthony, New York World, February 2, 1896