"Resting Bicycle Face": Bikes and Women's Rights

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Resting Bicycle Face": Bikes and Women's Rights

Ridiculous History (iHeartPodcasts) — May 19, 2026
Hosts: Ben Bowlin & Noel Brown
Research Associate: Maria

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Overview

This engaging episode explores the surprising and often absurd role bicycles played in the women’s rights movement of the late 19th century. Ben and Noel trace the evolution of the bicycle, from the perilous penny farthing to the game-changing safety bicycle, and reveal how access to cycling became a battleground for gender equality. The episode spotlights the so-called “bicycle face” moral panic, the significance of bloomers and fashion reform, and the lasting cultural impact of the cycling craze on women's independence.

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Key Topics and Discussions

1. Introduction: Bicycles as Agents of Change

• [03:41] Noel: “I just got back from a bike ride and it was nice. I love a bike. I love a bicycle. I also love women’s rights.”
• The episode dives in by acknowledging the bicycle’s historic and liberating impact, especially for women.

2. The Evolution of the Bicycle

Penny Farthing to Safety Bicycle

• [04:13] Ben: The emergence of the safety bicycle was a “sea change in cycling and society,” sparking a global cycling craze.
• Penny farthing (“bone shaker”) bikes were dangerous, often associated with thrill-seeking men and inaccessible to the general public, especially women.
• [09:15] Ben explains the etymology of "penny farthing" (large front wheel = penny; tiny rear wheel = farthing).
• [10:54] Introduction of John Kemp Starley’s “safety bicycle” in 1885 with equal wheels, gears, and better brakes revolutionized accessibility and safety.

Accessibility and Innovation

• [11:47] Noel: Advances such as rubber tires and lighter frames made bikes more comfortable and practical.
• Bicycles dropped in weight from 50 to around 23 pounds.
• [12:42] Ben: The “woman’s version” had a drop frame to accommodate skirts — a choice shaped by restrictive dress codes.

3. Economics and Social Spread

• [14:02] Ben: Early bicycles were expensive (about $150 when workers earned ~$12/week).
• [19:00] Prices declined as competition increased, opening up cycling to more (wealthy) women.
• [20:39] Ben: By 1895, 1 million bikes were in use in the US, supported by 300 bicycle companies.

4. Three Groups of Cycling Women

• [06:23] Ben identifies:
  1. Women who simply enjoyed riding bikes
  2. Women’s rights activists using bikes as tools for independence
  3. The "baddies": Social critics denouncing women cyclists as unwomanly

5. Cycling and Women’s Liberation

Mobility and Social Freedom

• [21:59] Ben: “This is mobility, right? This is freedom. This doesn’t mean you have to keep a horse all the time.”
• [22:30] Noel: Cycling remained a symbol of autonomy — “it’s functional exercise that gives you a sense of freedom.”

Dress Reform: The Bloomer

• [23:12] Noel: Women were increasingly seen in “bloomer” outfits — voluminous pants named after reformer Amelia Bloomer.
• [24:32] Noel: “They became a symbol of early reform for women’s dress and kind of dovetailed with the women’s suffrage and rights movements.”

The "New Woman"

• [32:36] Ben: Introduction of the “New Woman,” after Sarah Grand’s 1894 concept:
  • Educated, professional, physically active, socially engaged, and independent.
  • [33:34] Noel: “All of these things that were supported and cultivated by, by the bicycle and having access to it.”

6. Backlash and the "Bicycle Face" Panic

Pseudoscience and Morality Campaigns

• [07:16, 08:13] Ben: Critics claimed women on bikes were immoral, unhealthy, or unfeminine — sparking the “bicycle face” panic.
• [45:45] Ben: Bicycle face described as “permanent facial disfigurement” from the exertion of cycling, with symptoms like flushed skin, clenched jaws, and “general weariness.”
  • Notably, these criticisms exclusively targeted women.

Sexual Anxiety and Medical Malarkey

• [41:31] Ben: Critics feared that “the saddle can... bring about constant friction... bring about orgasms.” The hosts mock such ideas as “malarkey.”
  • [49:29] Ben: “A creep wrote that.”
• [44:41] Ben: Explains "kyphosis bicyclistarum" and "pelvic mischief," other supposed ailments exclusive to women cyclists.
• [45:45] Noel: “I like to call it resting bicycle face, a precursor to the other RBF, resting bitch face... persists.”

The Truth Prevails

• [49:57] Ben: The “moral panic… was debunked as it should have been.”
• [50:26] Noel: Dr. Sarah Hackett Stevenson, a Chicago doctor, dismisses the condition; any facial changes are temporary and disappear once proficient at riding.

7. Social Change Context

Suffrage and Women’s Rights

• [23:29] Ben: Cycling and bloomer-wearing happened alongside suffrage amendments and failed legislative attempts (1878–1920 in the US).
• [24:32] Noel: Amelia Bloomer’s activism tied clothing reform to larger social goals.

Remaining Barriers

• [31:16] Ben: “It wasn’t until the 1970s or so that women in the United States were allowed to have credit cards, which is weird.”
• The entrenched patriarchal system defined women’s rights and legal identities as dependent on husbands.

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Notable Quotes

• On Women’s Cycling Rights:
  • Ben [06:23]: "This bicycle is a palpable tool of independence. This gives us freedom, this gives us agency."
  • Ben quoting Francis Willard [40:35]: “I begin to feel that myself plus the bicycle equaled myself plus the world.”
• On Backlash and Pseudoscience:
  • Noel [45:45]: “I like to call it resting bicycle face, a precursor to the other RBF, resting bitch face... which is a very pejorative thing that is the root of that whole smile more thing. It’s this idea that women owe you some sign of affection or positive whatever. It’s just, it’s dumb and it persists.”
  • Ben [49:29]: “A creep wrote that.”
• On Fashion Reform:
  • Noel [24:32]: “The bloomers... became a symbol of early reform for women’s dress and kind of dovetailed with the women’s suffrage and rights movements.”

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Memorable Moments and Timestamps

• [04:13] The real reason penny farthings were so hazardous—and why society needed something better.
• [09:15] The etymology of “penny farthing.”
• [18:27] The expansion of cycling from “rich white dudes” to wealthy women as manufacturers dropped prices.
• [24:32–25:16] The legacy of Amelia Bloomer and the symbolic power of bloomers.
• [40:35] Francis Willard’s poetic quote on the liberating power of cycling.
• [41:31–43:58] The episode’s detailed, humorous breakdown of “bicycle face” and sexual panic.
• [45:45–46:57] Riffing on “resting bicycle face” as a precursor to modern sexist language.

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Conclusion

Ben and Noel use research, banter, and sharp cultural critique to show how something as simple as a bicycle became a lightning rod for larger questions about gender, autonomy, and social control. The battles over bicycle access and women’s fashion expose enduring cultural anxieties about female agency—with some arguments so ludicrous (“bicycle face,” “pelvic mischief”) they remain a source of both outrage and dark comedy today.

Bottom line: The “bicycle face” panic was a ridiculous chapter in women’s history, but the underlying struggle for autonomy and equality is dead serious—a potent reminder that everyday objects can ride us closer to freedom.

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Research and further reading credited to Maria. Special thanks acknowledged to Max Williams (super producer), and the Ridiculous History team.

Transcript

[Ben]

Ridiculous History is a production of iHeartradio. Welcome back to the show, fellow Ridiculous historians. Thank you as always, so much for tuning in. In let's hear it for the man, the myth, the legend, our own Penny Farthing super producer, Mr. Max Williams.

[Noel Brown]

Max Pennyworth Farthington Williams, 3rd Esquire. That actually isn't too far off from my actual name.

[Ben]

It's an inside joke.

[Noel Brown]

Hey, Stopwatch is right. How many times a day? Once, I guess. Yes, you're banned.

[Ben]

Twice. Technically twice.

[Noel Brown]

Damn it.

[Ben]

I am Ben bullet. You are Mr. Noel Brown.

[Noel Brown]

I'm only just now learning how to tell time. I recently got my first analog watch and I'm still struggling with it. A but it's a lot of fun

[Ben]

and we are going to have a lot of fun with you today. Hopefully, fellow Ridiculous historians, we are looking at one of our favorite contraptions ever, the bicycle and the role it played in women's rights.

[Noel Brown]

I like to ride my bicycle.

[Ben]

I like to ride it where I like.

[Debbie Brown]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.

[Ben]

As you know, fellow ridiculous historians, yours truly, we recently got back from Baha Mar in Bahamas. We had the most amazing time. One of my favorite things, and I'm just gonna name one and you know,

[Noel Brown]

I got my arm twisted to do a bit of immersion therapy in the form of kicking it with some flamingos. And our avian experts there that guided us through this experience were absolutely fantastic. And I ultimately a great time despite my crippling fear of birds. Plan your own [e-mail]. tired of overpaying with DirecTV? Dish offers a reliable low price every month without surprises. Get the TV you love and start watching live sports news and the latest movies, plus your favorite streaming apps, all in one place. Switch to Dish today and lock in the lowest price in satellite TV starting at $89.99 a month with our two year price guarantee. Call 888 add dish or visit dish.com today.

[Jonas Brothers (Joe, Kevin, Nick)]

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[Noel Brown]

I'm Kevin.

[Jonas Brothers (Joe, Kevin, Nick)]

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[Noel Brown]

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[Jonas Brothers (Joe, Kevin, Nick)]

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[Noel Brown]

because we're sick and tired of being asked questions.

[Jonas Brothers (Joe, Kevin, Nick)]

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[Robert Smigel]

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[Noel Brown]

Where does your group perform?

[Robert Smigel]

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[Noel Brown]

I just got back from a bike ride and it was nice. I love a bike. I love a bicycle. I also love women's rights.

[Ben]

And you were definitely not on a penny farthing. You were on something descended from what we call the safety bicycle or the safeties from the late 18.

[Noel Brown]

It sounds nerdy when you say it like that, but I was wearing a helmet. I am a safe cyclist and I was riding on a little thing we in here in the Atlanta area called the Belt Line and I made a Trader Joe's run, got some snacks and rode on back. It was a good time.

[Ben]

Yeah. And the safety bicycle is part of the reason this is a good time because it did replace the penny farthing, which in addition to looking absolutely ridiculous, is also pretty dangerous. So the pity farthing was like an early adopter thing. We'll get to it. But what you need to know at the offset here, folks, is that there was a sea change in cycling and society with the emergence of that safety bicycle. It sparked what our research associate Maria calls a cycling craze in the United States and abroad.

[Noel Brown]

Well, I mean anyone who's seen someone ride a penny farthing, also known as a bone shake. If deadwood is to be believed, it was actually a plot point in that show. Not necessarily because of its danger as a vehicle, but it caused a chain of events that led to some tragic plot moving occurrences in the show. But if anyone's ever seen someone riding one of those, like one of those muscle men with the handlebar mustaches, you know, it's kind of more like a feat, like a trick, like riding a unicycle or using stilts or something.

[Ben]

Sure.

[Noel Brown]

You know, there's big wheel in the front, little wheel in the back.

[Ben]

There's a reason people don't go to the grocery store on pogo sticks. It's more of flex of activity. I've actually, I've had the dubious Pleasure of riding penny farthing bikes several times. They are difficult. They are not forgiving. But we do owe a lot of modern society's rights to the advent of the safety bicycle. As Maria tells us, There were basically three groups of women in the 1890s who were. Who are part of our story here. One, there are people who happen to be women who just want to ride bikes because bikes are cool.

[Noel Brown]

Yeah. They want to ride them where they like. It's very freeing. It's honestly the invention of the original, the penny farthing. I mean, that was in and of itself a very freeing innovation. You know, it allowed people to ambulate without the use of their legs.

[Ben]

And this. I like the point about freedom there, Noel, because our second group will be actual activists, women's rights activists who said, hey, this bicycle is a palpable tool of independence. This gives us freedom, this gives us agency. And then the third group, the bad guys of the story, the baddies, the people who said, women on bikes, that's an abomination. Next thing you know, they'll be wearing

[Noel Brown]

pantaloons wanting to vote.

[Ben]

Right?

[Noel Brown]

God forbid. So this is.

[Ben]

This is our story for today, folks. The safety bike did play a huge role in the women's rights movement, and it's one that a lot of people didn't see coming. Kind of like how hat pins became a tool against assault mashers. Mashers, yeah.

[Noel Brown]

Just so all those wolf whistling, mashing men out there on those streets, the ladies wouldn't put up with it. They'd give them a jab with their hat pins.

[Ben]

And now we're entering onto the stage a group of people who are very harump, harump. Something must be done. When faced with a female population that had independent transportation and was wearing pants, they were trying to react in a. An ad hominem kind of way. It reminds me a lot, you guys, of that strange propaganda we saw during COVID vaccination or wearing masks where people would say, oh, if people are wearing masks, you don't know if they're children being trafficked. This is so ridiculous. The opposition said the reason women shouldn't ride bicycles was due to something that they called bicycle face.

[Noel Brown]

Is this related to, like, why don't you smile more kind of mentality?

[Ben]

Oh, 100%.

[Noel Brown]

Okay, cool. Just making sure. Or RBF clockin. Yeah, RBF. The safety bicycle, as you said, Ben, was at the heart of this epidemic that people were referring to as bicycle face. It, of course, replaced the penny farthing, which had been super popular in the 1870s and 1880s. Some models included the Ariel in 1871 and the very creatively and banal ly named the Ordinary in 1878. These types of bikes were typically associated with young, rich white dudes, but men of all kinds were participating in this sort of, like I said, feat of strength. These bikes could go up to a whopping 30 miles an hour. Some say more. And the design was favored for this ability to pick up speed. But that's really where it ends. As we talked about, there's some really oddball, awkward, unwieldy elements to the design of this thing, including the fact that the rider seat, which you well know, Ben, was nearly 5ft off of the ground.

[Ben]

Oh, yeah, it's one of those things where you got to get a running start. I've been teaching my girlfriend's niece how to ride bikes, and I'm just so happy that the kid is not on a penny farthing. Side note, for our fellow etymology nerds, it's got a weird name. The Penny farthing has also been called the high wheel, but the name comes because of the size difference between the British penny and the farthing coins. Penny is way bigger. That's the front wheel, and the farthing is a lot smaller. That's the rear wheel.

[Noel Brown]

I think we all learned something new today, Ben. I did not know that prior to reading Maria's excellent research brief. So as you can imagine, and as we've already hinted at, it was super dangerous and considered much more of a thrill seeking kind of activity, not necessarily known for its practicality. And many folks, if we're talking about some more etymology, would take a fall or a header as it was known and coined from this problem. Literally diving headfirst over what are referred to as mustache handlebars. I guess people were making their mustaches match the handlebars.

[Ben]

Yeah. And also, if you please, if you get a chance, pull up a picture of a penny farthing. We can't tell you to try it at home because they are dangerous. And I took a few headers myself. You're going to see that the. It's such a weird contraption because the, the seat of this vehicle is pretty much parallel to the handlebars. It is very easy to go too fast or to lose your balance and have a. Have a decent womp.

[Noel Brown]

Womp.

[Ben]

This really inspired or irritated a guy named John Kemp Starley. We don't know how many headers Starley took, but our Buddy Johnny around 1885 said, this is malarkey. I'm gonna invent a new bicycle. It's gonna be straight seahorse teeth. And I'm gonna emphasize how safe it is.

[Noel Brown]

What if we had two wheels that were the same size?

[Ben]

What if we had gears? Oh my gosh. What if we finally tried to fix the brakes?

[Noel Brown]

For sure. Big improvements in all those respects. The brakes and the pretty farthing I think were very, very rudimentary. In 1890, what was deemed in the zeitgeist as safeties were upgraded with tires which are very similar to the ones we know today. Tires made of rubber that are filled with air.

[Ben]

Less bone shaky.

[Noel Brown]

Very less bone shaky is another reason that that was called that for sure. A new invention that made for a much more comfortable ride just in terms of traversing various types of terrain. It soaked up a lot of the impact like you were saying, Ben. So by the mid decade, bikes dropped in weight too. You know, you don't want a clunky bike. Anyone who's ridden one of those New York City bikes knows that that can be a real scary propos. Definitely makes it a lot less fun and zippy. So they dropped from about 50 pounds to 23, which was a serious glow up. Considering the previous bikes and bike like vehicles, which I honestly, I mean they call it the penny farthing and not the bicycle because it really is more of a bike like vehicle. I would argue that it is not particularly a bicycle. It's not till we see the safeties that we really start seeing what became the bicycle. Didn't some penny farthings also have like two wheels in the back? I want to say they were like,

[Ben]

yeah, also tripod design. So you'd have two big wheels on either side of the seat and then you have a little wheel in the back. And there was, there was so much research going into this idea of, you know, from between 1892 to 1896 it, the industry was kind of acting like your favorite corporations act about AI today. There were so many patents going out for these bicycles. Yeah, feeding frequency is not a bad way to put it. The two designs of what we call the safety bicycle were the following. The original had a crossbar. In 1888 they marketed a what they called a quote unquote woman's version. And the one for women offered a drop frame to accommodate skirts because we can't have people wearing pants. Right. And you can still see this today in very popular bike designs from very popular companies like Schwinn.

[Noel Brown]

And it should be noted too that even today, I mean, there are differentiations between what would be considered A women's bike and a men's bike. Sometimes it has to do with size, but sometimes it does have to do with certain features like the frame design and stuff like that.

[Ben]

That drop bar. Yeah. And when the first safeties came out, similar to the penny farthing, they were pretty expensive. They cost an average of 150 US bucks per product. And this is a time, Maria points out, when the average US worker was earning maybe $12 a week.

[Noel Brown]

Yeah, that's a pretty serious investment for what at the time was probably still is kind of considered a curiosity. It hadn't fully taken off yet.

[Ben]

Yeah. As a novelty. Right. And it's still the idea of the bicycle still sort of has its training wheels on. Hey, hey, hey. It happens to a lot of people. You may have a moment where you catch your passing reflection and notice your hairline is creeping back. This can be challenging for a lot of people, but the good news is HIMS makes it simple to do something about it.

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[Jonas Brothers (Joe, Kevin, Nick)]

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[Noel Brown]

Huge news.

[Jonas Brothers (Joe, Kevin, Nick)]

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[Noel Brown]

We invented a podcast.

[Jonas Brothers (Joe, Kevin, Nick)]

Well, we didn't invent it. We. We just contributed to first people to do podcasts. Pretty. Yeah. Pretty wide range of podcasts, but this one's extra special. So how did we. How do we actually come up with the name hey Jonas? Guys, I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it and, well, we were thinking. I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes, I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing a bit for the podcast People could call in and say, hey Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad hey Jonas and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that. Guys, Listen to Hey Jonas on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it.

[Robert Smigel]

Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy not quite on Humor Me with Robert Smigel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier this week. My guests, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an acapella band with their between songs banter.

[Noel Brown]

Where does your group perform?

[Robert Smigel]

We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to Humor Me with Robert Smigel and friends on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Debbie Brown]

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[Noel Brown]

So as we mentioned, the main customer at this point was r rich white dudes. But there were also, of course, counterparts to these rich white dudes who were rich white women and they wanted to get on the fun too.

[Ben]

Yeah, and because there was higher demand, the economy of scale kicks in. And all these manufacturers who have their proliferation of patents and their own special spin on the velocipede, they say that's

[Noel Brown]

what they call it in Deadwood as well.

[Ben]

They say, look, we're going to compete with each other so they start reducing their prices. That's a very strange thing to a lot of us in the United States today. But companies did used to do that. They made bikes more affordable for what they called all the riders, which was again as you pointed out, bro, it's a very small percentage of the overall population.

[Noel Brown]

It is a good little view into just a basic economic microcosm of supply and demand and how it's supposed to work. There's supposed to be competition in these types of space spaces rather than monopolies which can lead to prices lowering and or quality raising in order for the different manufacturers to differentiate themselves. Like in the watch game, for example, you've got these really unattainably high priced watches. Pateks, fp, Journe, what is it? Audemars, Piguet, Those ones that are like the price of a car or more, but they're also decades and decades of development and super, super, super refined and features, et cetera. And the more mid tier ones, you've got a ton of competition because they really have to differentiate themselves from each other.

[Ben]

Yeah. So first off, you got to think about the complications folks, which is the word for the mechanisms in which it

[Noel Brown]

becomes true with bikes too. I mean we're talking about like it is a relatively clockwork esque system when we're talking about gear shifts and very. How many speeds does it have and what are the components, like how well manufactured and machined and engineered they are. We're going to start seeing more of that.

[Ben]

Yeah. And so we're still in the late 1880s. So it's, let's say it's 1889 to 1899. So in that decade the number of bicycles that are being purchased and used has shot up from something like 200,000 to 1 million in the US alone by 1895. The United States has no less than 300 separate, separate bicycle companies. And if you average out what they were doing right during this decade, their safety bikes or safeties probably cost about $75 instead of 150. So the market was working at that time in some way?

[Noel Brown]

Well, yeah, for sure. And as we mentioned earlier, women who likely had a bit more free time on their hands, at least the wealthy spouses of wealthy businessmen and people that were in nine to fives in the offices or whatever the hell they were doing in those days, they often the women would not work. And so they had a lot more free time. And so of course it made sense that they would want some options of how to fill that free time. And biking offered a pretty great and active, you know, answer to that 100%.

[Ben]

Yeah. And this is mobility, right? This is freedom. This doesn't mean you have to keep a horse all the time.

[Noel Brown]

To this day I think people really love biking because of some of those very same things. It's functional. It's functional exercise that gives you a sense of freedom. And a lot of reasons it turns out that motorists are kind of pills to bicyclists is because they're sort of like, man, who does that person think he is, being all free out there, not stuck in traffic? I'm gonna be a jerk.

[Ben]

I'm very pro bike and I have serious problems with our fair metropolis of Atlanta. Well, you know, what I'm talking is approaching bicycles. So we know that there are still improvements to be made, but we also know that there was a culture war about bicycles and women riding them. Especially in this period of history. In the 1800s, you would see names in the press, in real muckraking journalism or real tabloid style, breathless headlines, stuff like Wheel woman, Lady cyclist or Arface Favorite Bloomerite.

[Noel Brown]

Right. Because if you're picturing illustrations from the news, you know, rags of the day, you're probably picturing ladies on bicycles wearing these big old fluffy, pantaloon esque things that weren't quite pants, weren't quite dresses. They were bloomers.

[Ben]

Yeah, that reminds me of. This is like our cravat conversation we've been having. It reminds me of the phrase harem pants. Pants things that look like a skirt while you're standing, but they move like pants because they have that division. We know that this is occurring in a greater context, a greater milieu. In 1878, there was a woman suffrage amendment proposed in US Congress. It's just what it sounds like. It said, hey, should this other 50% of the population be allowed to vote? It fails. It did not pass until 1920. It is the 19th amendment. And didn't think we would say this in this episode, but guys, shout out to wyoming. Wyoming in 1869 is the first state that allows women the right to vote. And you know, here in 2026, Wyoming has a relatively conservative reputation.

[Noel Brown]

You know, real quick, shout out to the inventor of the Bloomers, by the way, which I think is an interesting tie in here. A woman named Amelia Bloomer who was a women's rights advocate in the mid 19th century. She actually promoted the Bloomers as a practical alternative to the restrictive corsets and skirts that women were more or less required to wear. And it became a symbol of early reform for women's dress and kind of dovetailed with the women's suffrage and rights movements. They were used often by activists for their, again, for comfort. But also they had a symbolic aspect to them. And of course, cyclists as well as some early 19th and 20th century athletes.

[Ben]

Yeah. So we're seeing freedom of movement on multiple levels.

[Noel Brown]

Exactly.

[Ben]

On the literal level and on the figurative larger level. In 1875, SCOTUS again fumbles the bag. This will be very familiar to a lot of our listeners in the US right now. The Supreme Court of the United States said, look, the matter of women voting, that's really a matter for the states. If the, If a given state wants to say women can't vote, then that's fine, because women are people, we'll give you that. And they are citizens, but they are. This is a, quote, a special category of non voting, AKA subhuman to some degree. So Animal Farm, right? Everybody's equal, but some are more equal than others.

[Noel Brown]

Ooh, speaking of which, Ben, are you aware of this apparently quite awful animated Animal Farm that has just been getting shredded? It's like a CGI animated version of Animal Farm, weirdly helmed by Andy Serkis, who I think we're all fans of, but apparently it is just absolutely misses the mark on every aspect of what Animal Farm is about and is just like gross out humor and completely a travesty.

[Ben]

Just antithetical to Orwell. Just read the book, folks. Take a. You know, it's such a short read, especially because Orwell comes from a journalism background. So he writes with density and a

[Noel Brown]

clarity truer now than ever. More valid and interesting now. You know, pair it with 1984 if you really want to get upset.

[Ben]

I don't want to hang out with George. I love him as a writer and I never really spent a lot of time with him, but man, he's going to be too smug. If he came back back to. To life here, he would be insufferable. He'd be Kanye west level smug. And Max, we got to go to you. You got something here.

[Noel Brown]

Yeah. And I just want to note Andy Circus of clear, obscure Expedition 33 fame,

[Ben]

along with other things like being Gollum and whatnot.

[Noel Brown]

But yeah, Clar obscure.

[Ben]

Shout out to Gollum.

[Noel Brown]

Animal Farm is great, great book.

[Ben]

And shout out to Clang or whatever his name was. Krang in. No, in the Black Panther series. Andy Serkis, that guy. Yeah.

[Noel Brown]

Oh, right, right. Andy Serkis. Also my favorite role that he ever played. Well, he's done a handful of things that I really enjoy, but in the film 24 Hour Party People, he plays the genius and irascible. The irascible genius producer of a lot of the Factory Records bands there in Manchester, bands like Joy Division. And he plays him great. He's a total Grumpy Curmudgeon. It's really, really great film if you're in into the history of indie music.

[Ben]

And while we're taking a slight diversion, folks, please give Andy Serkis, the actor, his recognition because he always reminded me so. His come up always reminded me of T Pain. So a lot of people looked at T Pain and didn't know the guy could really sing because he made the artistic choice to use auto tune. A lot of people are saying that Andy Serkis was somehow less than of an actor because he became so famous doing motion capture stuff.

[Noel Brown]

There's nuance that goes into that, man. Yeah, for sure. Much like that Doug Jones, you know, got famous for playing, you know, monsters and wearing heavy makeup. It's all about his movements and his, you know, the nuance that he brings to that. And, you know, I think Andy Serkis as King Kong, quite moving. And it all has to do with the performance. So, yes, of course. Credit where credit is due.

[Ben]

Credit where credit is due. Shout out to you if you. Shout out to you. Especially T Pain. If anybody hasn't seen T Pain's Tiny Desk concert, please do check it out. No autotune. The man has the voice of a spirit. He does.

[Noel Brown]

Yeah. Check out that tiny desk. It's fantastic. But back to velocipedes. Yeah.

[Ben]

Not all women are in the country of the United States, are lining up to buy a bike. And not all women, women who wanted to bike, considered themselves activists. You know, this is strange because history always tends to forget nuance. We have to remember that people are just people. And some people just wanted to have a great ride around that was faster than walking. That to them, it didn't necessarily indicate some greater social shift, but they were. All these people were existing under patriarchal society descended from the Victorian era, which had a lot of misogyny, anti feminism stuff. They hated when women could do anything. They're riding a bike. What's next, voting? They probably said we should never have given this part of the population shoes. That's how they started walking around outside. That's where the problem began.

[Noel Brown]

No, it's that same attitude that went into like, you know, keeping slaves from learning how to read. I mean, not to be too aggressive about it, but it comes from the same place of you don't want to give them a taste of freedom. And as we mentioned, cycling represents and represented a certain kind of freedom.

[Ben]

Yeah. And a simple bicycle therefore becomes this huge ingredient in a bubbling cauldron of what this population wants and what they're told. They cannot do so no votes voting, no higher education. Let's keep in mind that it wasn't until the 1970s or so that women in the United States were allowed to have credit cards, which is weird. Check out our episode on that from a few months or years back. We've been at this for a while,

[Noel Brown]

which is kind of funny. It's sort of a funny concession too, because it's not like credit cards are like the best thing for anybody to have, especially, you know, folks who are using them to achieve spending power above their means.

[Ben]

Shout out to Edward Bernadette, also involved in women's suffrage as a way to sell cigarettes.

[Noel Brown]

That's what I'm saying. It's sort of like a little bit of a self serving concession.

[Ben]

100%. And so at this time in the 1890s, of course, women were not allowed the same privileges as dudes. So you couldn't vote. You'd have a very difficult time getting into higher education. Your job opportunities are quite limited. At the end of the day, American law enshrined, like the legal decision of this country was that if you were a woman and you were married, which of course they wanted you to be married, then you would have no legal identity distinct from your husband. You had to do the child and household stuff. The UK tried some soft propaganda with this by calling women the angel of the house. So why would she have go outside? This is where we enter what we call the new woman.

[Noel Brown]

Yeah, we don't want her to think that she can have it all. The feminist ideal in the 1890s was really represented as an educated, socially active, very independent woman that was dubbed, coined by feminist Sarah grand, the new woman in 1894. And the safety bike really hit the scene at an important moment for the New Woman Woman, where this concept challenged current cultural and gender norms, along with a lot of other things that were happening kind of in lockstep, like the bloomers. The New Woman had economic independence, held a job, professional roles, could be highly educated, had personal freedom, was physically fit and active, enjoyed playing sports right alongside the men. All of these things that were supported and cultivated by, by the bicycle and having access to it.

[Jonas Brothers (Joe, Kevin, Nick)]

Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers. And guess what? We have some big news. What's the news?

[Noel Brown]

Huge news.

[Jonas Brothers (Joe, Kevin, Nick)]

We created our own podcast called. Hey Jonas.

[Noel Brown]

We invented a podcast.

[Jonas Brothers (Joe, Kevin, Nick)]

Well, we didn't invent it.

[Noel Brown]

We.

[Jonas Brothers (Joe, Kevin, Nick)]

We just contributed to it. First people to do podcasts. Pretty. Yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts, but this one's extra special. So how did we how do we actually come up with the name hey Jonas? Guys, I honestly don't remember.

[Noel Brown]

I think it was on a call

[Jonas Brothers (Joe, Kevin, Nick)]

about what we should call it and well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes, I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing a bit for the podcast where people could call in and say hey Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad a just Jonas and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that. Guys. Listen to hey Jonas on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it.

[Robert Smigel]

Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy not quite on Humor Me with Robert Smigel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier this week. My guests SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an acapella band with their between songs banter.

[Noel Brown]

Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes.

[Robert Smigel]

Those people are starving for banter. Listen to Humor Me with Robert Smigel and friends on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Debbie Brown]

The story I've told myself about love or relationships can then shape my behavior and that can lead me to sabotage the possibilities ability of connection. This Mental Health Awareness month, tune into the podcast Deeply well with Debbie Brown and explore the journey of healing, self discovery and returning to yourself. We explore higher consciousness, emotional well being and the practices that help you find clarity, peace and self mastery in a world that can feel overwhelming. The world is becoming lonelier. We're not becoming more social and connected. Need it. We're becoming more individualized, but we actually need people in connection. If you've been searching for a soft place to land while doing the work to become whole, this podcast is for you. To hear more. Listen to Deeply well with Debbie Brown from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast. Will Ferrell's Big Money Players and I Heart Podcast Present presents Soccer Moms so I'm Leanne.

[Ben]

Yeah.

[Debbie Brown]

This is my best friend Janet and

[Ben]

we have been joined at the hip since high school.

[Debbie Brown]

Absolutely. Now a redacted amount of years later,

[Noel Brown]

we're still joined at the hip.

[Debbie Brown]

Just a little bit bigger hips wider. This is a podcast.

[Noel Brown]

We're recording it as we tailgate our youth soccer games in the back of

[Debbie Brown]

my Honda Odyssey with all the snacks and drinks.

[Noel Brown]

Sidebar. Why did you get hard seltzer instead of beer? Well, they had a bogo.

[Debbie Brown]

Well, then you got us.

[Noel Brown]

Do you want a white collar? Something here, just hang on. What are y' all doing? Microphones?

[Ben]

Are you making a rap album?

[Debbie Brown]

Oh, I wouldn't.

[Noel Brown]

You. I would buy.

[Ben]

It cuts through the defense like a

[Noel Brown]

hot knife through sponge cake.

[Debbie Brown]

That sounds delicious.

[Ben]

Oh, you're lucky I'm not a drug addict.

[Noel Brown]

You're lucky I'm not an alcoholic.

[Ben]

You're lucky I'm not a killer.

[Noel Brown]

I love this team, and I'm really trying to be a figure in their lives that they can rely on. Oh, listen to soccer moms on the

[Debbie Brown]

iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Ben]

Yeah, yeah. And this idea of the new woman goes across socioeconomic boundaries. So people who are working on the factory floor, people who are doing what they called pink collar work, office jobs, these the feminine equivalent of a white collar job. These folks could all be the new woman. And safety's. The bikes were designed with a lady's full dress at the time in mind. So we said, look, the skirts are going to get tangled. People are going to catch a header. This is non ideal. Cycling didn't just encourage social freedom. It encouraged physical freedom through changes in women's fashion. Where we talk about bloomers, we mentioned that corsets were cartoonishly restricting and a lot of skirts had these long trains like what you might see in a wedding today. And dresses with petticoats were heavy as heck. A person's daily dress, not even the fancy one at this time could weigh 25 pounds. So, you know, these people had to wear that stuff. Their hamstrings were jacked. Man, my hammies.

[Noel Brown]

Yeah, they were barking, barking. Can your hammies bark your dogs? Whichever. But yeah, £25. A lot of the wire or the frames of these dresses, the hoop type skirts, they were made of iron and were incredibly heavy. Just the actual kind of undercarriage, I think is what they would call it in 1851. Amelia Bloomer, who I mentioned previously from New York, along with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, incredibly important feminist activist, popularized this new fashion, the short dress over loose trousers similar to pants, but they were meant to be worn underneath dresses. Of course, the bloomer. Not to be too redundant, but they were. I don't think we quite got to this. Incredibly controversial because they were just too much like pants, Ben. They were too Much like pants.

[Ben]

And while all this conversation is happening, more and more people are picking up bloomers. Maybe it is for a larger goal, maybe it's activism. But as Maria points out, and I agree with her here, they probably just wanted to get out of those heavy, those cartoonishly heavy skirts years later.

[Noel Brown]

And also, just to add, they were initially kind of more designed as undergarments. And so there was a modesty concern here from the patriarchy, I guess, saying, you're wearing underwear out in public.

[Ben]

Yeah, this all happened in 1851, as we said. So if we return back to the 1890s, what we see is that a lot of women who were fans of bicycles, again, most of them at that point are going to be pretty wealthy and pretty white. They adopted the bloomers because it was just more practical, but it was still highly controversial. This is the thing partially, this is a big part of why bicycles advanced women's rights in the United States. It meant that you could move without a chaperone. It meant that you could travel by yourself. You could decide where you wanted to go. If you look at a suffragist like Francis Willard, you'll see quotes that read the following quote. I begin to feel that myself plus the bicycle equaled myself plus the world. And there's a poetry to that, no question.

[Noel Brown]

And it's something that I think we've been describing all along the way, even in our own relationships with bicycles and how they can still be a little bit of a sticking point to people today who are like, who do you think you are out there enjoying the world, moving around without having to be stuck in gridlock traffic. So the safety bike afforded women a socially acceptable way to also, to our earlier point, be outside the home in what had been a male dominated space. Now they're out there, we're out here. And they were doing it on two weeks wheels.

[Ben]

Enter the bad guys. Okay, the culture war begins. They say it, happy Holidays. These people basically yelled, what about Christmas? There was no shortage of tin plate propped up experts, quote, unquote, who would, who would vociferously oppose the idea of women on bikes? And they said, there are two reasons. These are so dumb. Their two reasons are one, one, what if she takes a header? She's going to be permanently disfigured. No one's going to marry her. And then two, which I think is the most ridiculous one. They were like, guys, look at the seats. These women may be having orgasms if they ride bikes.

[Noel Brown]

Oh, dear heavens.

[Ben]

How dare a lady have a good time in The United States.

[Noel Brown]

I mean, you know, given the puritanical kind of bent of the time, I could see how ladies straddling a thing in public could be a victim of something like the male gaze. This idea of like, oh my gosh, this is scandalous, but it's not really. Most of these issues are not women's problems. It's problems men have with women. And it's oftentimes because of how much it threatens them. Either you know, financially, in terms of their level of power and control, or oftentimes, say, sexually.

[Ben]

Yeah, sorry, bro. Turns out your wife's bike is better than you are at policing her. That was like the hidden concern there. And it was such a trumped up malarkey thing for people to pretend to be worried about. And doctors at the time were in hot debate in public media about whether there are health benefits or harm from bicycling. Some said it cured all manner of things. And they, they were probably, they were right ish. They were wrong about some of it. They were right ish about a lot. It's great for staying in shape in a low impact way. But they said, look, that means it helps with obesity, heart disease, varicose veins. But they also said biking will cure your anemia and your asthma and your melancholia.

[Noel Brown]

Well, I would agree with melancholia, frankly. I mean, this is this idea of it just being a cure for the blues. Sometimes getting out there and feeling the wind in your hair and all that and having that sense of freedom can remedy those kinds of feelings. Melancholia was of course, kind of a catch all term for just the sads back in a time where they really, truly didn't have much understanding of mental health. But I would argue that that's true. Maybe some of the more specific, quote unquote cures. No, it doesn't make sense there. And when we say the medical community was divided, I think we can say it was divided between those who had their hearts in the right place and then the quack sector who seemed to be on board with Big Man.

[Robert Smigel]

Yes.

[Ben]

Yeah, the, the other, the other bad guys. Right? These are our technically qualified doctors or their pundits, the Tucker Carlson's of the day. They would say this is not a healthy exercise for women. For the angels of the house. Bicycle face is a medical condition that happens to women who bike too much. Because when they are, when they are biking and they're exercising, their faces wrinkle up and it makes them nervous and exhausted and it makes them look ugly. AKA Uggos, AKA smile more. And it's a, it's a totally made up condition. But the symptoms were discreet, described in detail. Those symptoms being stuff like permanent facial disfigurement, similar to when your parents may have said, don't make that face, your face might stay that way forever. That comes from this bicycle face thing.

[Noel Brown]

Well, yeah. Maria titled the document today. I like to call it resting bicycle face, a precursor to the other rbf, resting bitch face, which is a very pejorative thing that is the root of that whole smile more thing. It's this idea that women owe you some sign of affection or positive whatever. It's just, it's dumb and it persists.

[Ben]

And then other symptoms would include flushed faces, you know, like the faces you make when you're exercising. Bulging eyes, clenched jaws, a general expression of weariness.

[Noel Brown]

Yeah, from. From exertion. Right? Yeah.

[Ben]

And they never applied this bicycle face idea to the dudes.

[Noel Brown]

Oh, there's so much, so many examples of this stuff. And check out episodes of stuff mom never told you'd about some of these topics as well. They've covered this over the years. The idea of like the wandering womb and like all of these, you know, hysterical women. And all of it's. There's a lot of smear campaigns specifically directed by the health community at women over the years to justify some pretty narcissistic treatment of them.

[Ben]

This ultimately ends up being a moral panic, an outbreak of again, a culture war tale as old as time. It's an example of fake health scares that were used to fight against social change by people who were happy with the status quo because they were at the top. There were other imaginary diseases when bicycle face obviously, obviously seemed malarkey. There were things like what they called kyphosis bicycliterum. One more time. Kyphosis, bicyclistarum. Cyclist spine.

[Noel Brown]

Yeah, that's right. They did warn that cycling often left women vulnerable to other general health problems such as graves disease and appendicitis. Yeah, There was a publication, the bmj, that published an article describing how bicycling could worsened chest problems because of the position that you had to ride in, cause urethritis and should be avoided by any woman suffering from pelvic mischief.

[Ben]

That's my favorite term of the day, pelvic mischief.

[Noel Brown]

And again, we already mentioned this notion that it could be a way that a woman could pleasure herself, which, you know, a, God forbid and B, ridiculous. That's very inconvenient for the purposes of riding a bike. I Don't think anyone's out there, you know, trying to get frisky on a bicycle seat.

[Ben]

Right? We. I want to be very diplomatic folks, because we are a family show, but I, I'm. We're going to share this quotation with you about the orgasm concern and Noel Max, I just cannot think that whoever was writing this was having a little pervy time in their own mind. Here's the question quote. So off mic, I did a reading of this that was too controversial. So we're just going to give you the words as written. But I hold to what I'm saying without any acting or interpretation or intonation. This is a really creepy thing for these guys to write. They said, quote, the saddle can be tilted in every bicycle as desired. In this way a girl could by carrying the front peak or pommel high or by relaxing the stretched leather in order to let it form a deep hammock like concavity which would fit. Fit itself snugly over the entire vulva and reach up in front, bring about constant friction over the clitoris and labia.

[Noel Brown]

Yo. Yeah, I don't know about that.

[Ben]

A creep wrote that.

[Noel Brown]

I don't know about that.

[Ben]

A creepy person wrote that.

[Noel Brown]

Well, and thankfully, you know, the snowflake men of the day were ultimately sort of calmed down a bit with the release of something called the anatomical saddle, which I can only imagine is something like a banana seat or just like a broader style seat that seemed to allay some of these fears that the patriarchy had and make them settle down a little bit.

[Ben]

And we are more than happy to report that thankfully, this moral panic of the bicycle face was debunked as it should have been. It shouldn't have started, but it was revealed to be, or understood to be ultimately a self limiting fake condition. And again, thankfully, by the early 1900s, it wasn't something that people were worried about.

[Noel Brown]

Nah. Dr. Sarah Hackett Stevenson, a prominent Chicago doctor, was among the group who finally put the nail in this particular coffin. Dismissing the condition, she wrote in the. Well, to be fair, the Phrenological Journal, which is its own thing, of course. Yeah, Phrenology, not good. And also quackery. But, you know, her heart was in the right place. And maybe this was just a popular journal of the time because this was something that was very widely studied, you know, in 1897, that any trace of such a quote face would be temporary. Okay. And completely gone once a woman was proficient in riding her bike. Okay. Well, yeah, she got there, but little circuitous route, right?

[Ben]

Ish.

[Noel Brown]

Yep. She also wrote that cycling was in fact an excellent exercise for women. And the lost beauty of many delicate women may be recovered if they ride

[Ben]

like get out and exercise.

[Noel Brown]

I guess that's true. The lost beauty of many delicate women. Yeah, may be recovered.

[Ben]

I don't agree with the framing.

[Noel Brown]

It's not great.

[Ben]

Everybody loves a glow up. And we also, we love this story because we are all three big fans of bikes and cycling. Thank you again for joining us today, folks. We can't wait for you to hit the road or the belt line or the trail with us on some future episodes. Also, big, big thanks to Mr. Max Williams. Max, do you have a bicycle? I don't want to put you on blast, but I'm curious. I actually do not right now. I am. Yeah, I'm not the big bike guy,

[Noel Brown]

which is funny because Alex is a

[Ben]

very big bike guy himself. Okay.

[Noel Brown]

All right.

[Ben]

But I kind of want to petting

[Noel Brown]

farthing after this episode. Yeah, I can see you rocking a, rocking a bone shot shaker here.

[Ben]

Eli's Max.

[Noel Brown]

He tried a petting farthing.

[Ben]

And big thanks of course to Jonathan Strickland, AKA the Quizzer, who is probably the guy who will sell you a gently used penny farthing.

[Noel Brown]

Yeah, he's got a. He's got a garage full of them. Huge thanks to research associate Maria for knocking out this banger research brief for us, AJ Bahamas Jacobs, the the Puzzler, Chris Fraciotis and Eve Jeffcoats. Here in spirit, the aforementioned cycling enthusiast Alex Williams, who composed our theme.

[Ben]

Beautiful. Yes, big, big thanks also to Dr. Rachel Big Spinach Lance, as well as the rude dudes of ridiculous crime. If you dig us, especially a recent dolly episode, then you will love them. So hi, the to thy podcast platform of choice and check out some amazing stories they have to share as well. Most importantly, thank you to Noel.

[Noel Brown]

Hey to you as well, Ben. We'll see you next time, folks. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

[Debbie Brown]

Thumbtack presents Uncertainty Strikes. I was surrounded the aisle and the options were clear, closing in. There were paint rollers, satin and matte finish, angle brushes and natural bristles. There were too many choices.

[Noel Brown]

What if I never got my living room painted?

[Debbie Brown]

What if I couldn't figure out what type of paint to use? What if I just used thumbtack?

[Noel Brown]

I can hire a top rated pro that knows everything about interior paint.

[Debbie Brown]

Easily compare prices and read reviews. Thumbtack knows homes. Download the app today.

[Jonas Brothers (Joe, Kevin, Nick)]

Hey guys. It's us, the Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe.

[Noel Brown]

I'm Kevin.

[Jonas Brothers (Joe, Kevin, Nick)]

And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called hey Jonas.

[Noel Brown]

We invented a podcast.

[Jonas Brothers (Joe, Kevin, Nick)]

Well, we didn't invent it.

[Noel Brown]

We.

[Jonas Brothers (Joe, Kevin, Nick)]

We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts.

[Noel Brown]

We get to ask other people questions cause we're sick and tired of being asked questions.

[Jonas Brothers (Joe, Kevin, Nick)]

Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it, but you know, tired and sick. Tired and sick. Listen to hey Jonas on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Follow hey Jonas and start listening on the free iHeartradio app today.

[Robert Smigel]

Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy not quite on Humor Me with Robert Smigel and friends. Me and hilarious various guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier this week. My guests SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an acapella band with their between songs banter.

[Noel Brown]

Where does your group perform?

[Robert Smigel]

We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to Humor Me with Robert Smigel and friends on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Debbie Brown]

Why are we all so obsessed with romance on the Radio 831 podcast? Join us Sanjanah Bhasker and Tyler McCall as we unpack all the trending tropes, buzzy adaptations, booktok drama and celebrity love stories with hot takes and sharp guests. Each episode digs into what these stories reveal about desire, fantasy, identity and how we love. Now Listen to the Radio 831 podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.