The Bristol bike project Women’s NightThe Bristol bike project, UK, is a workshop space for bicycling, bicycles and bicyclers. It works with vulnerable groups in society such as people suffering from mental health problems, people recovering from addiction and people in supporting and sheltered housing. The project collaborates with over 50 organizations around Bristol and has a big variety of bicycle related activities such as: earn-a-bike; bike kitchen, a drop-in mechanic work-shop; the social cycle, a workshop for adults experiencing social isolation; and not least a women’s night. The Women’s Night is an open workshop session for women to share knowledge and skills about checking and mending a bicycle. It is emancipating to be able to fix your own bike and not depend on favors of male friends or expensive male oriented bike shops. The historically gendered, male-segregated knowledge of mechanics is with this initiative given to women as well. Women are more than capable of carrying mechanical tasks, it is however important to give women a space to learn and practice such skills without assumptions about abilities based on gender. This is an initiative to break gendered stereotypes and norms and to emancipate and encourage women.
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