Cycling from different perspectives

   I think the economy is one of the links between social justice, feminism and transportation. For many people, the car is their only way to get around. This is due to the infrastructure in America. Bicycles are seen as a way to get around for people who don't have enough money to buy their own car, like homeless people or struggling students, etc. There are bicycles for recreation, but they are only used in certain places for specific purposes. These are the views of many Americans who do not use bicycles everyday.
   Some people who ride for transportation would not if they had the means for their own car. Most of the few that choose to ride are members of the recent movement for bicycle use. Bicycles can give people independence, but traditionally in America, at least for the last few decades, this role has been overwhelmingly filled by the car.
   I know that in my experiences, people my age got cars to fulfill social obligations. As their lives in high school got to be about going places and doing things with their friends more, they were expected to be able to get there and this meant driving a car. But these people very rarely own the cars they drive. Their parents are paying for all or most of the expenses.
   I bought a bike so that I could try and do things under my own power. I wanted to use a bike for all the usual benefits, but I also wanted to be independent as everyone does at that age, and I couldn't see how one could be independent with a car without that defining your existence. I didn't like the idea of working so much just to pay for it. It seemed like the right option for my place in the economy. I have watched several people get cars and regret doing so with hindsight, and it was difficult for me a lot of the time to do some things without being able to drive places, but my bike has helped me learn a lot and taught me to appreciate some things.

   I guess this is my point. People have to decide how they are going to get where they need to go and some of us don't have very many options. Women are no exception. They seem to choose the car typically, as Elly Blue states. The place of women in the economy affects them like everyone else and this means that their place in cycling is another symptom of their place in society.
   This is a problem for people in low-income neighborhoods too, because they might live in a "food desert" and they might not be able to drive all the way across town to go shopping somewhere with healthy food. It is all interconnected with the economy and people's choices and options.
   A lot of trips in America that are currently and unnecessarily done by car could be done with bikes or public transit. People  need to be given these options to be able to make different decisions than the car and this could mean a change in their place in the economy and our society.