A Grease Rag friend recently called out a specific bike shop for discriminating against women. Since that Facebook post, my inbox has been blowing up with WTFs saying, “I have experienced the same thing at ___ shop! What can we do? How do we change this?” Male shop employees and owners have been contacting me saying, “What is this? I didn’t know this was happening! Please help us.”
Bike shops are a part of the “bicycle ecosystem” in Minneapolis. They make us a beautiful and rich city, and they need us to survive. Over the years, I have heard complaints by WTFs about ALL shops. Every. Single. One. So if you are working in a shop or own a bike shop and you hear a complaint about another bike business, do yourself a favor and assume the same happens in your establishment. Because it more than likely does.
What does this mean? What can we learn from this? How do we work together to make positive change?
When we discuss white supremacy and “whiteness” as an undeniable oppressive construct in our society, this does not mean all white people are “bad.” Although the heavy lifting for anti-racist work should be done by the people who benefit most from white supremacy. When we talk about patriarchy and masculinity as oppressive constructs it does not mean all cis men are “bad.” Although the heavy lifting for anti-sexist/trans-inclusive work should be done by the people who benefit most from male-dominated systems. Keeping that in mind, saying there are problems in bike shop culture does not mean all shops are “bad,” it does mean there is a pervasive systemic/cultural problem that needs to be addressed. This means that because of the systems in place, if bike shops are not actively working toward a solution they are a part of the problem.
I think it is important for us to enter this conversation of “What can we do? How do we change this?” in agreement on two ideas.
- ALL bike shops are not safe for ALL people.*
- Complaints about ALL SHOPS indicates there is a systemic or cultural issue that needs to be addressed.
*I would also like to add that it is not just WTFs complaining, there is the self-described “newbie” contingent and also people who don’t speak English that complain regularly about substandard treatment in bike shops. I focus on WTF inclusion here because that is what Grease Rag is all about.
I am not interested in having conversations with people who want to argue, “But I’m a good guy/ally and I work in a bike shop so there is no problem,” or “I’ve never felt treated unfairly in a bike shop before so there is no problem,” as reasons why we should not be trying to work together for a friendlier community. (Check your privilege, please.) I am interested in having conversations that move toward, “How can we work together to make bike shops places that are friendlier to more people?”
What work has already been done?
“Women” are a large part of the retail market that the bike industry is interested in catering to. In addition to the bottom line, some shops are interested in creating safer spaces for WTFs because they see the value in being welcoming community institutions.
For one or more of these reasons, we know bike shops want to (or at least pay lip service to) get better at being welcoming and comfortable for WTFs. Grease Rag’s community partner shops went the extra step and asked Grease Rag/me (partnered with Brian F.) to do a “Listening Circle” event where we talked about how to respect WTFs in the shop, including how to talk about bodies and how to respect pronouns. General consensus was that there were some good tactics discussed. All of this is documented online for your benefit.
Recap of the Listening Circle event, by Holly
A collection of experiences our WTFs have had in EVERY bike shop, with recurring themes: marketing, expertise-seeking, follow up, don’t minimize with “just,” respect physical space and barriers- bikes can be extensions of bodies, microaggressions, don’t only address my boyfriend, I do not want pink “because I am a woman,” condescension, assumptions, no POC or WTF staff, age and ability and expertise assumptions and lack of accommodation.
No one said this would be easy.
I have mixed reactions to the Listening Circle event. One of the pieces that left me with a bad feeling was overhearing one employee/shop representative in attendance mention they were there because they “drew the short straw,” and they refused to participate in go-arounds. So, in a small circle of Grease Rag partner shops, we have at least one person who views discussing treating WTFs like human beings as punishment. And that’s all it takes, right? One bad employee hitting on WTF customers, misgendering/gendering customers, and making assumptions about needs and abilities makes the entire shop unfriendly.
For shops that really do care about WTFs as humans worthy of equal respect (in addition to wanting those sweet retail dollars) it is a hard task to single out these underdeveloped people for dismissal or more training. The season is only so long here in the Twin Cities and I understand you need staff who require minimal training to get up to speed. When you realize there is a bad apple, at what point and how do you deal with it considering you’ve already used up valuable resources getting the bapple up to speed? At what point do we decide that it is more valuable to teach respectful people bike shop skills than it is to train people with bike shop skills to be respectful of others?
This is one of the challenges a business must face. Ignoring and dismissing the problem does not make it go away.
Next steps for bike shops and employees
Gather, organize, educate (yourselves)
Gather yourselves. Organize a meeting with your supervisors and staff. If everyone in the room agrees with the two assumptions stated at the beginning of this post, great. If not, do some work to educate on privilege, affinity spaces, and anti-sexism and trans-inclusion. A big part of the education piece is recognizing that it is your responsibility to learn about the part you play in excluding WTFs and participating in a problematic culture. In addition to our Listening Circle which was extensively documented for your benefit, many people smarter than me have written extensively on the subject of welcoming WTFs into a male-dominated bike shops and industry.
“The Bike Industry is Sick and Hiring More Women Won’t Fix It”
Why is the bike industry broken? Here are steps on how to “fix” it, by a woman with a ton of industry experience, Arleigh Jenkins. I like that this article calls out that the root of the problem is not gender exclusion, it is the symptom of a very broken culture.
“Bike Shops for Everyone: Strategies for Making Bike Retail More Welcoming to Women”
The League of American Bicyclists surveyed over 150 bicycle dealers across the country, and cites the following programs and policies for helping bring women into their shops: Sponsor women’s racing teams and events, challenge assumptions about women and cycling and confront sexist behavior and beliefs head on, hire more women, create stores that are welcoming & inclusive to all, host women-only instructional clinics and shopping events, invest in store’s aesthetic feel, commit to high standards of data collection at the point of sale. But don’t stop there. Tactics like these are beans next to systemic change.
When I get emails that say, “I know nothing. I’ve done nothing. Will you come and train us to respect WTFs?” My answer is 100% of the time, NO. You need to be able to assess where you, your staff, and your organization are along the path toward accepting inequities exist and pursuing meaningful change. That work needs to be done by you.
When I am contacted with requests that include, “We’ve been working at this but we recognize we could do more. We know you have resources. Would you point us toward resources or work together with us to build a better place?” YES. Understanding your privilege includes not asking minorities/oppressed groups to do your work for you. Being effective means seeking out new resources and expertise as you progress.
Policies and training
What anti-sexism and trans-inclusive policies do you have for your business? What are the consequences for violating those policies? Is anti-sexism and trans-inclusion a part of your employee training and orientation? These are formal ways that businesses can support WTF employees and WTFs customers.
Space for valued feedback
If the first time you have thought about sexism in your bike shop is when a Facebook thread blows up with 30 women saying they have had terrible experiences at your shop, you are not doing enough to solicit honest and constructive feedback. Because all male-dominated bike shops exist in a culture of WTF exclusion, and if the lines of communication are open you will hear feedback.
Where do customers go when they have a problem with your staff, facilities, or policies? Is it possible to give anonymous feedback? Is it possible to request a follow up if you give feedback? Is there a process for addressing feedback? What are the penalties for not being accountable to the public?
Have you ever been biking and a company truck cuts you off and tells you to get off the road? You call the “How’s my driving?” number to complain. Your opinion of that company is not formed by one jerk driver- your opinion of that company is formed by how the company handles your call reporting the jerk driver. The difference between, “Yeah. Sure. Bye,” and, “We will take this very seriously because our drivers represent our company and we would like to make sure that all of our drivers are safe and respectful- thank you for reporting this,” is HUGE. Huge. You can’t police all of the bad drivers out there, but when there is a system of accountability you can help people feel heard while also addressing problems in the ranks.
Invest in the communities you want to welcome
You hired a mechanic specifically to overhaul mountain bike forks because this person is really good at what they do! Worth the money to have them on board, right? Their expertise and experience attract new customers, and you are selling even more squish bikes! And while that employee is working, you can train in other employees on how to be better with suspension systems.
There’s a false “scarcity” narrative around qualified WTF and POC bike mechanics. We are here. We might need skills development (just like your other employees) and we need to be assured that our workplaces are not toxic environments (see steps above for a start). But we are here and we are worth investing in. Especially if we have specialized skills like we can speak more than one language, or if we are the type of people who WTFs and POC bee line to if they see us in uniform. Making a safer space in your shop for everyone starts with your employees.
Next steps for WTFs
You called out to us, wanting direct action. Stay tuned. We will be organizing a revolution with you. Join our Google Group and let’s make this happen.