The feminist machine
Installation, 2015

During the end of the 19th century the bicycle was a catalyst for change in women's lives in many countries such as England, the United States and Sweden. Cycling meant abandoning constricting corsets and cumbersome hats, to get exercise and to move independently outside the home.

These new freedoms were threatening to men which can be seen in caricatures, medical items and derogatory comments that are preserved from that time. Cycling women were described as "unfeminine". Medical articles warned against sexual stimulation or reproductive harm to women, particularly if they rode fast. "The moment speed is desired...the body is thrown forward, causing the clothing to press against the clitoris, thereby eliciting and arousing feelings hitherto unknown and unrealized by the young maiden.." (Nancy Botkin, Riding the Freedom Machine, 2000)

To women bicycling was outrageous, immoral and dangerous. At several places around the world the case is the same today; women's and girls' freedom of movement is restricted and cycling are under legal and / or moral prohibitions in contries such as Saudi Arabia, Iran and North Korea.