Photo exhibition of women and motorcycles

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uhhh they need better safety gear. the AMA has an ongoing conference on Women who Ride (and wear clothes) http://www.americanmotorcyclist.com/events/womenandmotorcycling but! even the late, great Bessie Stringfield was not above a cheescake shot - http://www.motorcyclemuseum.org/halloffame/detail.aspx?racerid=277

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Well you’re right, but lighten up a little bit, think of these photos as lifestyle/fashion photography. Although I hope some of these ladies dress a bit better when they go riding for reals. I’ve had a face first accident with a 3/4 shell and it’s not fun/pretty/cheap.

Wow. All those motorcycle women are young, white, thin, posing, wearing things like hotpants, bras, or topless(sheesh), looking like styled models from a mainstream magazine dabbling in “edgy”. Super disappointing.

I was hoping to see documentary style photography of serious motorcycle women - the ones who rebuild and customize their cycles, who defy age, gender, size, cultural “norms”, with a fierceness that could strike fear into my heart. Plus also ones with some kick-ass functional riding gear and a bad fuckin’ attitude.

Try to imagine this shoot with identical wardrobe and poses, using male models to understand how sad, ludicrous and jerk-offy this is.

Two thumbs down. Sad, sad, sad.

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Women and motorcycles! That’s what I majored in college, until those squares in the administration refused to give me a degree in it.

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I did post a link to Bessie Stringfield, who also did a little of the cheescake. (and not the young thin white chicks that article 100% focused on) and ? with ~ 37+ years ridng and racing? there is nothing more I love than hot babes on bikes. but? please, when riding? wear gear. I do know some women who ride (including the one I am married to) and few of them go out half nekkid, in shorty helmets, looking oh-so-much like models, and not so much like the hardcore, mile-crunching rider they are, – who happen to be women.

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Ya well… it’s hard to sell your personal brand when you’re wearing the appropriate gear, it’s just not very glamorous looking.

To be fair, you’re making the assumption that none of the women pictured do their own m/c work. For what it’s worth, I happen to be acquainted with a young, white, and thin woman who would easily satisfy the requirements you mention, especially in the areas of functional riding gear and attitude. Granted, the photo shoot appeared to be more of a fashion thing than cultural documentation, but at the very least the few sub-galleries I checked out showed the models riding their m/c’s.

Maybe it’s a photo-book you need to shoot and write? As a fellow m/c’er with plenty of functional riding gear and attitude, I’d buy it.

If any of these women do their own work on their cycles that’s great. It has nothing to do with their appearance. However - women who do their own mechanical or bodywork stuff are unfortunately anomalous, in my experience (I am female, and interested in vintage mechanical stuff). Most have peers and mentors that are dudes, many of whom are anything but open minded with regards to women’s actual mechanical ability. They have work extra hard to be taken seriously in this context, and are probably not posing topless wearing hotpants on their bike that they built and rebuilt. Anyone who has ridden a bike for real knows the terror of what it feels like when the road comes rushing sideways as you anticipate your skin to be ground off by asphalt at 20+ mph, not to mention broken bones and death by oncoming 4 wheeled traffic = no hotpants.

FFS - contrast this with the story about motorcycle riding that appears directly above this story. Are any of those dudes posing in their underwear ? I did spot one woman, and one brown dude - and the gender of the riders pictured is invisible, due to the full coverage gear including helmets with visors.

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Up next… “The real women of science”. Get out your leather bras and test tubes, I will be auditioning models starting tomorrow.

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What personal brand ? Where ? The wardrobe stylists ? The photographer’s ? The breast owners ? The motorcycle owners ?

How come non-female motorcycle riders are able to sell their “personal brand” while covered head to toe in protective gear, albeit gear covered in promotional sponsored logos ?

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Fair enough. But it’s worth noting that this was a photo shoot and not a demonstration of ability. So in that context, the women could be supposed to be wearing things they would never wear (or not wear) while riding. I do get your point about it being a fluff piece with skinny, underdressed women crawling around m/c’s they’re not likely to seriously ride or repair–let’s both hope that of the women pictured, 100% of them are hard-core riders that wear hard-core riding gear while on the road.

It is a shame to see them without appropriate gear (please don’t get a skin graft), but as art photos these are great. I’m envious of those scramblers!

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Art ? Where ? Because there’s semi-nude ladies in poses ? Does that automatically make it art ?

Like this?

(from Jalopnik, more photos there)

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