Tune in or join the Grayslake Heritage Center in person on September 28th at 7 PM for a hybrid lecture about women’s fashion, bicycling, and the New Woman movement that stemmed from it. The rise of the “cycling craze” in the late nineteenth century transformed not only women’s leisure and mobility but also their fashions. Symbolizing a new understanding of femininity, the cycling woman represented the new demand for political rights as well as women's new status in the public sphere. This talk explores how the rise of the New Woman, the bicycle, and dress reform shaped ideas concerning women’s rights and movements, as well as the ways in which liberating ideas regarding cycling attire translated into everyday wear and politics.

This presentation will be led by Dr. Einav Rabinovitch-Fox.

Dr. Einav Rabinovitch-Fox teaches U.S and women’s and gender history at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH. Her research examines the connections between fashion, politics, and modernity, particularly how visual and material culture have shaped and reflected class, gender, and racial identities. Her writing appeared both in scholarly journals and books as well as popular media such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, PBS, and The Conversation. Her book, Dressed for Freedom: The Fashionable Politics of American Feminism explores how women used fashion to challenge race and gender identities and to promote feminist agendas in the long 20th century.