Cycling, rollerblading, skateboarding: getting started between women in still masculine worlds

“Girls motivated to ride this weekend?” In Bordeaux, Nantes or elsewhere, amateur cyclists organize themselves in thematic groups on social networks to go pedaling together.

In Paris, the Girls on Wheels collective plans an outing every Wednesday evening that brings together dozens of participants, aged 19 to 60. These “wrinkles” particularly attract novices who are afraid of not finding their place in the mixed groups, mainly male.

“I really like the atmosphere of the group, we are in goodwill, we help each other”described to AFP Anne-Louise Amanieu who has participated in these outings for five years.

The idea is also “to fit into the urban space, to show that we exist”adds this thirty-year-old Parisian. “Driving together at night gives us the impression of being stronger and that Paris belongs to us”.

Cycling but also rollerblading, skateboarding or running: similar initiatives exist to practice other individual sports between women, in town.

“Women take charge”the development of women’s practice is largely due to sports activities carried out outside the framework of the federations, underlines sociologist Béatrice Barbusse, also general secretary of the French handball federation, to AFP.

Feminization of urban sports

Fewer time slots, coaches, competitions: the offer of clubs and official organizations for women generally remains more limited than that for men, according to this specialist.

Aware of the imbalances, the French cycling federation has been carrying out a feminization plan for several years, which notably involves the organization of meetings between practitioners and additional competitions.

“It’s still a male world but it’s changing”estimates with AFP Marie-Françoise Potereau, vice-president of the federation, which has about 11% of licensees. “Cycling is very fashionable, women come to it, they often need to be reassured about their level and are looking for conviviality”.

Similar observation for Sophie Berthollet, president of the association Realaxe, which organizes courses and events in the Paris region for skate lovers, so that they can “find themselves” and “feel more comfortable”.

“It’s hard for girls to find a place in a skatepark, they’re just starting out, they’re in the minority, all eyes are on them”, explains to AFP this forties. However, she believes that skaters have never been so numerous on the ground.

Rethink spaces

They now represent 48% of licensees, compared to 14% in 2018, according to the French roller and skateboard federation. For its national technical director, Sébastien Sobczak, the arrival of skateboarding at the Tokyo Olympics was “a real accelerator” for the feminization of this sport.

“It created an opportunity for young girls, who trained to participate”, he describes to AFP. “All the communication” around this event could also make some people want to get started, he adds.

To encourage skateboarding, the federation also organizes as many women’s events as men’s during local and regional competitions.

Another way to encourage women to practice urban sports is to consider different outdoor facilities and new ways of using them.

“Urban sports spaces have been designed for men”points out to AFP Edith Maruéjouls, geographer of the genre. “They are more than 90% occupied by men, who feel more legitimate there”.

She believes that it is necessary to “listen to the needs of women”, in particular to seek to “break their loneliness” outdoors.

This can result in the creation of time slots at which they would have priority or periods when a facilitator would be present.

This type of project is starting to see the light of day. In Paris, slots on certain facilities are reserved for them. In Montpellier, a new skatepark, equipped with supervisors, changing rooms and toilets, should soon see the light of day.