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Walking, Cycling and Gendered Journeys of Working Lives

Jennifer Bonham (University of South Australia, Australia)
Barbara Koth (University of South Australia, STEM/Sustainable Infrastructure and Resource Management (SIRM), Mawson Lakes, Australia)

Women, Work and Transport

ISBN: 978-1-80071-670-4, eISBN: 978-1-80071-669-8

Publication date: 17 October 2022

Abstract

Walking and cycling have a long history in work itself and people travelling to and from work. Who walks and cycles, how they perform those journeys, the precise role that journey plays in the course of the working day and how it is valued are informed by social constructions of gender. Gendering of mobility has a long history and, in many countries, women continue to face challenges when they walk and they continue to be discouraged in more or less explicit ways from cycling. This exploratory chapter draws together literature on occupations, paid and unpaid, that involve walking and cycling as an integral part of collecting and delivering people and things. A wide variety of services are discussed in the literature but the research on the mode of travel for individual services – like food delivery, waste picking, rural health work, ‘mobility of care’ – is limited and there is little attention to gender. Further, any comparative studies tend to be between cities with similar economic status or cultural heritage. This chapter includes research from high, medium and low income countries not to universalise experiences but to identify common themes, and suggest avenues for further research. We argue the inequitable distribution of transport resources, the gendering of bicycling related skills and the masculinisation of public space are pervasive. However, they are also being challenged by women supporting each other, partners supporting wives and communities making opportunities available to all members.

Keywords

Citation

Bonham, J. and Koth, B. (2022), "Walking, Cycling and Gendered Journeys of Working Lives", Wright, T., Budd, L. and Ison, S. (Ed.) Women, Work and Transport (Transport and Sustainability, Vol. 16), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 87-101. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2044-994120220000016007

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2022 Jennifer Bonham and Barbara Koth