Comments on: [this is bad]

[this is bad]

designbot — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 10:30:22 -0800

"Beat It," as reenacted by the Pedal Pusher Society, Milwaukee's finest all-girl-and-tranny bike gang. Oh, did I mention the co-founder is Metafilter's Own™ binocularfight?

By: boo_radley

boo_radley — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 10:41:17 -0800

this is what makes the internet (and Milwaukee) pretty awesome.

By: binocularfight

binocularfight — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 10:44:48 -0800

word! thanks y'all!

By: Xoebe

Xoebe — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 11:17:05 -0800

You know, that just looks like fun.

By: CitizenD

CitizenD — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 11:21:44 -0800

fucking.brilliant. !!!!!!!!!!

By: Kloryne

Kloryne — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 11:22:08 -0800

Aw, I really dug that. What a hoot.

By: CitizenD

CitizenD — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 11:28:57 -0800

although i think some of those moves are from "thriller..."

By: quin

quin — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 11:32:50 -0800

That was really very cool. It's completely weird to see so many places that I walk and drive around featured in something like this though.

By: loquacious

loquacious — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 11:33:41 -0800

I want to see these girls play bike polo with The Sprockettes.

By: justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow

justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 11:45:07 -0800

People may not think a bicycle gang is all that threatening if they haven't seen a Critical Mass. Here is another Beat It reenactment. How come you're always such a fussy young man? Don't want no Captain Crunch don't want no Raisin Bran? Well don't you know that other kids are starving in Japan, So eat it. Just eat it.

By: quonsar

quonsar — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 12:28:38 -0800

gender inclusive except men?

By: chillmost

chillmost — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 12:36:42 -0800

Awesome!

By: puke & cry

puke & cry — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 12:36:53 -0800

"We thought it was ridiculous to discriminate on the basis of gender," said co-founder Susie Seidelman. "Unless you have a penis. And identify as a male." Right.

By: Floydd

Floydd — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 12:43:48 -0800

My buddy Mel & I were just wondering why Marie Claire magazine named Milwaukee its "Sexiest City." Now I know.

By: splice

splice — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 13:07:25 -0800

quonsar & puke & cry, exactly what made my eyes boggle when I read that. Somehow I think if someone said "we don't discriminate based on gender, unless you have a vagina and identify as a woman", that wouldn't fly so well... anywhere, really. Probably we'd get a MeTa on it if it was posted here. Maybe it was tongue-in-cheek, but the thoughts that came to my mind when I read that were none too kind and better left unsaid. Just like that quote.

By: fixedgear

fixedgear — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 13:07:47 -0800

I wanted to try to gently raise the point that quonsar and puke & cry brought up. Here goes some of my rambling thoughts. I think Susie was poking fun here, but... If I start a bike club and hang a big sign on the metaphorical door that says 'boyz only, girls keep out' that would be wrong, right? If our jerseys or t-shirts or hoodies say 'swinging dicks only' that would not be so cool. If a woman showed up on one of our rides - which take place on public streets and all - because we list the starting time and place on our web site for everyone to see, should we try really, really hard to drop her? Even if she's pretty fast, we'll gradually ratchet the speed up until she's hanging on by her fingernails and then we'll just shoot her out the back? Or we'll go off road and make her ride stuff that she's uncomfortable riding? I understand the intent, but there is already so much splintering in the really large and fascinating world of cycling. Roadies vs. MTBers. Tourists vs. racers. Car-free CMers vs. cruiser riders. Helmet wars. Recumbent owners who use the word wedgie. Fixed wheel vs. freewheel. I have been guilty of it myself, but I'm trying really hard to do better. Have fun and ride safely.

By: languagehat

languagehat — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 13:18:35 -0800

Well, we got ten comments in before getting derailed into the standard "girlz are just as sexist as men amirite!!!" bullshit. Thanks, quonsar.

By: quonsar

quonsar — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 13:29:06 -0800

hey it sez right there on the link "gender inclusive". that ain't my fault.

By: splice

splice — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 13:33:01 -0800

I've no desire to get into an argument over it. The video is good. The quote is sad. The fact that you think it's bullshit to note it is depressing, as if only men can be sexist, and if they are discriminated against it's just a combined proof and result of their sexism. But whatever. Good and interesting post either way.

By: anoirmarie

anoirmarie — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 13:55:30 -0800

Can't we all just ride our bikes? I don't understand these rifts in the bicycle community. We're supposed to be riding bicycles here, not high horses.

By: gummi

gummi — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 14:06:02 -0800

That was awesome! It made my day. Thanks, ladies!

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 15:04:16 -0800

TRANNYZ RULE!

By: rtha

rtha — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 15:08:37 -0800

That was great. Thanks!

By: Demogorgon

Demogorgon — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 15:29:06 -0800

Can't we all just ride our bikes? I don't understand these rifts in the bicycle community. We're supposed to be riding bicycles here, not high horses. Are tallbikes okay?

By: Sidhedevil

Sidhedevil — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 15:33:28 -0800

I'm confused. Is this a club for cisgendered and transgendered women, intersexed people, genderqueer people, and transgendered men? Or are "have a penis" and "identify as male" two possible, but not mutually exclusive, categories for non-admission?

By: MiltonRandKalman

MiltonRandKalman — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 16:18:48 -0800

Holy crap, I didn't know they had the Mission District in Milwaukee.

By: blasdelf

blasdelf — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 16:24:20 -0800

Are tallbikes okay? Never.

By: Durn Bronzefist

Durn Bronzefist — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 16:41:38 -0800

Well, we got ten comments in before getting derailed into the standard "girlz are just as sexist as men amirite!!!" bullshit. Well, we got eleven comments in before having someone construct the big ole "any criticism of some grrrlz is criticism of all grrrlz" strawman dogcrap. Neat idea and execution. Slightly cooler without the myopia.

By: jonmc

jonmc — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 16:52:12 -0800

Can't we all just ride our bikes? I don't understand these rifts in the bicycle community. We're supposed to be riding bicycles here, not high horses. People like to subdivide into ever smaller tribes sometimes. I frankly don't care as long as they stay off my damned lawn.

By: tristeza

tristeza — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 17:51:16 -0800

Maybe it was tongue-in-cheek.... Ya think?!?!

By: freshwater_pr0n

freshwater_pr0n — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 19:11:03 -0800

This is so awesome. It's getting easier now that bike culture is more widespread, but it's still a sexist place. I've ridden as a bike messenger in several cities, and it took brass ovaries to be one of three or four women in a 200+ person subculture. I've known a handful of queer/tg messengers, and it was far tougher for them. Sometimes you don't want to constantly have to prove yourself, or to have shitty little dudes giggle with their buddies about how they totally "did" you, or brush it off when people "jokingly" call you a fag. Sometimes you just want to ride your freaking bike with other people who like riding their bikes, and for an hour or two, not be "the girl" or "the gay guy." If your first thought about an "all-girl-and-tranny bike gang" is, "Waah, why won't they let *me* play," I just don't know what to tell you.

By: sluglicker

sluglicker — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 20:04:38 -0800

Some nice ink at 2:01 in the Beat It vid.

By: schroedinger

schroedinger — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 20:22:06 -0800

I never wanted to move to Milwaukee until now.

By: desjardins

desjardins — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 08:19:47 -0800

This is why I'm moving back to Milwaukee. Well, not the only reason. Why is the post title [this is bad]? Is that meant ironically or have I just not had enough coffee?

By: diablo37

diablo37 — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 16:13:53 -0800

I can't say exactly why, but hot-damn, I love it!

By: designbot

designbot — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 17:06:57 -0800

In the post title, "bad" is used in the Jacksonian sense.