I rode a unicycle to class during college for 2-3 years. The author's experience matches my own very closely, and gives me a lot of flashbacks (positive and negative). This bit in particular stood out to me:
> Almost 50% of those encountered, more often men than women, responded verbally (box). The sex difference in the type of response was striking. Around 95% of responses from women praised, encouraged, or showed concern, and women made few comic or snide remarks. In contrast, only 25% of the comments made by men indicated praise, appreciation, or neutrality, whereas 75% were attempts at comedy, often snide and proffered combatively as a put-down. Equally striking was their repetitive nature, even though given as if original—almost 66% of these “comic” responses referred to the number of wheels (the most common), the absence of handlebars, or a part having being lost or stolen (box). Less than 25% used less obvious snide humour, but often with stylistic repetition.
Everything that the author states matches my own experience -- almost to a T.
I often felt bad -- riding a unicycle is incredibly quiet (as there is no chain or gearing), and it's disturbingly easy to sneak up on a lone pedestrian at night and give them a scare when you announce that you're passing them on the left. I'm a rather large male, and recognize I can strike an imposing figure, and hated scaring people like this. I took up whistling whilst riding near people at night just so they could know that I was there.
This was also an interesting thing to read:
> Aggressive boys
> “Do you want to knock him over?” “Yes I bet I could do it”
> While kicking a football, “Got a good target”
> Riding at me on bicycle, “Fall off granddad”
> Sudden loud shouts, then they threw small pebbles
> Loud noises, then “You’re gonna fall off . . . you’re gonna fall off”
This VERY closely matches my experience -- I was surprised at how much hostility I received from other guys. It wasn't always directly aggressive -- sometimes it was a bit tangential. Guys would often be playing pickup baseball (using a tennis ball) outside my dorm when I would arrive / leave -- and the ball would often come close to me. I only learned much later that they timed their games and would quickly run outside to try to play a few pitches only in order to try and hit me as I was riding by. On one level I thought this was kind of cool that they cared enough to do this, but it also made me sad inside in a way that I have never fully been able to put into words.
There were the regular jeering remarks, and even the more aggressive actions of going so far as to steal my unicycle a couple of times -- thankfully I was always able to recover it (a friend would call me and tell me it was found lying in a parking lot across campus -- clearly abandoned after they gave up trying to ride it).
It's an interesting case-study on how society reacts to outliers -- this was a beautiful set of data to read. Thank you!
I often felt bad -- riding a unicycle is incredibly quiet (as there is no chain or gearing), and it's disturbingly easy to sneak up on a lone pedestrian at night and give them a scare when you announce that you're passing them on the left. I'm a rather large male, and recognize I can strike an imposing figure, and hated scaring people like this. I took up whistling whilst riding near people at night just so they could know that I was there.
This was also an interesting thing to read:
This VERY closely matches my experience -- I was surprised at how much hostility I received from other guys. It wasn't always directly aggressive -- sometimes it was a bit tangential. Guys would often be playing pickup baseball (using a tennis ball) outside my dorm when I would arrive / leave -- and the ball would often come close to me. I only learned much later that they timed their games and would quickly run outside to try to play a few pitches only in order to try and hit me as I was riding by. On one level I thought this was kind of cool that they cared enough to do this, but it also made me sad inside in a way that I have never fully been able to put into words.There were the regular jeering remarks, and even the more aggressive actions of going so far as to steal my unicycle a couple of times -- thankfully I was always able to recover it (a friend would call me and tell me it was found lying in a parking lot across campus -- clearly abandoned after they gave up trying to ride it).
It's an interesting case-study on how society reacts to outliers -- this was a beautiful set of data to read. Thank you!