Hear Me Roar: Women, Motorcycles, and the Rapture of the Road by Anne Ferrar is released.
"Hear Me Roar" traces the history of women on
motorcycles, shedding light on women riders from
the early 1900s to the modern era. Society's perceptions of female riders are
explored in the context of mass media, fashion, entertainment and motor sports,
where female bikers have always been viewed either as progressive icons, or through the lens
of tired stereotypes.
More than 100 female riders are shown and/or interviewed, including such
exemplary women in the first half of the 20th century as Bessie
Stringfield, the African American “Motorcycle Queen of Miami” in the pre-Civil
Rights era ; the Van Buren sisters, among the first women to cross the continent
on the eve of America's entry into World War I and Dot Robinson, sidecar endurance
champion and Motor Maids co-founder. Riding further into the present day are Catharine Rambeau, who rode a dirt bike solo from Florida to Patagonia, South America; and Sue Slate and Gin Shear, Arctic adventure riders and founders of the first national motorcycle relay ride to benefit breast cancer research. Plus many other ladies who refused to "sit down and be quiet".
To research and
write Hear Me Roar, Anne logged 30,000 miles on her own motorcycle, observing, and participating, in charity rides, poker runs, swap meets and biker bars across the United
States.
