The Need for Speed
There is a popular claim that when early railway trains were introduced in the U.S., it wasn’t advised for women to ride them because women’s bodies were not designed to go at 50 miles an hour. There were concerns that riding a train would be dangerous for female passengers because the acceleration would cause their uteruses to fly out of their bodies.
I don’t know if this story is true, or just a myth, but it might have very well been true. It certainly sheds light on the way men viewed women’s bodies, as well as on the basic human fear of technological advancement. I wonder what they said about women getting on airplanes, helicopters, and the Space Mountain ride at Disneyland.