So, I understand that the word "sissy" escaped from an orange face recently, and it caused a bit of a tumult.
I am here to admit that I have used that word. Never, that I can remember, in reference to a person. My context was
Behind that banana seat is a sissy bar. Having one on your bike was COOL. As was having that banana seat. I think we called those butterfly handlebars? I do know that nobody I grew up with had handbrakes. Too expensive. We all stopped by reversing the pedals. Heels down. (Which is also a term used in horse riding.)
Did anyone else use that word that way? As I said, I don't remember ever actually calling anybody that. Being gay was NOT TO BE DISCUSSED. (If you even said you knew about it, you were likely to have been called to the kitchen table for a talk.) I do remember thinking that word when I saw someone who was "different."
Anyway, I never got a bike with a sissy bar or banana seat or ribbons on the handle grips or a basket in front or a light or a horn. My bike was plain as could be. I do remember all of us trying to put cards on our spokes to make a motor sound. We never got it right, and I also remember us just making motor sounds with our mouths. What we were playing that required motorized bikes, I don't know.
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