Final answer:
The author of 'Wheels of Change' includes the excerpt to depict women's societal transformation in the early 20th century, highlighting the shift from restrictive norms to new freedoms and roles in society, with the bicycle symbolizing their autonomy.
Step-by-step explanation:
The author includes this excerpt from Wheels of Change by Sue Macy to illustrate the dramatic transformation that women experienced in society at the turn of the 20th century, particularly through the liberation from restrictive clothing and traditional social constraints. This shift helped lay the groundwork for the modern women's movement, as women embraced new roles in factories, decision-making processes, and within the public sphere after World War I. The changing fashion, with simpler and more comfortable clothes, more openly reflects women's newfound confidence and desire for independence, as both domestic and public figures.
Given the new societal conditions, such as the absence of many men due to war casualties and the consequent need for women to fill roles previously occupied by men, there was no reverting to the previous limitations. The bicycles, cited metaphorically as 'wheels toward new horizons,' represent the new opportunities for freedom of movement, employment, and education that women were now able to pursue. Indeed, the bicycle became a symbol of women's increased mobility and autonomy during that era.
By the 1950s and 1960s, the notion of women working outside the home was still challenged, yet reality showed that many women were single, actively working, and contributing to the economy. The evolution of fashion to less constricting garments correlates with a bigger social change where women began to break away from the restrictive norms and conventions that had constrained their freedoms.