A considerable amount has changed for women over the course of history from their fashion to their political rights to the way they are perceived by other men and even each other. From around the 1890's until present day, the way that women live their lives has undergone some groundbreaking alterations in almost all facets.  Their quality of life has evolved in such an immense way that people in the late 1800's would have never even imagined what women nowadays would be able to do.  Generation to generation, women have set the way for the women that have come behind them. In Frederick Burr Opper's the 'new woman' and her bicycle-there will be several varieties of her, several women are depicted doing activities and wearing apparel that would have been inappropriate for a woman in that era therefore setting the scene for the progression of women at the turn of the new century. 

Opper's painting consists of one large picture of a woman in the center, surrounded by six smaller images of different people each from different walks of life and each doing various activities and at different stages of their lives.  The one thing that each of these images share, is that they each have text below them, describing who each of them are or what they are doing and the one thing that this text shares is that it has the word "new" in it. The word "new" is a word that is understood in the English language as something that constitutes change and leads one to presume that there was an "old".  In this era that marked the real beginning of women's suffrage, the dawn of the "new woman" was upon the world. 

In the top left of the image, there is another smaller image of three women riding on bicycles in their Sunday bests. These versions of Sunday bests are not what most would picture in that era.  They are seen wearing dresses that weren't custom for the time and they are pictured riding bicycles which also was not normal for women in the period. The text below the ladies reads "the "new" Servant Girl-Her Sunday Out" which basically just depicts what is above. The term "new" here refers to the progressive ways of the future.  The servant girl shown is not a servant girl of the past but one of the present or soon to come servant girl, one that has more freedom. In the past, servant girls must have been much more reserved and confined to the place they worked and were not able to have "Sundays out" like the pioneering servant girls pictured.  This, although simple, is still a progression in favor of women. 

Forward progress for women can be identified from one edge to another on Opper's illustration.  On the immediate left hand side of the canvas, lies yet another woman riding a bicycle but there are a few slight deviations from the last group of ladies. First of all, she is alone.  This is pretty significant in the given time period because women were rarely caught in public alone and it was customary for a woman to be accompanied by a man while in public. This must have been great hassle for women because if they wanted to go somewhere, they had to convince a man to go with them or, even worse, they never really got to go somewhere they wanted or needed to go.  Second, the woman is wearing very masculine clothing like brown pants and suspenders.  This clothing was typically reserved for men at the time.  The main difference that makes all of the previously stated prevalent is that there are two working class men standing by on the side of the road watching her ride by and are either ignorantly judging her or are watching her with complete awe. They have most likely never seen something like this before and are not open to ideas of advancement in the rights and equality of women.  The text under this image is "The "new" Washerwoman" giving reason to the basket of linens 

In the bottom left corner of the page, a woman is depicted on a bicycle once again but in this section of the illustration, she is pulling a young child in a carriage behind her.  This bit of information pieced with the fact that the text below the illustration reads "the "new" Nurse Girl" paired with the child in the carriage, leads one to believe that the "nurse" that the caption is referring to is the type of nurse found in the word "nursery".  This woman is caring for other people's children and getting paid for it.  A working woman who is independent would be hard to come by in the late 1900's but the culture was slowly shifting toward what would be referred to as "the "new" woman".

In the top right hand side of the sketch, an older woman is pictured riding up to a large white house with a man sitting on the porch and another man following her on a bicycle, carrying a large suitcase.  The woman on the bicycle is carrying her own bag.  This act puts her on the same level as the man in the background giving them equality in that and only opens the door to equality in other facets. 

If you were to view whole canvas as an analog clock, at three o'clock sits an illustration type of several people riding on bicycles and playing instruments and singing. This troupe seems to be full of joy and excitement about what they are doing. The description of this section of the opus is "The "new" Salvation Army Lassies".  This again shows how "new" and "ground-breaking" it can be for women to have honest paying jobs.  The meaning of this is that men are known to be the ones that generate the income for their families. As sexist as it sounds, this was the custom of the era for men to bring the money into the household.  More and more women were acquiring spots in the workforce although they were jobs that were seen "fit for a woman", not the more handsomely paid jobs that men occupied. Still, each job acquired was a step in the right direction for the rights and equality of women.  

In the bottom right corner of the page, a woman dressed in all black vestments with a long black veil can be found visiting a cemetery with her bicycle leaned up against a large tomb stone in the background.  This woman has become "The "new" widow" after she symbolically places a wreath of flowers on her late husband's headstone. As her husband lies dead, also lies dead the idea that a woman is in need of a husband and that it is necessary to a woman's survival to be married. Women are strong beings and the Women's Suffrage Movement is all about letting people understand just how strong they really are. 

Strong women can be found throughout the work but the most independent and confident woman is the one standing tall in the center of the page.  Below her are three little mice and behind her is a framed picture of an "old" woman who is standing on a chair, attempting to avoid the mice. The bold woman in the foreground stands tall against the little rodents as if to let everyone know that she will not be frightened by something as petty as vermin. She is standing with her hands in her pockets and her shoulders pushed back and gazing off into the distance like she is very proud of herself.  The "New" Woman carries herself like a man would.  This again is Frederick Burr Opper symbolizing to the audience equality between men and women.  A woman dressing and holding herself like man would.  After this, there is not much that should separate the two genders in Opper's eyes. 

The evolution of the rights of women has been a long and extensive path that took a giant leap forwards towards equality between the sexes at the end of the nineteenth century.  The main reason for this kick start was the concept of the "new" woman and posters for the progression of women like Frederick Burr Operr's the "new" Woman and her bicycle-there will be several varieties of her.  Since the time period of his poster, women have far surpassed the intentions of men and it has been almost one hundred and twenty-five years.  It is exciting to imagine all of the possibilities that will become available for women in the next one hundred years. 
