Why does the author include these sentences in the article?
"When Japan invaded China in 1937, it used 50,000 bike riding troops." "In World War II, British soldiers
were equipped with folding bikes." "In Sweden, soldiers used bikes for transportation until the 1980s."

i would lay on the ground, and wait for the earth to simply take me back!

- sincerely, ouma

boccaccio employs the voice of his narrator dioneo to represent his ideas on the tension between masculinity and femininity.  while dioneo excites the members of the brigata and recognizes women for their unique skills and independent ideas, he concludes the decameron with a story reminiscent of the society from which these young aristocrats escaped, revealing misogynistic overtones.  dioneo boccaccio is able to explore the gender disparity which is inherent in 14th century florentine society.