Ladies Bikes - What are you riding?

Why do so many women buy such heavy bikes?
In my shadow life as a cycle trainer I have taught mostly women and have got used to the fact that many of them have bikes which they can hardly pick up. What the hell are Pashleys made of? And what is their appeal? Are they bikes that seem, somehow, 'womanly'? Do shops direct women to these kind of bikes?
It's not just the labouring up hills that is a problem; it's that they can hardly carry them up to their flats so taking the bike in and out becomes a chore and discourages them. I should point out that I, also, can hardly lift a Pashley or one of its generic equivalents so it would be a problem for me too.

It takes longer to explain than I have time, but at the bottom of it there's basically a vision of a simpler and more just society. It's complicated. For a simple pictorial explanation of why people (women and many men) think it's supposed to be stylish, look at the influential http://www.copenhagencyclechic.com/.

I've never met anyone who has ridden this type of bike seriously for long in London. People either give up or get another bike. It only works where average trip length is very short.

Some people genuinely have back problems and hope the more upright position will sort them out, only to have to work extra hard to compensate for the weight, which in turn does their back in.

Most of the imported models are essentially gas pipe jobs with curlicues. I'm not talking about the more high-end models, which give you the design while being lighter. Few get those, though. The motivation is, as for many novice cyclists, to get a bike that's easy to maintain, cheap, and sturdy. Hold on--just like fixie bikie skidders, then.