Tag: quiksilver
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Monsanto vs. Surf Activists
At the end of March, Monsanto was taken to task by Kelly Slater (who recently left his longtime sponsor, and Monsanto-linked, Quiksilver), Cyrus Sutton and Kyle Thiermann on the company’s newly created Instagram account. In this conversation, Kelly Slater brings up GM cotton: “I will say that certain cottons, for instance, are proven to need…
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Kelly Slater’s Ethical Choice to Leave Quiksilver
Kelly Slater has exited a brand that has seen its fair share of dramatic push-back over the last year, from the uproar around the Roxy Biarritz Pro Trailer to the link I discovered between Quiksilver and Monsanto. Many are wondering why KS made such a drastic move. In my post, A Year in Review, 2013,…
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And what of the current state of women’s pro surfing?
“It’s time to take women’s competitive surfing to the next level.” These words have been echoing through the halls of women’s surfing since pro surfing began in earnest in 1976. Then, only 20% of the total prize purse for competitions was allocated to female competitive surfers. With the exponential growth in participation and interest in…
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The Year in Review, 2013
This was a monster of a year for discovery and activism in surf culture. For this reason, I think it would be beneficial to highlight and revisit those topics covered this year that have been most salient, before we enter a new year. Please feel free to add to this list in the comment section…
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Lesbian-Baiting, a la roxy surfing 2013
One of the most prevalent tools of sexism in the surf industry has been and continues to be lesbian-baiting. Lesbian baiting occurs most often when rumblings are felt within the sexist status quo, when women gain more power in a hierarchy, or when they are acting more self-assertive and less deferential than their male-counterparts…
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Tell Roxy That Female Surfers Deserve Better
Dear Roxy, Roxy is the world’s most visible and well known women’s surf brand. Recently, Roxy released a trailer for the 2013 Roxy Biarritz Pro contest that showcases a style of marketing women’s surfing that is not conducive to a healthy, empowered vision of women. Instead of women surfers being presented as an alternative to…
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Vandana Shiva on Bt cotton in India (video)
[4/1/2014 edit: Since posting this, the video has been made private on youtube and only a small portion of it is now available to view on the BBC here. There is, however, plenty of info on youtube that is easily searchable about Bt Cotton and Monsanto’s desire to control seed and a video link with…
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Reconstructing Surfing
Environmental justice, as opposed to simple environmentalism that can be co-opted by corporate consumerism to drive sales in the mode of greenwashing, understands that all forms of oppression are interconnected. That is, oppressions of race, sexuality, gender, class; oppressions that privilege heterosexuality and certain body types over others; oppressions that encourage (often in complicity via…
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Quiksilver and Monsanto: bedfellows
[4/1/2014 See also: Kelly Slater’s Ethical Choice to Leave Quiksilver] [5/29/2013 EDIT: The Reliance Group of industries Quiksilver has joined up with in India deserves its own post. For a taste, see page 6 of this document and this article.] Suicide has become the second leading cause of death in India among young adults. Of…
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Bangladesh: Dying for Fashion
ONE YEAR LATER: 4/24/14. Parent company of REEF and VANS, VF Corp, continues to refuse to sign Bangladesh accord. Updated 5/30 : Along with VOLCOM and REEF, I found BILLABONG men’s shorts, Made in Bangladesh Updated 5/26 : Bangladesh factory banned by Wal-Mart is still used by the VF Corp (see note 2 below), the…
