Tag: surfing
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Gender Apologists and Opposites in Surfing
An increase in the visibility of apologist voices, propped up by a slowly wasting status quo, arrives in a culture at the moment a robust transition is beginning to gain traction. In the movement against sexism and gender inequality in surfing, this trend is no different. Alongside the rise in apologist voices, is a renewed…
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Board of Media
Emma Shoesmith is a tow-headed, Brit firecracker who is currently living in London and studying at the University of Westminster. She has an infectious sense of humor, a deep-seated passion for action sports, and a refreshing vision on how to creatively package a critical perspective of women’s (under)representation and inequality in board and action sports.…
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Nº5: #theonethatIwant ?
The new advert for Chanel Nº5, which features Gisèle Bündchen digitally surfing on a wax-less, black board, is making its way through the surf-o-sphere with commentary about how cheesy it is, but it may be the perfect representation of the desired trajectory of women’s surfing as it was created and disseminated by the surf industry…
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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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Eddie Would Go. Maya Ought to Think Twice?: How we are progressing past sexism in our culture.
Sexist sentiments that one might expect to find around Maya Gabeira’s surviving a botched rescue attempt after tackling one of the largest waves (if not the largest) ever attempted by a female in a tow-in scenario, I found written by a woman on Surfer Magazine’s website and in comments by industry stalwarts, viz. a couple…
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Step up your game, Roxy. (video)
Watch Ted Endo deftly express what so many of us feel about Roxy’s statement regarding the response to the Official Roxy Biarritz Pro Trailer:
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Selling Sex in Surfing: Opinion and Fact Collide
Beyond the opinions of whether sex sells or not, and all the attendant questions often overlooked in this simple cliché (e.g. What does sex sell, exactly? Does sex effectively sell every product/service? How does this marketing strategy impact society? Are men and women equally drawn to the sexualization of human bodies? Are men and women…
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Emboldening the Renaissance of Surfing
Decentralizing the male competitive/professional surfer as the measure by which good surfing is gauged may be the most important shift in surfing’s renaissance. I make no apologies if using the word “renaissance” comes off sounding grandiose. Rather than focus on the “hipster” conversation and its idea of authenticity, that evokes little more than opinions surrounding…
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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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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…
