Ladies Who Launch

March 05, 2009 @ 1:25 PM

The Fringe Group Inside The Fringe Group

Somehow, the problem both genders have with skateboarding girls, has made it into the 21st century. The problem has survived, even though no one knows why, or how that is.
One part of the male side of things assures that they absolutely love girls on skateboards, and that it doesn’t even matter whether someone was born with a dick or not, the other part, however, has no problem admitting that there’s two aesthetic crimes they can absolutely do without: girl soccer, and girl skateboarding.

Why is the number of skateboarding girls so small? And why do the active chicks moan about the lack of acceptance so much. Is it, because skateboarding hurts? Or is it the evil blokes? Is there a reason at all??

Vanessa Torres, bs disaster in Canada. Ph: Doubt

Maybe the reason is way simpler than you think. Think ten years back. 1997 it wasn’t that popular among parents to provide their daughters with a BarbieTM, and a Skateboard to go with the doll. Girls with brothers enjoy a clear advantage here. Not to mention, that parents of daughters are never too thrilled about seeing their precious on a skateboard.
Despite all this, a bunch of ladies has made it, they managed to dive deep into the subject, and have every right in this world to call themselves skateboarder...esses? Nah, fuck that. Skateboarders will do.

To be completely honest: some of these skateboarders don’t really seem to work (or care) to be an independent, serious group. Instead, they’re more like boys. If not worse. But can you really prove that you’re not a betty, if you drink, smoke, and mouth off more than anyone else at the party? How important can it be to be noisier, more embarrassing and more extroverted than the pricks in vicinity? Every true feminist would rather shoot herself than witness this.

Then again, why fit in with the rest of them, just because they happen to do the same thing you do? Isn’t it possible to just enjoy skateboarding with the closest homies? Like, without haterism and profiling?

Jessie Van Rouchoudt, sw bs ollie in London. Ph: Deberdt

How strange is it, that a culture like skateboarding, which—to the outside—likes to portray itself as tolerant, and is kind of proud of being a fringe group, manages to produce it’s own little fringe group? Because that’s what they are in the skateboarding community—girls are still a fringe group. And they don’t like it. But instead of just doing their own thing, they strive for acceptance, and they do so by doing stuff that will never get them the acceptance they’re striving for. They’re blocking themselves.

Aw, snap. Does this mean, that all women in skateboarding are poseurs, and doomed? Nope, sorry, there are more than enough positive examples. Nevertheless this painfully slow development won’t speed up a bit if things don’t change. Do your own thing! This does not equal confining yourself from the male world, as that would be both bad, and dumb. Skateboarding-wise, the girls can (and should) learn a lot from the guys.

It’s still a long, long way to go, until homeboys and flygirls finally manage to pull their heads out of their asses and start treating each other the way they should. And it’s hard to believe that these words had to be written in 2007. Hope is still the last thing to die.
—Dörte Wichmann