What place have women got in Skateboarding?
We ask what place have women got in Skateboarding following the appearance of ‘Hostesses’ at the Tampa Pro comp. The skateboard world on the whole seems to have taken offence to the fact that women were there to hand out prizes rather than skate. With no female category in Tampa pro it seems as though skateboarding has taken a step backwards in terms of equality but this is just a small microcosm of the scene and just one comp.
There’s more females skating than ever before and the standard is also higher than ever. From our perspective in the last five years it’s gone from a handful of girls skating in the whole to UK to the point where it’s blown up. It’s really not a big deal to see a girl at the local skatepark tearing it up with boys anymore, it wouldn’t raise an eyebrow to anyone that skates. It’s probably only the outside world that still views skateboarding as an all male sport, in the same way they probably still view it as something only ASBO kids do.
Skate Pharm owner Nic Powley was interviewed for this piece on caughtinthecrossfire.com about his thoughts on the subject.
”As a young girl looking at getting into skateboarding, you’d want to see some female role models actually doing a sport or activity rather than just being a sideshow.”
Read the full article here: http://www.caughtinthecrossfire.com/skate/do-we-really-need-hostesses-at-skateboard-comps/
In stark contrast to Sidewalk chose National Women’s Day as an opportunity to highlight some of the best female skate sections of all time:
Not surprisingly the general consensus on the subject is that skaters would be much more stoked if the females were there to skate. Offence to the hostesses presence ranged but most seemed to think they were gratuitous or unnecessary at best. Come on skateboarding, we’re better than this! Skate on sisters!
Just in case you have somehow missed it we thoroughly recommend reading this interview with Skate Pharm Team Rider Lucy Adams for her experience of being a female within skateboarding and so much more:
http://sidewalkmag.com/longform/lucy-adams-interview#Q9WlgqhTivM5uIf6.97