Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Nope it’s skater girl! Rising above societies double standards. While the world looks on in utter confusion with a hint of mixed emotions and uncertainty, our female bada$$ skaters keep on doing their own thing, riding past the sexism and stereotype of what a girl can and can’t do. If you’re a woman who owns a skateboard, you’re essentially a unicorn: magical, rare, and difficult to catch.
The general public tends to be so enamored by your presence that they gawk openly. This is pretty terrible, especially when you’re starting out, because inevitably all the attention puts you off and leads to face planting. For a lot of guys at the park, female skaters are still often seen as a novelty, instead of just equals. And for young women who aren’t interested in flirty advice, or thinly veiled condescension, that’s a regular source of annoyance. More often than not when a girl is out in the publics’ eye carrying her skateboard or riding it, she’s judged on her appearance as a woman resulting in people making comments like, “she’s trying to be masculine”, “she must be a lesbian”, “ a tomboy, taking it a step further.” Sometimes a girl with a skateboard is seen as a bada$$, sexy, approachable, there is a sudden instance where they become a beacon of attention.
It’s unfair when girls get major publicity only because they show some skin and not because of their skills. It proves that skateboarding is still mainly about guys. There is a wall between men and women in skate culture, some guys still think that girls who skate are lame, and are trying to fit into a men’s group or something and in the pro world, girls are either sexualized or sidelined. The prejudices against female skaters are hard to get around, and it is so upsetting, but more upsetting is the sexism females experience from other women, especially older middle aged women. Changing the norm is never easy, standing out, being yourself, doing what you love, will always have an audience who just don’t know what to do with you, really.
The world is just a bit unfamiliar with a strong female taking on and society’s double standards. So even if the skating culture is male dominated at the moment, do not let that stop you from going to park to skate, even if you are called out, looked down on and judged, just keep skating by. With the wind in your hair and a smile of pure bliss know that there are some of us who are supportive of who you are, what you do and what you want to do. Yeah, some people will judge you, but at the end of the day no one’s perception of you is going to matter except for yours, so please just be that skater girl! Riding past all the haters and taking on the world one skateboard at a time.