Brief Riff about Women Skaters

Elissa Steamer's part from Bootleg 3000. Note the indie nosepick back over to three-flip at about 1:23, one of the coolest lines I've seen.



The connection between skateboarding and a traditional sport like figure skating is worth exploring. Both involve judged competition in which speed and brute strength are not the sole criteria for success (X-Games:Olympics). Both center around movement as an end rather than a means, (rotation, aerial maneuvers, keeping one's balance as opposed to "getting a first down"). Decisions regarding who is the best skater (in either sport) are highly subjective. This raises several questions.

? # 1

Figure skating is one of the few sports in which women and men appear to have achieved parity (in terms of popularity and respect). Given similar criteria for success, why hasn't women's skateboarding taken off? Will it later? It's possible; according to Wikipedia's history of figure skating, International Skating Union competitions didn't include women until 1902, a decade after the organization was founded. When Madge Syers finished second in one such competition, women were quickly banned from competing with men, and a ladies' event was established four years later. It's been a long, hard battle for equality ever since, and even if the men's and women's competitions are about equal in popularity (according to my assumption), there's still a big old sexist discourse about the women's outfits being pretty and male figure skaters being fem, the comps themselves remain segregated, etc.

It is likely that skateboarding started out gendered; streets are dirty (masculine), and a fall on concrete means getting scrapes, whereas a fall on smooth ice does not yield such blemishes (thanks to indoor rinks and perfectly zamboni'd ice, plus a general acceptance of falling on ice as "not that bad" i.e. feminine). As such, street skating doesn't conform with many gender norms about girls, but ice skating has recently contorted itself to do just that (think tutus and leotards versus jeans and t-shirts). If it is the case that skateboarding started as a gendered activity, it is amazing how quickly it has been cemented as such.

? # 2

Why don't figure skaters perform on icy "street courses" or vert ramps like skateboarders? A double axel is basically a 900, arguably the most famous trick in the history of vert (the ollie is up there too, but let's not split hairs / parse follicles). Skates on ice probably have a lower friction coefficient than ball bearings on casings, so ice skaters would definitely get pretty gnar on a ramp pretty quickly.

And in a double-reverse-side-of-the-coin closer, I would also love to see skateboarders of all genders start wearing sequined outfits in competition and also during regular street sessions. If it will help women fight for their right to hard-charge and barrier-barge, I'm all for it.