Women’s surfing is in a funny place right now. Performance-wise, it’s better than it has ever been. The women are proving time and time again that they can surf just as well (if not better) than the men. Prize purses reflect it also, despite popular belief: there are half the amount of women on tour, and the purse is half of what the men’s is. It’s just divided more evenly, as per the women wanted. Women’s surfing is peaking right now. Viewers know it, the women know it, and the men know it… it seems the only ones who don’t are the ones pulling the advertorial strings.
But in the glossy pages of many magazines, somewhere along the way, the line between modeling and surfing became blurred. The act of surfing itself took on sexual implications, and the smaller the bikini, the better, at least from an advertising standpoint. Surfing began to take a backseat to simply standing around, and a few women went from surfers who modeled to models who surfed.
Pauline Ado is tired of it. She’s tired of the standards set by the industry and tired of women’s surfing not being seen for what it really is. She tired of a few women setting stereotypes that apply to all women… and most of all, she just wants to surf, and surf well. Because that’s what she does. She’s a surfer.
Pauline à la plage 01 from PLANETBLOW on Vimeo.
