Girls just wanna have fun! Photo: Jason Rose
Why don’t we have a brand of surf wax just for women? We already have our own bathing suits, cute rash guards, and our own style of wetsuits.
Most women don’t wear long boardshorts and tee shirts that stick to their boards. We wear teeny bikinis with our bare skin enjoying the salt and sun. Let’s just get some surf wax for women. Maybe it could be a bigger bar of wax that’s pink and scented. I would try that.
I recently read a handful of annoyances of being a female surfer. I’m not all that sure it’s so bad though. For instance…
We’re not in the minority. We’re actually on the up and up.
I surf every day here in Hawaii and cannot remember the last time I was the only woman in the water. In fact, I can’t remember even counting the ratio of men to women filling out the lineup. Perhaps I focus too much attention on surfing while I’m out there? I can remember, however, how many days my friends and I have had an entire surf spot to ourselves. It’s glorious.
Women have made great progress in the surf community recently. Ladies are busting into the big wave surfing scene finally, with milestones like 2016’s Pe’ahi Challenge, no longer being excluded from the Titans of Mavericks, and even Keala Kennelly’s 2016 Pure Scot Barrel of the Year Award in which she beat out a field of men at the XXL Big Wave Awards and then became the first woman ever invited to the Eddie. October 1, 2017, marks the beginning of the holding period for the first ever Women’s Waimea Bay Championship.
Cheers, ladies. You will never see me out there in those waves but good on ya.
Photo: Jason Rose
Is it unsolicited advice OR maybe does chivalry still exist?
Bring it on, Uncle. Please teach me, nice old man who has been surfing for 50 years at this same spot. Show me where to sit. Tell me that if I put my head down and paddle harder one more time, I am sure to catch that wave. Point out those set waves before anyone else and give them to me! I’m sure if you polled every dude who surfs, 103% of them would kill to know a portion of the lineup is going to gift them waves “just because.”
Also, I love anyone out there who gives me advice, so long as you are not my partner. I don’t know why but that’s just how it is for most of us. Am I right, ladies?
Earn your turns
Contrary to popular belief, women don’t actually get to do anything and everything they want in the lineup. As I see it, we get one free pass – exactly one more pass than what men get. Ladies can usually get away with dropping in on somebody once, by accident, incident free. We may be told to make sure we don’t that again, scowled at, and on occasion, we’re lucky and get “It’s all good, you can roast me anytime.” After that one free pass though, we are subject to scolding, getting sworn out of the water, and I’ve even been run over on purpose.
I love being a woman who surfs. I love not caring about what people think of me, my skill level, or anything about the world from the very moment I drop into a wave. To be completely in the moment is such a special gift. Besides, everyone knows girls just wanna have fuuuuuuuunnnnnn.
Photo: Jason Rose
