A couple of days ago Spitfire, a skateboard wheel company, posted a video of Cher Strauberry, an open trans-femme skateboarder. The majority of people were happy to see it and even acknowledged her skills, but there was a small number of people that were straight up harassing her. They would say things like,
“She’s only sponsored cuz’ she’s TRANS!” or using the wrong pronouns and going as far as DMing Cher threats. I wondered what Cher had ever done to deserve this hate. These people don’t know her, yet are so hateful almost as if it were personal that she was representing this male-dominated company. Skateboarding has always been for the PUNKS and FREAKs. You would think that skateboarding would be one of the main subcultures to support and advocate non-conforming people based on the counterculture essence it’s so synonymous with. Recently, inclusivity has spread among new skaters that aren’t the commonly advertised white male thrasher; this means normalizing diverse manners of self-expression which would have major impacts on the security of people as more skaters became more open and accepting.
Skateboarding originated in the late 1950’s in California. While today it is seen as an outlet for punks and rebellious teens, it originated in a time where binary roles were mainstream and anything else was often seen as something “evil”. If you were anything but straight, you would be given therapy. If you were a woman, you were often in a constant “role” of motherhood and marriage that was glamourized in the 1950’s. This might explain why, YEARS later, the skateboarding community has had a steady history of cisgender white males dominate over any other group. Most people will probably imagine a lanky white stoner in big boy pants because that’s how the media portrays this culture, when in fact it’s much more than just a teen phase.
The DIY, punk, and gritty portrayal is all thanks to the Z-boys. The Zephyr Competition Team (Z-boys) were a group of young skaters that were adding a unique “street” style to skateboarding before it was the main trend. They began in the early 70’s and helped shape Mullen’s obsession along with the future of skateboarding. They were notorious for draining people’s pools and skating in them when people weren’t around. They are partially to blame for the whole punk stereotype but there was also an underlying factor, Dogtown. Known as a territory composed of South Santa Monica, Venice, and Ocean Park to the rest of the world, Dogtown was a pretty run down place that helped influence the aggressive and rebellious nature of the skaters.