An unflattering portrait.
But when you imagine California surfers, such as me and Devon Howard, is the very first phrase that springs to mind “hyper-masculine?” What about just “masculine?” I tend to think of us as “gently-feminine” but must be in the small minority and/or deluded as it was just revealed in a new, shocking report that California surfing has a racism problem – not to mention issues with sexism and homophobia.
In the piece “Don’t look now, but California surfing apparently has a racism problem – not to mention issues with sexism and homophobia” published by one-time conservative darling Glenn Beck’s The Blaze, the writer explores how people of color, women and those of varying non-cisgender sexual orientations are routinely kept out of the water, exposed to infamous “territorial aggression” and battered with a “hyper-masculine energy” as straight, white men blindly succumb to our “obsession with dominating the waves.”
Not a pretty picture at all.
But in this age of “listening” and “seeing” etc. what can we California surfers do better?
The piece does not provide any clues.
Do you have any ideas?
Should we throw an inclusive party?
Stop surfing?
Maybe you could stop surfing and I’ll just work on being extra nice in the water, closeting my obsession with dominating the waves.
More as the story develops.
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surfing has been and always will be survival of the fittest
I’d guess that the top of his pinhead sort of comes to a point.
Surfers are generally extremely niggardly with most things.
you spelled it wrong
Feel these issues, if they exist, only bother VAL’s or those considering being a VAL. A good thing if it deters Oprah from surfing.
I think a Compton~Huntington exchange program is in order. You could do a Wife Swap style reality show around it – but for extra spice make the swaps permanent and enforced. It would be a jolly interesting tv show but much more importantly you’d be going some way to solving the bame surfing participation crisis.
This is hilarious, Californian (and therefore all American) surfers have generally been viewed as a pack of whinging poofs by the rest of the surfing world since as far back as I remember when I started surfing in 1977.
Still is that way pretty much…
See: Chas Smith fights Ashton Goggans.
Hahaha
Handbags at ten paces ain’t exactly a ‘fight’ dear boy, though I did appreciate your intentions and will be in your corner as a coach for the next bout if required (however due to my bung shoulder cannot personally engage in said fisticuffs at present) haha…
P.S.
I should qualify my conveying of the internationally well known impression that Californian surfers are a pack of whinging poofs by saying it’s generally only those from the Hollister ranch south to San Diego that are considered in this way…
(Whereas those born and bred north of Pt. Conception are often considered as hardened men of solid lumberjack stock)
Thank you. I was born and surfed in the Bay Area. I was about to give you a tongue-lashing (which would have to suffice until I could backhand you in person), but all is forgiven.
Dont forget us with East Coast beginnings!!! I learned to surf with 3 waves under my board at once!!! Do the math man. 3 x 6″ thats 18″!
Surfer Lives Matter!
I am regularly emasculated by female surfers that are half my age and twice as talented as me. And as I should be. It’s all a meritocracy. It’s great.
Flatness really is a unifier. It’s been about a month since I’ve the hit triumvirate of ripping (homophobic, sexist and racist). My hyper masculine energy has become despair. Pray for my latent homophobia, misogyny and racism to return, please.
call me démodé, but i just hate suppers.
Chas, you put the scu’d line in masculine.
The majority of ‘SoCal Surfers’ are so blind living happily under a rock that to even begin to try and acknowledge let alone understand how this is happening in the water is not only too much work but runs the risk of them being banished or ‘cancelled’ from the cool guy crew. To them, learning about sexism, racism, and microaggressions seems to exist in another galaxy and is fervently pushed aside to their social media posting of cool guy photos and hanging out with influencer models. God forbid they take that hour of ‘looking cool’ to watch, read, or learn about how privileged they actually are.
Simple solution; tape a dildo to their head, roller blades on their feet, and have them paddle out on a SUP at legit Pipe. Then maybe they’ll feel a crumb of what it’s like to be treated differently…
Painting with a broad brush my man.
last paragraph is beyond silly… stupid.
We know that someone’s gone off the Leftie deep-end when even Hippy voices his disapproval. LOL
If you think that “microaggressions” are an actual thing, then you’re a fucking retard.
I’ve been chuckling for a good 15 mins over this sentence.
This will be my statement of the month. Thank you.
You have proven my point precisely, thank you
Here’s the thing, though, have a straight, white, California male who is not a regular in the lineup at Pipe paddle out on a legit day and he can see without the dildo etc. Surfers are enemies of other surfers. It’s truly that simple.
One might say, based on that argument, the real enemy is human greed
Or surfers.
I agree with Chas here, it’s not so much that many surfers are mysogynistic or racist pieces of shit. The problem is that many surfers are just plain pieces of shit.
Limited resources create competition, competition creates anger and anger is displayed as localism. There you go, sociology 101 via the Hippy trail.
Sounds like they interviewed Joel Tudor.
LOL nega…..
As an average lifelong surfer, I’ll naturally dislike anyone with whom I have to compete for waves. Race, gender, and sexual orientation don’t enter into the equation at all. Such PC nonsense is no surprise from an asswipe like The Blaze, however.
It didn’t come from the Blaze. Read the article.
Does enjoying pan-Asian cuisine not exhibit the wokeness of your gustatory palate?
No. I need to begin enjoying trans-Asian cuisine.
From nonbinary free range hormone free chicken…?
Equal opportunity. Try some cock.
Well if it was a all you can eat buffet Derrick would be holed up in back corner booth licking your plate..
Usually I don’t even do turns anymore on a wave. I just stand there throwing punches, and right when it’s about to close out, I go for the takedown and then boom — submission by rear naked choke.
Brilliant. I hope Tap Out starts making wetsuits.
Bedazzled wetsuits. Now there’s a niche market.
Unless you’re shouting out misogynist and racial slurs, you’re doing it wrong.
I mean, that’s just a good rule of thumb for life…
Considering the current state of affairs in America this issue would seem quite a ways down the list of matters of concern.
No concern is too small to be pushed to the top of the pile. In fact, the smaller the concern, the bigger the attention!
In retrospect perhaps you are correct!
More on Flippy’s barrel dodging skills. It’s of minuscule concern, but oh so entertaining!
I’ll hammer him pointlessly and mercilessly again!
That’s the spirit! The two of you may never be chums, but what of it? A good surf journalist can’t be afraid to bruise an ego here and there in the pursuit of a good story. Right?