"When I'm in the sea I feel content and happy. I
put myself in God's hands."
Golda Meir was referred to by then-Israeli Prime
Minister David Ben-Gurion as “the best man in the
government”. The French prince Charles of Valois was so
moved by Joan’s britches that he gave her armor and troops to fight
the English in France.
Today?
Meet women who exist under the most ferocious of patriarchal
jackboots and who refuse to obey, even on the threat of death, the
command not to surf.
Bangladesh: Bengal started out as a Hindu and Buddhist
region and were probable mid-length enthusiasts. Women with boards,
however, and as fabulous Bruno would say, is a “nish nish.” Not an easy place
to be a gal. Marriage at twelve. Rampant domestic violence and the
threat of rape everywhere from buses to blood banks.
Bleak, yeah.
But then there are women like Sobe Meheraz. She belongs to a
surf club at Bangladesh’s only beach resort town, Cox’s Bazar. She is one of
twelve surfer girls in a country of 160 million people.
Best quotes from an interview with PBS: “My friends surf. Once
we surf, and I can ride a big wave, then I feel really good. That’s
why I love surfing. When people see me, they say, wow, you rode
such a big wave. Everyone watches me at the beach. Everyone says,
good job, good job.”
Then there are her male counterparts who are studying in the
madrassa, “The issue of girls surfing, to me, isn’t a good thing.
Girls are meant to be covered, so that boys can’t see them. Girls
have been told to stay out of boys’ sight. Girls are respectful
beings, and they have been asked to stay hidden. So, if girls are
surfing and go into the ocean, then a lot of people can see then.
And that’s a sin. It’s not good.”
Iran: Ramin is a
small Iranian village with a beach. Italian photojournalist Giulia
Frigieri visited the town after seeing a trailer for
Marion Poizeau’s 2014
documentary ¨Into the Sea¨ about Waves of
Freedom, a not-for-profit organization that helps
empower girls and women through surfing in the poorest parts of
Iran.
Shahla Yasini is one surfer
from the village. “Surfing is more than
just a sport. I hope the scene will develop and that this
generation will pass it on to the next. As women have always been
struggling for their freedom, I want them to ride a wave to feel
true freedom.”
Liberia: Liberia was founded in 1822 as an African
paradise for freed slaves from the Americas. Americo-Liberians, as
they called themselves, were psyched on their American heritage.
They basically built the US south on African soil. They even had
names like William Tolbert and Samuel Doe. And, just like they were
viciously taught, the Americo-Liberians subjugated the indigenous
population.
Revolts and Coups ensued, ravaging the country, and its
women.
English writer Graham Greene wrote, ¨Liberian politics were like
a crap game played with loaded dice.¨
According to International Federation for Human Rights,
¨Violence against women, including female genital mutilation, wife
burning, dowry-related violence, rape, incest, wife battering,
female foeticide and female infanticide, trafficking, early
marriage, teenage pregnancy, summary ex-execution and prostitution,
is a women violations and not only a moral issue but human rights
violation according to the Geneva Conventions.¨
Surfing in Liberia is not new, been around for years. But women
in the lineup is very fresh. In the past it was considered taboo
for women to enter the lineup. That changed when three women from
California visited in 2013. They taught local girls to surf.
Robertsport is home to a reeling, consistent left. During their
fifth annual surfing contest, the Superintendent of Robertsport,
Imam Mohammed Paasewe, was quoted as saying: “What you are doing is
breaking local taboo. Never before have the women of Liberia dared
to venture to the sea; that has been a place for the men. To see
the Liberian women surfing is groundbreaking. What is transpiring
is highly impressive and is paving a path towards equality. We hope
to see more Liberian women take part in this great sport of
Surfing.”
Palestine: Do we have to? Best way to review the Palestinian area is
with Dr. Seuss’ The Zax. The point is profound. One
north-going Zax was walking in an empty field. One south-going Zax
was doing the same. They bump into each other. Both refuse to
move.
So they stand there and wait….. and wait…. aaaaannnndd wait.
Twelve-year-old Gaza surfer Sabah Abu Ghanim couldn’t care less
about any of the impediments, like religion or pollution or the
country’s never-ending war with Israel. “I feel the sea belongs to
me,” Sabah told The
Guardian. “When I’m in the sea I feel content and
happy. I put myself in God’s hands. I said my last prayers. And I
surfed a very high wave.”
In a town as old as the first Christmas, sewage ain’t the only
problem for a female surfer.
“When I am older, my society refuses to allow me to surf. It’s
shameful. I will keep surfing until then, and then I will have to
stop. I will be sad.”
When Sabah’s sixteen-year-old sister came to the beach to watch
her surf, “I found her sad.
I said, ‘You keep wishing to go back to the old days because then
you could surf and swim.’ She said, ‘I wish those days would
return.'”
New Jersey: Landmines litter the Jersey line-up,
closeouts, shifting sands, small waves, rarely good form. But the
real danger lies on land in the form of Americo-Italian gym studs.
These second and third-generation offspring of the OG immigrants
from The Boot possess enough hair gel to submerge Copenhagen, have
personally kept the tanning bed industry alive and rock enough 10
carat gold to fit the grills of every rapper from Cali to
Calcutta.
Best quote from ones of these soldiers when he told a girl she
was ¨beautiful baby¨ and she responded with ¨Ewww, your
disgusting!!¨
¨I GOTTA BETTA BODY THAN YOU BABY!!!¨
