“Peace out Rip Curl. What a tragic end to an iconic
brand”
The iconic wetsuit brand Rip Curl, once a brave little
two-man company that kicked off the whole surf industry biz in
1969, flew its queer flag high yesterday with a post
celebrating the transgender longboarder Sasha Jane Lowerson neé
Ryan Egan.
Rip Curl joined two other Australian
swimsuit brands in a pivot to the queer market describing their
ambassador as, “West Australian waterwoman who loves
the freedom found in surfing, disconnecting from the mainstream,
and the feeling of dancing on constantly changing waves… It’s a
state of mind, always being ready to try something new, curious to
seek out knowledge and learn the rules – and break them.”
Nine months ago, Sasha Jane Lowerson made history when she
became the first transgender surfer to compete at a WSL event, the
Manly Classic, a one-day longboard contest.
And, two years ago, she made history when
she became the first surfer in history to win both the Western
Australian men’s and women’s longboard divisions.
You’ll remember Sasha Jane Lowerson, of course.
She is a robust forty-six-year-old strawberry blonde with
terrific arms who blossomed into chemical-induced womanhood in
2020.
Following news that Rip Curl had dumped the Christian amputee
Bethany Hamilton, herself an arch critic of
transgender gals in women’s sports, for Sasha Jane
Lowerson raised the hackles of the American swimmer Riley
Gaines.
Riley Gaines is a 23-year-old former competitive swimmer from
Tennessee who has made a name for herself as an advocate for
women’s sports.
She has been vocal her concerns regarding transgender athletes
in women’s sports.
In 2022, while swimming for the University of Kentucky in the
200-yard NCAA freestyle championship, Gaines tied for fifth place
with the University of Pennsylvania swimmer, six-foot-one trans gal
Lia Thomas.
Lia Thomas, who used to be known as William Thomas, was a
competitive swimmer on the men’s team but began the chemical
transition to the sisterhood in 2019, and a couple years later
joined the gal’s team.
When Riley Gaines saw the Rip Curl pivot she lit up on X
writing,
“You mean to tell me Rip Curl dropped Bethany Hamilton for
opposing men surfing in the women’s league then picked up male
surfer who surfs in the women’s league. Crazzzzyyy.”
The post lit a fire.
Almost half-a-million views, 18k likes, 4k reposts and 1400
comments almost all supporting her posit that trans-gals don’t
belong in women’s sports.
Ian Cairns, big-wave, gun-toting superhero, wrote: This is a
slippery slope for Rip Curl,
@wsl and @ISAsurfing Haven’t they heard the news that DEI is on
the way out? Glad I don’t have a daughter surfing in West Oz
longboard events. Not cool.
Others wrote:
Guess I’m not wearing my Rip Curl rash guard
anymore
Rip curl and all their sister brands are absolutely dead to
me.
I’ll never buy another product from them under any
circumstances.
Fatal marketing mistake @ripcurl. Won’t be buying your
wetsuits or clothing anymore
No one with an IQ above 30 believes that it’s fair for
biological men to compete in Women’s Sports, Riley. So, the
question is, WHY does the “progressive”  Left hate women so much.
And the deeper question, WHY aren’t Liberal women defecting en
masse?
This is gross. Company owners need to control their urge to
sell out to a woke corps and hold the ship with integrity. The
people working at these companies deserve better than garbage being
shoved down their throats by non caring corps pushing
ideology.
How are the advertising team not getting fired for this ,
how many companies have been damaged and they still use the larping
blokes in their campaigns. I thought they had to know trends , not
watching hard enough
If true, everyone should boycott @ripcurl until they go
bankrupt. No redemption for this.
RIP…RipCurl. You deny, betray and ultimately erase women
with this gesture.
I’ll never buy any of your products again.
Bethany will always be the ambassador of women’s surfing in
my book. The WSL is the new Bud Light. Go woke Go broke.
When Bethany made her stance on the trans-issue public, wise old
Kelly Slater waded into an overflowing pond with some sage-like
advice: “Make a trans division and we don’t have this
confusion.”
Takeaways: Is this gonna be Rip Curl’s Bud Light moment or do
you think the Rip Curl customer is thrilled beyond measure with the
company’s bow to the transgender lobby?
You know my stance on she-dick.
