by Julie Maier
A few months ago, at the age of 26, I purchased my first longboard (skateboard). I’ve always been somewhat adventurous and inclined to try new, exciting sports, though for one reason or another, I never gave skateboarding a try. Now was the time. I did a bit of research and learned about longboards, which are longer and wider than skateboards and typically used for cruising around town or carving down hills. Upon stepping on what would become my new pintail longboard, I was hooked. In the months that followed my purchase, my love for the sport grew tremendously (impulse buy it was not!). In my free time, if I was not riding my longboard or doing another outdoor activity, I was reading up on longboard maintenance, gear, functioning, etc.—I couldn’t learn or ride enough!
It didn’t take me long, however, to realize that longboarding, like skateboarding and other ‘extreme’ sports, is very much male-dominated, with a high degree of both covert and overt sexism pervading the community. I couldn’t visit a popular longboarding forum or read articles about longboarding without being exposed to a variety of misogynistic imagery and text. While this was not surprising as sexism within sport communities is well established in the academic literature, it was extremely disheartening and enraging to witness. Indeed, sexist discourse that objectifies, disparages, or ignores female athletes creates an environment in which women and girls are less likely to feel safe and empowered to participate. It is unacceptable that women’s options—in this case, sports participation—are limited due, in part, to such unjust discourse.
Fortunately, not all of my sports-related Internet searches yielded such sexist results; in fact, I came across numerous sports camps and clinics in the New England area that are women/girl-specific, helping to introduce women and girls to male-dominated sports. I’ve had the opportunity to participate in one such program: Ride Like a Girl*, a free mountain bike clinic series hosted by the New England Mountain Bike Association (NEMBA) and Highland Mountain Bike Park. Once a month, from April thru October, women from across New England gather to hone their technique and learn new skills from expert mountain bikers. The all-female nature of the clinics helps to provide a safe, supportive environment in which the athletes are free from the subtle (and not so subtle) sexism that is present in sport communities, helping them to focus more fully on their sport. Additionally, the Ride Like a Girl series extends its mission to empower women by helping to raise money for the Elizabeth Stone House—an organization that provides support to women and families who have experienced trauma.
In my mind, this series is a perfect exemplification of GoodWork within sport. The staff, which consists of female mountain bike instructors, mechanics, and patrollers, volunteers their time to provide quality instruction that is very engaging and rewarding. The ethical considerations that guide this series—a concern for women, families, and the environment—are also very pronounced. Lastly, not only does the program help to empower individual women, but it is contributing to a culture change in which women’s representation in traditionally male-dominated sports is increasing, helping to minimize the gender disparities present in such sports.
Eradicating deeply seated sexism within sport, however, will take more than female-specific sports programs; furthermore, the responsibility to create such social change should not lie solely on the shoulders of women. Multiple scholars have identified social responsibility as a tenet of GoodWork—something for which athletes are not exempt (for more on this, see Reid Warner’s 2005 article about GoodWork in professional basketball). While the women running the Ride Like a Girl clinics are clearly acting in socially responsible ways by helping to create empowering environments for female athletes, I believe all sports administrators, coaches, and athletes need to take on such responsibility. Indeed, the onus to carry out GoodWork within sport, which includes challenging and mitigating social injustices, such as sexism, must be shared by all participants.
It is my hope that, in the future, other young women visiting websites dedicated to longboarding, or a sport of their choice, find themselves surrounded by positive, affirming messages—content that does nothing but motivate them to participate and fully develop their athleticism. This, unfortunately, will remain a pipe dream unless everybody within the sports community takes it upon themselves to strive for nothing less than GoodWork.
*Ride Like a Girl also has a sister program, Wrench Like a Girl. With the help of Hub Bicycle—a woman owned bike shop in Cambridge—Wrench Like a Girl teaches women basic bike repair and maintenance skills.
Mentioned sources:
Warner, 2005
http://www.goodworkproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/38-GW-in-Professional-Basketball.pdf
Tucker Institute for Research on Girls and Women in Sport