Surfing

Women's presence in the sport of surfing has received increasing attention in popular culture during the past 5 years as demonstrated by media such as the Hollywood film Blue Crush, about the drama surrounding a women's surf contest in Hawai'i, and the fashion and lifestyle magazine Surf Life for Women. Images of women with their surfboards are now seen widely in print and on television, used to advertise items ranging from clothing, hotels, vacations, cars, and sunglasses to perfume. Women are currently the fastest growing segment of the sport. However, their presence in the sport is typically depicted by sexual-ized images of female surfers and their involvement in the lifestyle aspects of the sport, rather than their athletic abilities on waves and knowledge of the ocean. Although image and lifestyle are viewed as important for men in surfing, men are depicted as athletes focused on competition and conquering waves.

The sport is male-dominated and women are considered latecomers, but gaining ground. On the whole, mainstream media has paid little attention to the women pioneers in surfing who fought for the right to be in the water with men, the growth of the women's surfing professional circuit, and the awe that is inspired by some of the world's finest female athletes facing the most challenging waves on the planet, which until recently was only done by male surfers.

This perspective on surfing, and women's involvement in it, is grounded in women's cultural and historical position here in the United States. A competing perspective on the role of women in the sport comes from the viewpoint of Native Hawaiian women, where women have been surfing in Hawai'i for at least a thousand years. This entry considers both perspectives to give the fullest understanding of the sociohistorical context of women in surfing.