As a female surfer born and raised in 1960's Hawaii, I have seen surfing morph from everyone on the water having a true Aloha spirit and cheering total strangers on, to the more competitive sport it is today, with "local-ism" ruling many breaks.
Surfing big waves to prove oneself or to follow one's passion is everyone's right, it was just a matter of time until women joined the ranks of men. I don't buy the argument that "more women will be hurt and I have to rescue them". We are not asking you to ride in on your white horse. Anyone in the rescue professions know the first rule is to not become a victim yourself, and I'm pretty sure none of these women are wanting to be treated any differently than men.
Keep on charging, ladies.
2
Fantastic and inspiring athletes! That said, why don't they just open all of the contests to everyone and base invitations on demonstrated ability? Are premier female surfers, unable to compete with premier male surfers in this endeavor? If so, the idea that there should be "gender equality" is hard to reconcile. If female-only events can generate equal results (cash, exposure...) for sponsors and advertisers, pay out the same awards!! There's a reason WNBA stars don't make Lebron James pay, and it is not sexism. The fact that there are 100-times more men than women striving for high achievement in big wave surfing should make it obvious that arbitrarily providing equal money to women is actually showing a bias in favor of women. It is not a sport's duty to support or promote one group over another. The hundreds of men who excel in this discipline did not all become great at it by being paid big bucks to go out and risk their necks. They did it because they love it. Only a select few men get rich while the next tier of men scrapes by. This unseen base of very high level but unknown men exists in almost every sport. People do these things because they love them and no one owes anyone else a living. Earn it.
1
Honestly, the surfing jargon and descriptions were sometimes hard to follow as surfing is a foreign sport to me. And equally foreign is the sexist and misogynistic culture of surfing. Holy Cow. I had no idea. The article made me so angry.
Good for these women and municipalities for standing up to such entitled, ridiculous and sexist behavior.
1
I'm female. I don't surf but I am a rock climber and a mountaineer. In my sports if you can do the climb, and not endanger your team, no one cares about your gender. Reading this article; the thing that seems to be floating in the background the whole time without being said is that these ladies just can't surf these waves without endangering themselves or others. Equality of opportunity does not equal equality of outcome.
1
How absurd it is to expect great things out of the weaker sex.
Men are just so delicate sometimes.
The lengthy article neglected to mention one of the best known sayings in surfing- you don't so much measure waves in feet, but in increments of fear.
Someone comfortable surfing fifteen foot waves might have panic attacks if a larger set of 20 footers are coming in. That math continues with the insane big-waves, only that a 20 footer is double the size of a 10 footer while a 60 footer is "merely" 20 percent taller than a 50 footer.
Also it's not just the height of the wave, but the total size and power. That's what makes Teahupoo in Indonesia so dangerous, those waves contain far more volume of water behind them than waves of comparable height elsewhere.
1
People should be able to decide for themselves what level of risk they are willing to take. I personally would want to watch women surfers compete as much if not more than watching men compete. I think the elite women surfers featured in this article know that big wave surfing is a dangerous activity. I hope to see more women's big wave riders in competitions and free surfing.
1
Make all competitions open category with single prize to winner, male or female. Problem solved.
3
Big waves do not discriminate. And I do not anything about one gender having an advantage over another in surfing. So, eliminate gender divisions. The events are for surfers, and who wins, wins. The money will follow the winners.
2
Based on experience (and i am a man), male surfers are the largest group of chauvinists and egoists from any sport. Plenty of male surfers get hurt riding big waves, if female surfers want to take the same chances, all power to them. If the pay is equal, you will be see more and more capable women enter high level comps. Sponsors should realize that 'males' are only 50% of the retail population. Paying equal prize money to female surfers will attract a larger female retail base. It is good business practice.
15
Women just want to pick a fight and use their gender studies degrees. How are women prevented from surfing? Do sharks target them over men? Actually, they do. There have been studies, But aside from the marginal shark risk they can do what ever they want in the ocean. The waves don't discriminate.
5
Did you bother to read the article? Women aren't prevented from surfing. But they are prevented from competing.
You are right - the waves don't discriminate. But in this piece there was example after example of how people did discriminate against these women who wanted an equal chance to compete. Somehow you missed that.
13
Decades ago, I lived at Moonlight Beach San Diego, and I so wanted to ride a wave but was discouraged by the locals. Why? Because I was not local, but mostly because I was a woman, and I was told that the men would crowd me out each and every time that I tried to catch a wave. So heartening for me to watch as women have taken to this awesome sport. Now that I am no longer youthful, I am still grateful that my daughter took me out to fulfill my fantasy.
5
It sounds like you didn't read the article or at least the part about how the system worked to purposely exclude women. I don't think we know if anyone attended gender studies
Awesome women surfers. Shameful behaviour on the part of some men and Goldschmidt. When are we all just going to come together as humans and celebrate people's courage, determination, and skill? Yes, safety first, but this was used as an excuse to keep women out.
7
Right, everyone gets a trophy.
2
Only for you, Alice. Read the article.
1
I am so tired of the equal pay tripe. In athletics and entertainment, you get paid by viewership, period. Women's soccer players get paid less because way less people watch them. Nobody deserves the same pay unless they earn it. Should a male artist make as much as Taylor Swift because it's "fair"? Of course not.
Complete garbage.
8
Hear hear. TV viewership for the WNBA is a fraction of what it is for the NBA, ticket prices are drastically lower especially for the expensive courtside seats. Endorsement deals speak volumes.
Holds true even for sports like tennis and golf where millions of females play recreationally. And if the women want to get equal pay in tennis for the majors, make them play best of five sets like the men do instead of best of three. Makes a huge difference in factors such as endurance, especially if someone is forced to play multiple five set matches while advancing.
The difference perhaps is if the women are surfing the same waves as the men. I'd say follow the sales of surfboards and required equipment like wetsuits among the male and female surfers, but as the article delineates the sponsors are full of sexist bias.
2
Yet US men's soccer is weak and US women's dominates. I'd say the women deserve the pay, the men not so much.
1
US Women's Soccer dominates global competition that is vastly less daunting than that faced by men. The number of men striving for excellence in soccer around the world is huge and the competition is fierce. Revenue for men's soccer globally is in the billions and many teams pay mega millions for the best players. Big fish in a little pond are not necessarily bigger than the average fish in the ocean. That's not an insult to women. It's a statement of fact.
If you're trained enough so you don't casually put a life-saver at risk and you're willing to launch yourself off a behemoth at Maverick's, Jaws, Teahupo'o, Waimea Bay or Prala De Norte, I think you should be afforded the chance to compete and get paid like anyone else no matter your gender. For full disclosure, I have to admit I was paid to lifeguard at competitive surfing contests where there were separate competitions for men and women. My job was to insure competitor safety not judge whether men and women should compete together.
1