Race Identity in Skateboarding

http://www.konbini.com/us/lifestyle/the-brujas-skateboarding-battle-sexism-racism-gentrification/

This article tells the tale of a growing skateboarding crew called the Brujas, which translates as one who practices witchery. The Brujas are all-female-of-color skateboarders trying to spread the word of the discrimination in skateboarding: “Skateboarding, which has evolved from its rebellious anti-establishment roots to become the mainstream moneymaker it is today, has always remained a mostly white male-dominated sport. The Brujas are challenging the sports’ lack of diversity and basic assumptions of what a skateboarder should look like.”

These young women are challenging what it means to be a skateboarder and why this culture, dominated by white males, is so hesitant to let the female in.

"There’s so little opportunity for young people of color in terms of jobs and education that we don’t feel like a part of this city. Skating is a way to reclaim our freedom."

Racism in skateboarding, like society, is ever present. There are hugely successful minority skateboarders such as Paul Rodriguez and Stevie Williams but still a presence of hate. I have personally seen it firsthand and am disgusted that it lives even in such a community as skateboarding. It is supposed to be a place where all outcasts and misenthropes are accepted, not matter your skin color, gender, or sexuality.

Which brings me to my next point. Or rather, my next man of topic: Brian Anderson. After a skateboarding career that has spanned over twenty years, Brian Anderson has recently come out as a homosexual. Not one of the first to do so, but defeinitely one of the most boradcasted. Vice did an interview with Brian about his experiences going through such a straight male dominated industry:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZU5K3y7QhU

I have been a fan of Brian for a long time and I can’t express how happy I am for him that he came out. He is giving young skateboarders all over the world the courage to openly identify with who they really are. That being said, a lot of things Brian says about identifing as being gay has a lot of negative connotations to it. Skateboarding has a long way to go in accepting different identities without bias, but I think we are heading in the right direction.

Identity in Skateboarding

I am exploring more and more what it means to be a skateboarder. I know from personal experience that it is a very specific subculture that people identify with. Exploring this very niche population of the world can tell us about a lot of society.

How do skateboarders see themselves?

How does society see skateboarders?

What kinds of positives and negatives are associated with skateboarding?

How does gender identity fit into the world of skateboarding?

What are the different types of skateboarders?

Is there any animosity felt between the different identities with skateboarding?

https://mpora.com/skateboarding/five-reactions-people-see-girl-skateboard#LGhfB5eiI5O9us8e.97

This article, “Five Reactions People Have When They See a Girl On a Skateboard,” is about what a girl who identifies as a skateboarder faces in a subculture dominated by misogyny. It is interesting to hear from a woman’s perspective about anything, let alone being a skateboarder. The five things the author touches in are Encouragement, disgust, confusion, suspicion, and wolf-whistles.

Encouragement from male skateboarders usually comes off as facetious and fake according to the author. It feels like when your parents said good job after you pooped when you were younger.

Disgust in their male counterparts is a more straightforward emotion. The author talks about certain guy skateboarders who have an old-fashioned view of the female species; they should be looking pretty and cooking dinners, not out skateboarding and getting scabs on their knees.

Confusion seems to be the most natural reaction when seeing a woman cruising down the block or queuing in line for the mini-ramp. At first glance, the male skateboarder only sees a skateboard and a human, but at second glance, that human has breasts, long hair, and is probably better than expressing their emotions.

Suspicion, according to the author, is the most offensive. Some men are suspicious as to why a woman is skateboarding at all; there must be an alternate motive. Some of the suspicious males ponder, “So, you’re trying to get laid then?” and “Yeah, but you can’t ACTUALLY skate.”

The last form of reaction is what I think to be the most distressing. It is what the author refers to as “wolf-whistles” which is plain sexual harassment and discrimination. She explains it as when a female skateboarder zooms passed and a male (most of the times groups of males) whistle and shout obscenities. For a woman to be sexually harassed at a skatepark for trying to have fun just shows how far we (haven’t) come as a society. 

This prompted me to investigate how “tomboys” identify themselves.

The definition on wikipedia.org is:

“A tomboy is a girl who exhibits characteristics or behaviors considered typical of a boy,[1][2] including wearing masculine clothing and engaging in games and activities that are physical in nature and are considered in many cultures to be unfeminine or the domain of boys.“

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/18/opinion/my-daughter-is-not-transgender-shes-a-tomboy.html

This article is about a woman’s daughter who prefers dressing more “masculine” than a normal girl.

“More girls should look like this so it’s more popular so grown-ups won’t be so confused.”

Going back to skateboarding, this rings very true. Why does society have rules on what a person can and cannot wear? If a woman skates shouldn’t she be allowed to wear the proper attire? No one in their right mind is going to skate in a skirt and spaghetti strap top, so why is it odd to see a woman in jeans and a backward hat?

“...We have broadened our awareness of and support for gender nonconformity, we’ve narrowed what we think a boy or a girl can look like and do.“

Identity

http://www.academia.edu/679738/Skate_perception_self-representation_identity_and_visual_style_in_a_youth_subculturehttp://www.npr.org/2008/05/07/90247842/two-families-grapple-with-sons-gender-preferences

Gender identity is very interesting to me. For thousands of years, gender has been something that men and women identify with. It’s your gender. It is apart of who you are. If you’re a man, you need to be tough and be “the man of the house” and your attributes need to compliment your masculinity. Women need to be feminine. They need to be pretty and they stay at home and care for the babies and shop... or so society tells us. But what if a young boy growing up feels like they should be a girl? What if someone is a man stuck in a woman’s body? Can you change genders? Is your gender set in stone the day you’re born? Does gender speak about what toys you favor and what kind of clothes you like? Is gender identity real? Are there only two genders you can identify with?

http://www.teenvogue.com/story/what-is-non-binary-gender

After asking “are there only two genders one can identify with” I stumbled upon this article about non-binary gender identity. This article taught me the difference between “sex” and “gender” being two different things:

Sex is the biological sum of your parts: physical anatomy, hormones, and your chromosomes. If sex is your biology, then your gender identity is how you perceive yourself. Your gender identity can align with your biological sex, or it can be in opposition to it.

Non-binary gender is any gender that isn’t exclusively male or female. Non-binary people may feel some mix of both male and female, somewhere in between, or something completely different.

Most likely topic I want to explore for the project --------------->

I don’t know how but it popped into my head that I was talking to a couple of my friends the other day about skateboarding. Skateboarding has a lot of styles that people identify with and it is quiet cliquey in what type of skateboarder you are. There are identifications in how you physically look and dress as a skateboarder as well as what you choose to skate. If you’re a big rail skater you most likely dress a lot different than a guy who only skates ledges and flat ground. This article was interesting because it attempted to expand the way in which skateboarders are viewed. Skateboarders usually get grouped together in one subculture: skateboarding. But a skateboarder’s identity goes much deeper than that.

http://www.academia.edu/679738/Skate_perception_self-representation_identity_and_visual_style_in_a_youth_subculture

The Monster Outside

As the homosexual is the vampire, the Ethiopian is the Devil, the Jew is the giant, as the Irish woman pees standing up and the Irishman sitting down, the homeless population is often portrayed as a flesh-eating, virus carrying, zombie monster. Since these zombies can be found nearly everywhere in the world, I will attempt to narrow my assignment down to the San Francisco “riff-raff” terrorizing the Bay area. I have read that this is one of the most populated and dangerous areas to see these creatures. Here is a quote from the owner of a successful startup company about the homeless epidemic in San Francisco: “The residents of this amazing city no longer feel safe. I know people are frustrated about gentrification happening in the city, but the reality is, we live in a free market society.” Another wealthy CEO of a tech company referred to the homeless population as “degenerates [who] gather like hyenas.” So there is no denying how the more prominent people of our society see these despicable people without homes.

The fear and anxiety that is being associated with homelessness aren't quite adding up when you look at the statistics. In recent years, violent crimes have declined in San Francisco. Although, in some neighborhoods crime has gone up from its recent tally, two violent crimes occurring in more affluent parts of town. A fourteen-year-old skateboarder was so badly assaulted he was hospitalized and another young man was shot while sitting on his grandmother’s porch. Yet both were deemed unrelated to anyone being homeless. The majority of the population see the homeless as drug addicts, degenerates, lazy, virus-spreading psychotics trying to ruin everything that we as regular people have set out not to be. But could it be that some of these slimy, disgusting monsters could be humans after all? Humans down on their luck? Humans, with nowhere to turn? Humans like me and you, who have a conscious and a heart and feelings that need a helping hand?  

I will conclude with a quote from the centaur’s (a homeless resident of San Francisco named Bercé Perry) mouth: “Being homeless is like being the germ of the city. That’s how they treat you.”

The Matrix Assignment

“Have you ever had a dream, Neo, that you were so sure was real? What if you were unable to wake from that dream, Neo? How would you know the difference between the dream world and the real world?”

Morpheus is explaining the world that “The Matrix” takes place in and how all of the rules work. Right before this, he has Neo decide whether he wants to take one of two pills; the blue one, he will wake up and all of what he has just learned will feel like a dream. Or, the red pill, taking him farther down the “Rabbit-hole.” The character's name, Morpheus, comes from the Greek God of dreams (very fitting). In regards to Simulacrum, this quote (and most of the film) fit perfectly into its philosophy. “Plato describes two kinds of image-making in ‘Sophist.’ The first is a faithful reproduction, attempted to copy precisely the original. The second is intentionally distorted in order to make the copy appear correct to viewers.” In regards to Pluto’s views, Morpheus is basically saying the same thing. The Matrix was made to “appear correct to viewers” or the vast majority of the population. What is the real world and what is the dream world? According to Morpheus, the Matrix was designed to enslave the population so the robots (A.I.) could keep humans from knowing the truth. The copy of reality is what keeps the people from knowing what is really real, thus serving as a kind of brainwash to keep us under control.

Describing Myself

Describing myself through a picture and a video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0DytHBjGTQ&t=13s

I chose this clip from the film, Withnail and I, for a few reasons. First and foremost, I think that the movie is one of the funniest ever made and as an aspiring filmmaker, I would die happy if I made something half as good as this. Second, I identify with both the title characters because they are struggling artists who drink more than they actually practice their arts. Which, when I lived with a few particular friends in San Francisco is exactly what I did. Third, in regards to the scene, their heightened sense of drama and surrealism is how I often act in situations of the mundane. The washing up has gotten so bad that there is something growing in it. It’s happened to us all. Lastly, I share a similar connection with a close friend that the two characters share. It is rare to find someone you can drink with and live with and travel with. Chin, chin.

I picked this photo because street photography has a soft spot in my heart. It was really the first time I got to express myself visually and I became obsessed with doing it. I knew next to nothing about it, but that was sort of the beauty of it. All I had to do was load some film in a camera and go on a hunt for a composition. Street photography is like meditation. You’re by yourself, aware of your surroundings but completely detached from them. I’m an onlooker, I’m a spy, I’m so focused on getting a good photograph, nothing else comes into play. My head is clear. it is a beautiful thing. And when you get that perfect composition set up, with that perfect lighting, with that perfect subject just where you want it, well there’s few things that beat that feeling. 

Post-Modernism in The Big Lebowski

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cd-go0oBF4Y

 The Big Lebowski, written and directed by the Coen brothers, is not only one of the funniest films I have ever seen but is the epitome of what I aspire to be as a filmmaker. It is also a great example of postmodernism. We spoke about how postmodernism can be described as “the decline of the meta” and an emphasis on style at the expense of substance and content, well those two things are exactly how I would describe The Big Lebowski.

The trailer is filled with confusion, the talk about money, who the real Lebowski is, ransom notes, who owes who what, Nazis, Nihilists, Vietnam, dirty undies,  and bowling. One character describes The Dude as “playing one side against the other, in bed with everybody,” another exclaims, “I know you’re mixed up in all this,” and finally the Dude explains to Maude (Julianne Moore), “This is a very complicated case… a lot of in’s, a lot of outs.” It’s confusion. The plot is confusion and convoluted… in the end, nothing is resolved, but guess what, it doesn’t matter.

Post modernism theorists reject the notion of originality and authorship. In my opinion, the film is a great example of this theory. Firstly, because I believe everything in film is borrowed or copied in some way. Second, because it is known that Joel and Ethan Coen consciously borrowed from many different stories and real-life events and people: the construed plot and the idea of “scenes and style over plot” is directly taken from the great Raymond Chandler, The Dude himself was based on a real life, “go with the flow” producer the Coens’ knew, and even whole scenes like the kid’s homework in the stolen car was lifted from a stolen car actually happened to someone the brothers knew.

This was the first time the Coen’s let loose from their normal very controlled pieces. Even while making the film, people would ask what they were doing there and what it was about. In a famous quote the Coens’ talk about when Sam Elliot, who plays a mysterious cowboy narrator, came up to them after shooting a scene and asked, “what am I doing in this movie?” To which the brothers replied, “We don’t know either.” Postmodernism has a catch phrase, “interpretation is everything.” In that case, The Big Lebowski is pure comedic genius and a non-stop joy to watch. Well, for me at least, others have their own opinions.

Written Assignment #1 - You Say You Want a Devolution Kurt Andersen makes some good points in his article and I agree with his overall point; society has become stagnant for one reason or another. Then again, I have only been around for the better part of 2 decades  so I am taking other people’s words for it. It does seem like today’s innovations across the boards are borrowing from prior decades. As I sit writing this in a Coffee Bean (I should note that this right here is a new phenomenon) I see a man looking like he’s going to Woodstock circa 1969 (i.e. long scraggly hair, Tye dye shirt, free loving ideals). There’s also a guy that just got out of a new Mercedes looking like Pony Boy from “The Outsiders.” In regards to dress and looks, I’m going to take Mr. Andersen’s views of modern times a step further because I think today’s age is borrowing from all of history, not just the past 20 years. What is a great example of Mr. Andersen’s views as well, is the movie industry. The article touches on it but I’d like to bring up a few points.... I was at a movie theater the other day admiring the posters for upcoming movies and noticed these movies didn’t seem original. In fact out of 15, 1 was an original idea. The rest were remakes of older films, sequels to older films, or adaptations of books. Even films made nowadays are constantly nodding to the films made before. I believe Andersen’s point of new technological advances only helping stagnation is a firm fact for today’s culture. One can look up anything, anytime, anywhere. What were people wearing in the 1880′s? Well, I just looked it up on Google. Boom. Is it a bad thing? I think for some things yes, some no. Mr. Andersen is hopeful of America being on the verge of something fresh and wild and so am I. But he also fears a long slow decline of Western civilization. I have to confess, I haven’t given it much thought but looking around, in this Coffee Bean, I’m starting to fear as well.