I asked the pair about what it’s like to be women in the skate world, and Maddy paused as she chose her next words carefully. Regular shoes don’t give as much ‘board feel’ and make for much less control over the skateboard, and these are women who would know. Real skate shoes aren’t just any old runners or sneakers, but shoes with insoles designed for impact, soles designed for grip, and thick upper material to withstand the friction of the skateboard while doing tricks. “Even going shopping for skate shoes is tough because they don’t carry our sizes.” “In Winnipeg, the skate shops just don’t really cater to women,” Emilie said. This includes skaters who are trans, queer, female, non-binary, or anyone else in the LGBTQIA2S+ community.Įven finding equipment is a barrier for these women. Non-traditional skaters refers to those who don’t fit the cis-male stereotype of a skateboarder. For a lot of female and non-traditional skaters, you don’t know of any skater you’ve ever seen that looks like you.” “Every time I had driven by a skate park, I had only ever seen guys. When I wanted to start skateboarding, I didn’t know any other girls that skated,” said Emilie, who is now 25, a sponsored skater, volunteer at The Edge, and one of the women cruising around the park in front of me. She skated for the first time at eight years old but stopped at thirteen because she had no one to skate with. Maddy Nowosad (she/her) is a 21-year-old volunteer at The Edge Skatepark (the only indoor skatepark in Winnipeg) and founder of The Other Skaters zine and community. Two of these skaters are Maddy and Emilie, skaters recently introduced to me by a mutual friend. The wheels leave the concrete floor with ease, the board appearing to know exactly how to spin in the air and return back to its position, like an extension of the human upon it.ĭefinition of zine by Merriam-Webster / SIERRA PRIES On many, long hair comes out from beneath their helmets, flowing down their backs as they ebb and flow around the space. In 2018, Mackenzie Wagoner wrote in Vogue, “The gender bias in skateboarding has been steadily closing, thanks to a generation’s worth of hard-won victories, harder work, and spectacular talent by its female stars.” On a grand scale this may be true, but what does this look like in the skateparks and skate scenes locally? How does this impact the young men, women and non-binary folk spending hours hitting the pavement?Ī diverse group of skaters move throughout the skate park, scattered across concrete steps, ramps and rails. “Nope… There weren’t any girls on the Girl team,” said Emilie. “I thought, ‘Girl, that’s me! It must be associated with girl skaters and there must be girls on the brand’s skate team!’” “That was the first skateboard brand to ever stand out to me,” said Emilie. “But then, I bought a car, and was literally just like, fuck it – I’m gonna go buy a skateboard off Kijiji.” The best part? The board brand was called Girl Skateboards. Throughout Emilie’s teenage years, they were concerned skateboarding would take her away from her other sports and didn’t like the way she dressed because of it. You’re just gonna get hurt.’ So, I never did,” said Emilie. “I always wanted to, but my parents were like ‘Girls don’t skateboard. Twenty-year-old Emilie Rafnson (she/her) finally made the move: she hopped in her car to pick up her first skateboard deck from a Kijiji ad. Content warning: this piece contains vulgar language and mention of sexual assault.
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