What's it like to be a girl skateboarder? Identity, participation and exclusion for young women in skateboarding spaces and communities

Abstract

This paper reports findings from a qualitative study of girl and young women skateboarders in and around two cities in England. We consider what it means to have a skateboarder identity, and how this is related to commitment, skill level, and participation in local skateboarder communities. We found that girls and young women frequently need more support to take up skateboarding than do boys and young men. Crucial enablers are both structural and personal, and include: initial and ongoing support, often from young men skateboarders; women role models in skate spaces; and official women and girl only sessions. Factors inhibiting young women skateboarders include: the public perception of skateboarding; harassment from members of the public; feeling uncomfortable in skate spaces; and hassle from men and boy skateboarders. We conclude that, while skateboarding, both officially and locally, is working to become more inclusive, it remains embedded in wider gendered power/knowledge relations, which privilege and support its domination by men.