Celebrating Women

It's International Women's Day and this year a milestone was finally reached in professional women's surfing, surfing Pipeline in the same conditions (and with at least the same vigor) as the men, so plenty to celebrate and to think about.

We know that women in ancient Hawaii surfed in equal numbers and frequently better than their male counterparts. And yet somehow, having come through industrialization, the expansion and fall of colonial empires, cultural and religious colonization, digitalization, from one edition to the next, women and men are given separate pages in the social rulebook.

When we talk about influential women, pivotal women, in surfing or in any arena, we look at those who have inspired us individually (and indeed, inspired the masses) to throw out any preconceptions about what we can or can't, should or shouldn't do, and simply be the best "human" we can be.

There hasn't been any time in history when women haven't broken line to follow their passions and values, and that is what has made them great. In any field and across genders, the pursuit of the passion and value is what inspires.

Now is the time to congratulate Tatiana Weston-Webb on her well deserved win at Supertubos. I love Tatiana. I love how she defies the blond bombshell trademark. I love how, in all the pretty headshots for their WSL posters, I think the girls have a cheeky glint in their eye as if to say, "You think I'm just a pretty face? Think again!" I love how they are not afraid to build strength and muscle, even where it has in the past not been fashionable for the "delicate sex". And I love most that they look at a gnarly break, huge Nazare, bombing Jaws, explosive Pipeline, and say, "Well if anyone can do it, I can!"

Today we can again applaud all the women on their performance. Now is the opportunity to congratulate Moana on surfing Pipeline with such prowess and fearlessness, that really inspired me to remind myself to look past the limits that we see placed before us, because they are always only superficial. Three surfers (Malia Manual, Conor Coffin and Owen Wright) chose to print Bethany Hamilton's name on their jersey - she is the very personification of this message in that she overcame the ultimate limit of losing a limb, half her paddle power, and still persevering in the very field that threw up the challenge. Because per passion and values wouldn't let her turn away.

Tyler went through a whole health crisis only a few years ago, leaving her virtually immobile, and she came back fighting, winning the world title in the meantime, and impressing me more than she ever has at Pipeline this year.

Now we can congratulate Brisa Hennessey again for winning Sunset as an underdog, further proving that self-belief is stronger than mass-belief.

Surfing has a special place on International Women's Day because the sport has seemed to be male-dominated maybe more than any other sport - through sponsorship, discrepancies between media representations of male and female surfers, wetsuit design, quality and range, and not least, unspoken priority in the line-up. Though this is slow all changing, to highlight again both genders surfing the same spots and designated equal prize money, thanks to women surfers who have become politicized and put time into arguing for this equality. Thank you Keala Kennelly and Rochelle Ballard, among others. ("be savage, not average"!)

In fact, surfing, with the constant competition for waves in the water, can easily politicize women, as I believe it has me. That can be part of the addiction - the determination to hold your own in the water, not just for yourself, but for all the women who surf alone amongst a majority of men. There is sometimes a noted camaraderie between women in the line-up, which is very nice, when they are surrounded by a majority of male surfers. It is a matter of holding each other up. It would be nicer of course if the camaraderie extended between genders, and both ways! But that's maybe another blog...

When I realized that the surfers (men and women) were wearing on their jerseys for the Meo Pro at Supertubos, in place of their own name, the names of women who inspired them, it triggered something inside me. I think it was a very well thought gesture. It can be quite a personal thing, to identify your own hero, but whether the name is visible or not, written out in print or just kept in mind, I'd like to think I'm wearing my own heroine on my back at all times.

Happy International Women's Day!!