KL:
Alright, women's surfing…
NG: Oh boy, here we go, let me get a drink of
water…
KL:
Fill in the blank. "The surf industry _______
me." (intrigues, frustrates or excites)
NG: Frustrates.
KL:
Why is that?
NG: Just the politics, the fairness that goes
down in the industry. It's frustrating, the image
that the industry portrays of the women. You can
either take it or leave it and I can leave it.
It's just not me, I can't relate to the whole
scene. What they expect a girl surfer to look
like and act like, it's just not me. There are
other industries that really support the girls
and let them be themselves. Like the snowboarding
industry, they are wild, they are crazy. Your
average girl is afraid of the water, so the girls
who do this are crazy, you've got to be a little
on the edge to be good at it. And I don't think
they support that. The girls just want to have
fun too, but it can be such a boy club, and hey
man, I want to play. It's frustrating because
you have something that you're good at, you're
talented at, and if you looked different, or played
a different part, you could do it. But because
I don't fit a mold I'm denied my dreams and what
I'm good at. Anyone put in that situation would
be frustrated.
KL:
Our nation's last remaining girls surf magazine,
Surf
Life for Women, just went under, how is that
affecting you?
NG: I wish I had done a lot more before they had
to call it quits, taken more photos and that.
Because now all the platforms are taken away and
there's not that incentive now to take photos.
But I think it's temporary. It's sad, Sunshine
did an awesome thing and it was cool to be a part
of it. It was a good magazine and its going to
be missed in my heart.
KL:
Do you understand why it failed?
NG: Well to quote Sunshine "Don't think you're
the only game in town", that's what she was
told. They're not interested in the girls who
are surfing, they're interested in the numbers.
I feel there could be a middle ground. Unfortunately,
I feel like they're exploiting our lifestyle,
they exploit us. We should be the ones holding
the torch and making all the money, but we don't
have the control. They just don't want to support
female surfers.
KL:
Do you understand why surf companies didn't want
to advertise in the only girls surf magazine?
NG: No! I have no idea why they wouldn't want
to. It makes absolutely no sense. It blows my
mind, it's just an unfortunate, heartbreaking
situation. I mean, who inspired us to surf? These
companies we bought into our whole grommet years,
right? Then you grow up to where you can express
yourself and achieve, and they turn their back
on you and say "sorry, you're not good enough,
we like models and fashion." So here are
these core companies that even claim to support
the core publications, but that's just a straight
up lie. But hopefully it will all come out in
the wash and people will start to change. It could
be something so amazing and spectacular. But right
now the industry is just so oppressive. It's like,
come on man, it's 2006, we're not in the 60's
anymore. I feel like I'm fighting a civil liberties
war. So yeah, that's one of the reasons I stopped
competing and went to college.
Nicole Grodesky
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