You make some valuable comments regarding surfing and sexism. I found growing up as a male that it was expected that girls were at the beach to look at. (I see women and life differently now) You are right. if men and women are to be equal there has to be a real equality and a genuine change in how women are portrayed to/in the world. I think the clips are important to make us aware. If you talk about something but don't show me i tend to loose the idea in the flood of words. I posted on Mick's vimeo. I'll have to see what he says in response. I would rather not have women portrayed as just a body or just as window dressing. When that happens the women are seen as less than human (just a body to fill in space on a video) they don't have to be treated as human and that is not a safe place to be.
*The title of this essay is inspired by Kylie Maslen's recent article about women's sport, 'Skin in the Game '. The essay itself is dedicated to my friends in the Institute of Women's Surfing (Europe), with my thanks for sharing your stories and friendship and resources. I. Oh hey, surf media! Surf media is such an interesting world. I used to consume it voraciously, reading everything I could find - every book, magazine, website, and blog. I was trying to understand it, to understand the world it was describing, to see the patterns and themes as well as the points of difference and resistance. I wasn't out to create a typology or anything like that, but to get my head around what it is that we say to ourselves as writers, editors, photographers and readers. I wanted to know who was talking and who might be reading and to know what was missing from these stories; to find the gaps. It didn't take long for me to turn away from mainstream print magazin...
Today, this image came up on my facebook news feed, and it made me smile. Of course, images on facebook news feeds rarely come with any real contextual information, so I trawled around the net a bit and found some more information... This is an album cover for the ' Warumpi Band ', from the settlement of Papunya in Australia's Northern Territory**. It seems that this image was the cover for an EP of their song 'Jailanguru Pakarnu (Out of Jail)', which was the first ever rock song recorded in an indigenous language. It's a pretty jumping song. It's worth noting that on the Warumpi Band's wikipedia entry , the list of their musical genres includes 'anachro-rock'. *On a personal level, this is absolutely not true. I love Noosa Heads. And surfing! **Update: I had read that the man wearing the t-shirt is singer of the Warumpi Bane, George Burarrawanga. As Dave commented below however, it isn't George. Thanks for your comment, Dave!
Um, WHY have I never heard of this song before? Did it do the blog rounds last year when it was released and I wasn't paying attention? Having missed this song, I feel... inadequate. Not that the song is great, but conceptually... AMAZING! And the photo Jimmy Buffet is talking about is real and here it is! And here is a bonus Einstein sporting shorts and a devil may care attitude! Now, LYRICS!! With the obviously winning lines being 'Cause the universe was his home break/And we’re still all paddlin’ out'. **** There’s a photo of a genius Standing by the ocean In a pea coat and cool hat In 1943 On a beach in Santa Barbara He’s looking quite contented His world is only matter And energy Past the Channel Islands Out into the cosmos There are worlds in motion That only he can see He’s smiling as he’s thinking The harbor lights are blinking He’s the smartest cookie Ever was, ever will be Einstein was a surfer ...
You make some valuable comments regarding surfing and sexism. I found growing up as a male that it was expected that girls were at the beach to look at. (I see women and life differently now) You are right. if men and women are to be equal there has to be a real equality and a genuine change in how women are portrayed to/in the world. I think the clips are important to make us aware. If you talk about something but don't show me i tend to loose the idea in the flood of words. I posted on Mick's vimeo. I'll have to see what he says in response. I would rather not have women portrayed as just a body or just as window dressing. When that happens the women are seen as less than human (just a body to fill in space on a video) they don't have to be treated as human and that is not a safe place to be.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your thoughtful comments Stephen, and for backing my use of the clip - the reasons you mention are exactly the reasons why I posted it.
ReplyDeleteI'll go and see if Mick has responded to your comments. And thank you for speaking up!