Queer Reads: ‘Drop In’ showcases the Olympic queer female pioneers of skateboarding
Who gets to tell the story of skateboarding? For decades, skateboarding has been a patriarchal affair: in the ’70s it was a sun-bleached punk wreaking havoc on Venice Beach.
In the ’80s it drained suburban pools in short shorts and zero shirts. In the ’90s it moved East and tagged the streets in backwards hats and baggy pants.
And in all those decades, women were conspicuously absent—rarely seen in videos, seldom featured in magazines, and frequently compensated at contests with “exposure” in lieu of cash.
Now their stories get told in Drop In: The Gender Rebels Who Changed the Face of Skateboarding. Author Deborah Stoll introduces readers to four skateboarders who defied expectations of gender, talent, physical ability, and mental capacity to fight the status quo and blaze a path to today’s more equitable skate culture.
