missing in action....female shapers/ board makers
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missing in action....female shapers/ board makers
with the growth and growth of women/girlie surfing i find it strange that ...too my knowledge...theres no female shapers around
my logic is.....with more girlies in the water a corresponding increase in female board makers would happen ( on at least a backyard level) but it hasn't
why would this b so are the girls only in it for the" image" and lack substance on the nitty gritty design front
it would be interesting too see if girlies would design a different board shape for there own needs.....or maybe just spray frangipani flowers over them instead
my logic is.....with more girlies in the water a corresponding increase in female board makers would happen ( on at least a backyard level) but it hasn't
why would this b so are the girls only in it for the" image" and lack substance on the nitty gritty design front
it would be interesting too see if girlies would design a different board shape for there own needs.....or maybe just spray frangipani flowers over them instead
Literally one of the best ding fixers now resides at Big Hill Fongy. Sold the business so she’s not fixing dings anymore, but making wax and doing farmlivin’.
Damn good rider too of all things foam.
Be surprised if you haven’t come across both she and her partner in your surfing activities, although the latter half has been having a fair bit of chemo so hasn’t been in the water too much. Luckily he fashioned a shaved head before he started the treatment.
Damn good rider too of all things foam.
Be surprised if you haven’t come across both she and her partner in your surfing activities, although the latter half has been having a fair bit of chemo so hasn’t been in the water too much. Luckily he fashioned a shaved head before he started the treatment.
a fong topic with a pole.....? no
i think it's fairly true to say that the large majority of surfers are males. and a lot i would dare to say are not too open-minded. for a female to become a profitable shaper, she'd have to shape for both males and females (as male shapers currently do). the only thing is, how many of these not-so-open-minded males would be happy to buy a board shaped by a female? would YOU?
apologies for any generalisations i've made
i think it's fairly true to say that the large majority of surfers are males. and a lot i would dare to say are not too open-minded. for a female to become a profitable shaper, she'd have to shape for both males and females (as male shapers currently do). the only thing is, how many of these not-so-open-minded males would be happy to buy a board shaped by a female? would YOU?
apologies for any generalisations i've made
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Back in the 1980s, a woman named Cougar Wicc-Otter surfaced as a board designer.
Cougar was a wiccan feminist, with little or no surfing experience, who had the theory that women couldn't surf very well because they were being forced to use male-designed equipment. So she launched a women's only surfboard label up at Angas. Cougar thought women all had a different centre of gravity to all men, and thus needed womanised boards.
I think she may have become frustrated by the homocentric attitudes of the surfing community, and given up
On a more practical note, I wonder if maybe women are just too smart to be wasting time obsessing over rocker curves when they've got a bunch of delusional 40-plus-year-old male servants to do it for 'em.
Cougar was a wiccan feminist, with little or no surfing experience, who had the theory that women couldn't surf very well because they were being forced to use male-designed equipment. So she launched a women's only surfboard label up at Angas. Cougar thought women all had a different centre of gravity to all men, and thus needed womanised boards.
I think she may have become frustrated by the homocentric attitudes of the surfing community, and given up
On a more practical note, I wonder if maybe women are just too smart to be wasting time obsessing over rocker curves when they've got a bunch of delusional 40-plus-year-old male servants to do it for 'em.
There are a couple of femal shaper in Oz, on the gold coast i think. I will try and get their names or brands and post it. But remember, the rise and rise in surfing amongst girls has only just taken off in teh last few years since Blue Crush in 2002 I think. (so, gotta give girls the time to master the sport, decide they want to shape as a career, do an apprenticeship or whatever you do to learn shaping, then get the means to start up a company and build a reputation). This would take a few years to get underway. So maybe there are a few future girls shapbng in the line up.
But you also have got to remember that more shapers now are going out of business, not into it, becuase of the increasing manufacturing of boards in Asia. So with such cheap, mass produced boards which offer retailers far more profit than their local shaper does, it's not exactly an easy market to crack into.
also being a man or a woman shaper starting out would be hard I imagine, as it's so reliant on your reputation.
But you also have got to remember that more shapers now are going out of business, not into it, becuase of the increasing manufacturing of boards in Asia. So with such cheap, mass produced boards which offer retailers far more profit than their local shaper does, it's not exactly an easy market to crack into.
also being a man or a woman shaper starting out would be hard I imagine, as it's so reliant on your reputation.
[I wrote offline before reading Nick's reply]
The following sounds like a mushie trip, but I’m pretty confident on most of the details. I weaned myself of surf mags more than 20 years ago, but if my memory serves me...
Around about 1984 (give or take), a woman by the name of Cougar Wicce-Otter (I’m not joking) set up Wildwomen surfboards in Angourie. The goal was to develop better surfboards for women, and no doubt gain freedom from the patriarchal oppressor.
This was the glory days of the Hawke-Keating ALP government. Some federal department gave her a grant of $10k or so, as the goal pushed some feelgood buttons in Canberra. Equally, the dark forces of conservatism (little Johnny was in opposition) were outraged and generated a right wing shock jock and tabloid outrage over the perceived waste of taxes. There was a media frenzy at the time.
If you dug deep into archives of the time (SMH, Tracks, Hansard) you might turn some of this up.
The following sounds like a mushie trip, but I’m pretty confident on most of the details. I weaned myself of surf mags more than 20 years ago, but if my memory serves me...
Around about 1984 (give or take), a woman by the name of Cougar Wicce-Otter (I’m not joking) set up Wildwomen surfboards in Angourie. The goal was to develop better surfboards for women, and no doubt gain freedom from the patriarchal oppressor.
This was the glory days of the Hawke-Keating ALP government. Some federal department gave her a grant of $10k or so, as the goal pushed some feelgood buttons in Canberra. Equally, the dark forces of conservatism (little Johnny was in opposition) were outraged and generated a right wing shock jock and tabloid outrage over the perceived waste of taxes. There was a media frenzy at the time.
If you dug deep into archives of the time (SMH, Tracks, Hansard) you might turn some of this up.
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Grant was from Australia Council for the Arts. LIBERAL and NATIONAL PARTY (male) Pollies slagged it big time.Dolphin63 wrote:[I wrote offline before reading Nick's reply]
The following sounds like a mushie trip, but I’m pretty confident on most of the details. I weaned myself of surf mags more than 20 years ago, but if my memory serves me...
Around about 1984 (give or take), a woman by the name of Cougar Wicce-Otter (I’m not joking) set up Wildwomen surfboards in Angourie. The goal was to develop better surfboards for women, and no doubt gain freedom from the patriarchal oppressor.
This was the glory days of the Hawke-Keating ALP government. Some federal department gave her a grant of $10k or so, as the goal pushed some feelgood buttons in Canberra. Equally, the dark forces of conservatism (little Johnny was in opposition) were outraged and generated a right wing shock jock and tabloid outrage over the perceived waste of taxes. There was a media frenzy at the time.
If you dug deep into archives of the time (SMH, Tracks, Hansard) you might turn some of this up.
I remember a pic of at least one board she made: trully bizarre thing with the nose being almost exactly like a rounded square tail!!! Of course it had pretty wild pagan spray job too, and might have even have had handles and I think it didn;t actually have fins. Actually more I think it looked a bit like the odd double ender some young air guys have mucked around with in recent years. Maybe this Wikka Sista was ahead of her time.
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