The Social Meaning of Surfing from a Social Psychological Perspective
The following document contains links and YouTube videos containing
relevant items connecting the lifestyle of surfing a la social psychological
study. Most media in this document enforces Cooley’s theory of the looking
glass self, that states that a person grows from society’s interactions and
the perception of them. Within surfing, there are the two subcultures of
men and women’s surfing. I have added some links to show how different
society views them. Because society views many surfers as dead-beat, lowlifes, I aim to explore where the root of this image comes from and how it
affects surf culture.
Surfing Madonna Encinitas:
In 2010 Mark Patterson took a trip to Italy and studied mosaics. He claims that the
surfing Madonna has visited him numerous times throughout the years. He said he
had finally reached a point where he quit his job and dedicated 9 months of his life
to build a mosaic of her. Many politicians declared this piece of work as “graffiti” and
were looking for the artist to charge him with vandalism. The piece of art soon had a
large following and supported Patterson when he was outted as the artist. Since the
initial installation under the train tracks in Encinitas, the mosaic has been moved,
legally, to Café Ipe in Leucadia, and it is now in its final home near the original spot.
https://thecoastnews.com/2013/10/surfing-madonna-finds-new-home-onencinitas-boulevard/
Original Location
Café Ipe Location
New Location (You can see the original underpass it was located)
Sh*t Surfers Say:
This is a video that was created by a surf company to follow the trend of YouTube
videos titled “S*** _____ Says”. These videos are created to demonstrate what society
holds true about a certain social group. For this video they use common social
stigmas society finds true about surfers such as looking for free food, being obsessed
with the Rastafarian culture, and over using surf lingo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XBGITsNoyg
Surf Culture:
This is an article found on a popular website any surfer you ask would know.
Surfline.com allows surfers to view webcams of surf spots and view forecasts. They
also provide articles and an A to Z index of what you need to know about surfing.
This section is titled Surf Culture and provides a basis how it formed in mainstream
society due to Hollywood movies.
http://www.surfline.com/surfing-a-to-z/surf-culture-explained_916/
Surfer Slang:
This is a webpage dedicated to words commonly used by surfers. It is commonly
known that surfers use a plethora of this diction in a slowly spoken tone. Society
often will categorize anyone who uses this slang as a surfer, which then comes with
the assumption of being lazy and uneducated.
http://cougartown.com/surf-slang.html
Surf Terms:
This is another webpage that formed a glossary of surfing terms. Because diction is
so important to be a part of a social group, these dictionaries help bridge the gap
between the mainstream society and the surf culture. With the description on this
page claiming this dictionary will help you “walk like a surfer” and “talk like one”.
http://www.surfing-waves.com/surf_talk.htm
Surfers…:
This is a popular Internet meme of how different people view surfing and surfers.
There are many different views on surfers including the societal viewpoint of being
deadbeat stoners, or as the meme shows, what one’s girlfriend would think it as a
dangerous sport. This meme provides an interesting viewpoint on the sport from a
multitude of lenses.
What is a Kook?:
This is an article published by GQ magazine that explains what a “kook” is and
proper surf etiquette. GQ defines a cook as “an individual with no understanding of
the social and sartorial norms of surfing”. The term kook is a popular surf slang
often used negatively to describe a person who is clueless to surfing and has just
picked up the mainstream attributes of the sport. The article then goes on to list
then “ten surfer commandments”. Ironically this article is coming from GQ
magazine, which I would not consider a credible surfing source, but this article has a
sense of truth.
http://www.gq.com/sports/guides/201307/kook-surf-etiquette-guide-2013
Kook of the Day:
A kook, defined above, is someone trying to fake the surf culture, but clearly has no
idea what he or she is doing. This is a blog dedicated to exploiting those who are
participating in kook activities. Throughout the blog you will find photos of people
who have put incorrectly assembled a surfboard or people casually spending time in
their wetsuits at restaurants or even airplanes. This source is a good insight on how
surfers view the impact of mainstream surf culture.
http://kookoftheday.tumblr.com/
Step into Liquid:
Step into Liquid is a very popular surf documentary created by Bruce Brown, a
popular filmmaker within the surfing world. This film touches every aspect of what
surfing is to professional surfers along with average people who truly just enjoy the
sport for what it is. The culture of surf and how it brings people together is the main
focus of this film. I believe this movie goes into depth of what surf culture truly is
rather than how society perceives it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqzHvcwJmQY
The Endless Summer:
The Endless Summer is a known to be one of the most culturally significant films
within the surf industry. Many coin this film to be the beginning of social impact of
surfing. The film follows two surfers making a trip around the world in search of
following summer around the world. Because the surfers within this film take such a
priority to finding perfect, warm, and un-crowded waves, society began to view
surfers as disregarding aspects of societal norms such as work and obligations. This
created the social stigma that surfers are lazy and unmotivated.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNpmuW8NAZs
A Sociological Study of the Surfing Subculture:
This is a link to a popular thesis from the Department of Sociology San Jose State
University. This thesis was written in attempt to describe and analyze the surfing
subculture in Santa Cruz, California. Throughout the study the researcher examines
many different factors of surfers in the Santa Cruz area including age, gender, race,
and class. Ultimately he found that most surfers in Santa Cruz are young, male,
single and have middle and upper-middle class origin.
http://www.lajollasurf.org/srf_thes.html#preface
Surfin USA:
The Beach Boys were an American rock band formed in Southern California in the
1960’s. They are popularized based on their lyrics reflecting the Southern California
culture of surfing. The Beach Boys contributed greatly to the surf music genre,
which took mass popularity. This also contributed to the growth of surf culture
throughout the nation. The lyrics of these surf rock songs contribute to societal
beliefs of surfers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2s4slliAtQU
Surf’s Up, Spicoli:
This is a clip of the infamous Jeff Spicoli from Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Jeff
Spicoli is a surfer and habitual marijuana user within the film that depicts Cameron
Crowe’s real life experiences from a high school in San Diego. Many people claim
that Sean Penn’s role as Spicoli within this film contributes to the infamous
stereotype of surfers being marijuana-using losers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uf5rIuJPTt0
No Girls Allowed:
Men and women are viewed differently within the surf culture. Men are often seen
as lazy and unmotivated, whereas women are seen as fit and exotic. Within this
article the author examines women surf culture as beauty over talent. He explains
that many sponsors are quick to throw more money at those who are more
physically attractive than those who are better surfers. This creates a industry
driven by society and the media rather than talent.
http://www.theinertia.com/business-media/no-girls-allowed/
Blue Crush:
This is the trailer for the popular Hollywood film Blue Crush. This film popularizes
the subculture of women surfing. Although this film does give some insight on the
popular culture, it also sexualizes the culture. This film created the social idea that
women surfing consists of fit women in bikinis. Because society values the idea of
women surfing for this, the surf industry generally markets based on this. The
women of surfing tend to be over sexualized and used for marketing rather than
their actual ability. This is a major contribution as to how societal views of surfing
impacts the actual industry.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAyG60RPv-k
Hottest Women in Surfing:
This is a link to an article published within a surf magazine of the hottest women in
surfing. This relates back to the idea that society places on women within the surf
industry. Rather than ranking these ladies on their talent, the magazine will sell
more issue based on their appearance. This, again, shows the impact that society
holds on the industry and ultimately the sport.
http://surf.transworld.net/1000154909/photos/the-hottest-girls-in-pro-surfing2012-edition/
Alana Blanchard:
This is a video link of one of the most famous woman in surfing, Alana Blanchard.
Alana is often more known for her physical attributes and small bikinis rather than
her surfing ability. This video clip demonstrates the focuses on her lifestyle rather
than her surfing. Next I will show another clip of a famous woman surfer who
embraces the sport more so than this clip shows.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lJQz1COEWI
Keala Kennelly:
Keala Kennelly is well known in the surf community as one of the guys. Featured in
the movie Blue Crush, Kennelly is recognized as being an intense competitor and
fearless in the water. As you can tell, the focus from this video is immensely
different than the last. Since Blanchard provides more exposure and profit for
sponsors, she is able to receive more support from surf companies than Kennelly.
The way society views women in surfing directly affects the industry and athletes
within the sport.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xtLOLn6rPQ
North Shore:
North Shore is a popular Hollywood movie that follows a young surfer, Rick Cane,
that moves to Hawaii from Arizona. Upon arriving to Hawaii, he struggles with the
realization that the culture is not at all what he assumed it was. Coming from wave
pools in Arizona, the ocean and currents prove to be a problem for him. He not only
faces hardship with learning the actual sport, but also with the Hawaiian surf
culture. The Hawaiian surf culture is an intense community surrounding around
localism and customs. This film shows the transformation of Rick to be a respected
entity within the community.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1Jy9hvrfOU