Skateboard and Society Change Time
Cultural Awareness: Skateboarding
I have selected to write the essay on the ever-changing culture of skateboarding. I have chosen this culture because I have seen the way that skateboarding and skateboarders has been viewed and perceived by our society change time after time with the changing generations. I have not only witnessed it myself, but in both research of the past and present history of the sport and culture there has been a 180 degree spin on the way that the culture is viewed.
Skateboarding dates all the way back to the 1950’s. Its origin comes from Californian surfers that wanted to turn the streets into waves. The first boards were simply wooden boards with roller skate wheels mounted on the bottom of them. In 1963, there were some of the first competitions for skateboarding, hosted by some of the big name brands that are still around today, like Hobie. One of the most known stories of skateboarding will forever hold one of the most influential times of the whole realm of skateboarding, was the story of Dogtown and the Z Boys. (Cave, 2008) That is a very brief explanation of the origin of skateboarding, but back in those days it was an extremely rebellious sport for kids to be involved in. Skateboarders had the stereotype of being trouble makers and losers. It was a stereotype that evolved along with the sport because skateboarders changed their appearances just like the many fashion fads that came with the decades. Skateboarding had somewhat of a dress code that the “skaters” followed.
For a very long time, the negative stereotype that followed skateboarding was due to the fact of our human nature of not being able to accept something that we don’t understand (Worley, Worley and Soldner, 2008). Most people that perceived skateboarding as such a bad thing had never participated in it. They didn’t accept it as a legitimate sport because it wasn’t as traditional as say, basketball or
I have selected to write the essay on the ever-changing culture of skateboarding. I have chosen this culture because I have seen the way that skateboarding and skateboarders has been viewed and perceived by our society change time after time with the changing generations. I have not only witnessed it myself, but in both research of the past and present history of the sport and culture there has been a 180 degree spin on the way that the culture is viewed.
Skateboarding dates all the way back to the 1950’s. Its origin comes from Californian surfers that wanted to turn the streets into waves. The first boards were simply wooden boards with roller skate wheels mounted on the bottom of them. In 1963, there were some of the first competitions for skateboarding, hosted by some of the big name brands that are still around today, like Hobie. One of the most known stories of skateboarding will forever hold one of the most influential times of the whole realm of skateboarding, was the story of Dogtown and the Z Boys. (Cave, 2008) That is a very brief explanation of the origin of skateboarding, but back in those days it was an extremely rebellious sport for kids to be involved in. Skateboarders had the stereotype of being trouble makers and losers. It was a stereotype that evolved along with the sport because skateboarders changed their appearances just like the many fashion fads that came with the decades. Skateboarding had somewhat of a dress code that the “skaters” followed.
For a very long time, the negative stereotype that followed skateboarding was due to the fact of our human nature of not being able to accept something that we don’t understand (Worley, Worley and Soldner, 2008). Most people that perceived skateboarding as such a bad thing had never participated in it. They didn’t accept it as a legitimate sport because it wasn’t as traditional as say, basketball or