Skateboarding Culture

Skateboarding Culture
By: John Galt

Over the years skateboarding has been given quite a reputation. Skaters are known worldwide and the sport, or hobby, is more popular now than ever before. The trend seems to be with younger skaters who take it up as a hobby with other likeminded people. So just how has skateboarding received its bad name and is every skater really a bad influence on the world today?

How the Skateboarding Culture Has Developed

These days skaters have a rather mixed reception from the general public. Some think skaters are just simply having fun, but a lot of people seem to regard them as troublemakers. In order to understand why skaters have received their current reputation, you really have to look back to a little skating history.

For example, originally the concept of skating came from surfing and the boards were extremely alike. However, the more popular that skateboarding became, the wider it spread across the United States of America and it was then that it really started to get a name for itself. However, the image was not really a good one and the film Video Days was released in 1991 which showed skaters in a rather bad light. Basically skaters were shown as young, teenage rebels and although it has been years since then, skateboarding is still often looked at as a reckless thing to be doing.

Today magazines relating to skating do give alternating views on the sport. Some magazines show that skating is rebellious and it is a cool thing to do, whilst others portray the sport in a more modern way showing that skating can be fun and professional. So this often means that there are two types of skaters around and unfortunately they all get tarred with the same brush.

Not all skaters are rebellious but unfortunately a lot of them seem to be and so the public does not generally have a good view on the sport. The way skaters dress also seems to have an impact on public opinion with the latest trend seeming to be a chain hanging down from low rise jeans. Whilst it may only be a slight fashion statement, unfortunately some people do tend to get offended and that further affects the skaters reputation.

Recently some skateboarders have started to learn the martial arts MMA. This has been transferred over from the North Shore surfing community and has picked up steam in the riders communities. Sponsors such as Hurley and Da Kine have produced lines of clothing that have crossed over from the MMA community to the skateboarding community. What this says about the future of the sport is uncertain, but the element of fighting has its plus and minuses. The plus side is that it shows the rebellion of the skater, and the minus is the fighting that the skaters may learn to like and adapt.

Overall the skating culture is becoming more positive but unfortunately there will always remain a portion of people who look upon it as a rebellious and pointless hobby.


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