Keala Kennelly proving once again that women do indeed charge giant waves. Photo: WickrX/Bruno Lemos
Editor’s Note: The following piece is in response to professional surfer Keala Kennelly’s take on the integration of women into big wave surfing contests. On the heels of Savannah Shaughnessy‘s inclusion as an alternate for the 2016 Titans of Mavericks contest, Kennelly offered the idea that inviting one woman into a male-dominated contest simply isn’t sufficient in progressing the sport.
Dear Keala,
I was disappointed to read, on International Women’s Day nonetheless, about women’s “shortcomings” in surfing big waves. As a Division 1 college athlete, an avid surfer and a student ready to graduate with honors with a degree in Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies, I think I have a unique (male) perspective. Earlier this week you asked, “Do men compete against women in boxing, golf, tennis or basketball?” Boxing is broken down into weight classes. If we put Tom Carroll, who is 5’5, against Sunny Garcia, who is 5’10 and 180 pounds, in a championship boxing match, people would laugh. But the last time I checked, the boxing ring isn’t trying to kill you, only your opponent.
I found the example of women competing against men in professional golf interesting as well. It is true that Sorenstam was a champion on the LPGA, yet failed to make the cut. However, Annika Sorenstam wasn’t the first or only woman to step into that realm. One of the founders of the LPGA, Babe Zaharias, shot back to back 76’s at the Los Angeles Open and made the cut at a PGA event. She went on to qualify for two more events in Phoenix and and Tucson before having her U.S. Open application denied. She was denied not based on skill or merit, but because she was a woman. Babe also happened to be an Olympian who won two gold medals in track and field at the 1932 Olympics. Surfing, on the other hand, is unlike any other sport.
I also don’t think it’s right to cite differences in red blood cell count as a crutch to hold other women back. Surfers are not massive NFL linebackers who rely on their strength and speed to make plays. Sure, the popup requires some fundamental strength, but the physical demand isn’t like other sports where strength is a major decider of performance. Cardiovascular conditioning is key in the water and anyone who has surfed knows this first hand. Surfing is a tremendous workout because it requires both large and small muscles during every aspect of riding a wave. Paddling out requires biceps, triceps, deltoids, and core strength, just to name a few. It is true that women have 25% less muscle size in their biceps in comparison to men, but again, we are trying to catch waves, not curl weights in the gym. The small, fast switch muscles in your toes, fingers, and forearms are used when gripping the board and beginning to popup. Finally, once you’re up and pumping, the big muscles including the quads, hamstrings and glutes all work together to give you the ride of your life. What women lack in large muscle fiber size, they make up for in elasticity. Due to less muscle fibers, their muscles are able to move more freely and with more flexibility. Flexibility can be the difference between ducking under the lip of the perfect tube and ending up on Kook Slams. Surfing doesn’t have an NFL combine with players running 40 yard dashes or performing a 225 pound bench press to qualify for the ‘CT. If we wanted to use gender as an example for why women aren’t playing in the NFL, I would say that is a reasonable argument, but for surfing it doesn’t add up. Adriano de Souza won the world tour and stands at an imposing 5’6 and 136 pounds. That would put him in fights against Holly Holm and Ronda Rousey in the bantamweight division of the UFC.
Contrary to what you’ve suggested, women and men are nearly identical in terms of intellectual abilities. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, women are graduating college with 57.4% of all bachelor degrees. In surfing there are no degrees, but if there were, I am sure we would all be present in Dr. Keala Kennelly and Dr. Kelly Slater’s courses. Surfing requires years of learning, not only to ride your board with the skills it takes to surf a wave like Maverick’s or Jaws, but to learn to read waves and the ocean. Skills that are taught from generation to generation and surfer to surfer. Skills that a father can teach his daughter and her friends.
Since women are graduating college at a higher rate than men, more men are staying home to raise children. A U.S. government survey in 2011 said that nearly 33% of fathers were a child’s primary care taker. It shows that role still leaning toward women statistically, but it also proves that it’s a job suitable for both genders. There are no genes that make women better diaper changers or cooks–these are just socially constructed roles. It’s a social evolution that goes back to hunter-gatherer days, when men stalked and killed their food while women stayed home to raise the children. I don’t know many people who still hunt and kill their food on a daily basis. Most of us just go to the grocery store. Times are changing and so are gender roles in society, but change happens slowly.
Surfing a huge wave like Maverick’s or Jaws means that you are willingly putting your life on the line to do what you love. The last time I checked, the ropes in a boxing ring wasn’t an electric fence and golf courses didn’t have land mines in them. The point is that you are not necessarily competing against the opponent in big wave surfing, but the wave itself. That is one thing that makes surfing so amazing. Contests are unique because they require so many things to even begin: swell size, direction, wind, and so on. If we are to give women a separate day for their event, who should we suspect is going to get priority? Women make less money than men in many walks of life, including the surf industry. A sad reality is that bikini bodies sell clothes more than women that rip. Rather than run a separate contest on separate days that will realistically have less prize money and fan fare, let’s see the girls charging alongside the boys in big wave contests.
I applaud you, Keala, for having the courage to speak up and challenge the status quo of big wave surfing as it stands today. In sports, like life, it only takes one person to ignite a revolution.
Keala Kennelly (Haleiwa, Hawaii, USA) rides the biggest tube ever challenged by a woman surfer at Teahupoo, Tahiti on July 22, 2015. The image is an entry in the 2016 WSL Big Wave Awards. Exceptionally large surf has been experienced worldwide in 2015.
