Surfing, Sex, Genders and Sexualities

Sex, gender and sexuality have played an important role in shaping the culture of surfing and are central themes in the study of sport and movement cultures. Rooted in a rich precolonial history, surfing has undergone a modern transformation shaped by in visual culture, commodification, sportization, mediatization and globalization, arguably all linked to sex, gender and sexuality. Using the physical culture of surfing as its focus, this international collection discusses the complex relationships between surfing, sex/es, gender/s and sexuality/ies.

This book crosses new theoretical, empirical and methodological boundaries by exploring themes and issues such as indigenous histories, exploitation, the marginalized, race, ethnicity, disability, counter cultures, transgressions and queering. Offering original insights into surfing’s symbolism, postcolonialism, patriocolonial whiteness and heteronormativity, its chapters are connected by a collective aspiration to document sex/es, gender/s and sexuality/ies as they are shaped by surfing and, importantly, as they re-shape the many, possibly previously unknown, worlds of surfing.

Surfing, Sex, Genders and Sexualities is fascinating reading for anybody with an interest in the sociology of sport or gender and sexuality studies.

lisahunter conducts research on, with and for surfing has focused on pedagogy, identifications, practices, events and representations. Recent publications include ‘Seaspacetimes: cyborg assemblages of flesh, water, technology and spacetime using mobile methodologies with sensory (auto)ethnography’, ‘The long and short of (performance) surfing: Tightening patriarchal threads in boardshorts and bikinis?’, ‘Positioning participation in the field of surfing: sex, equity, and illusio’, and ‘Desexing surfing? Pedagogies of possibility.’ ‘E teaches and researches in pedagogy, health education, HPE teacher education, movement studies, sexuality and gender, ethnography and visual, narrative and sensory research methods. lisahunter conceived the international Surfing Social Hui in 2016 to establish a supportive and activist-based academic network with ongoing meetings and synergies, including those with surf-related community groups. With a southern Pacific Ocean base ‘e is currently establishing the Institute for Women Surfers (South) and welcomes interested participants