In 1988 A Female Skater Was Writing A Column In Thrasher About Equality.
Thrasher Magazine 1988 - Skaters Edge Column by Bonnie Blouin
Last night our friend Craig, turned us onto to this 1988 article in THRASHER Magazine that was written by South Carolina skateboarder, Bonnie Blouin. Bonnie's brother was Blaize Blouin who turned pro and rode for G&S back in the day.
Bonnie wrote a column for THRASHER during the late '80s called SKATER'S EDGE. She would write about best board set up and stuff like that. But in this particular issue, Bonnie wrote exactly how she felt about being the lone female skater in her hometown, but also about traveling to California to compete and being blown away that there are no women's divisions at contests - which surprised her. She also wrote about the reality of dropping in and holding your own when a 185 lb guy looks at you from across the bowl and is determined to drop in on you.
Bonnie also makes the point that if you put female skaters in the mag other girls can see that they can do it too. Which we all know is so important in the progression of skateboarding.
One paragraph is especially telling:
"I no longer wonder why more girls don't skate. Unless a girl has the total strength and desire within herself to ride and keep riding, there is truly nothing to keep her motivated. In fact, society and a lot of guy skaters try to prevent girls from skating."
She goes on to mention the girls who came before her as her role models (Pattie, Laura, Vicki) but that are no longer on the scene, the guys still have these older role models skating and being a presence - the women do not.
The bottom line is, girls need to see other girls skateboarding, they need role models and to know that if she can do it, so can I.
We unfortunately lost Bonnie to suicide in the early '90s but her words ring true even today.