Chinese women skateboarders in Hong Kong: A skatefeminism approach

Abstract

This paper conceptualises the experiences of Hong Kong Chinese women skateboarders through the emergent concept of skatefeminism. It responds to the recent global growth and transformation of women’s skateboarding as a visible and promoted part of the sportification and industry of skateboarding. Notably the rise in visibility and inclusion of women’s skateboarding has coincided with an active debate on issues of social justice and sexual identities in skateboarding. We ask, in what ways do Hong Kong women skateboarders express alternatives femininities and can these be explored through skatefeminism? Our cohort of 10 women skateboarders share many of the values and ambivalences of women skateboarders in North American research. But in contrast our participants expressed conservative views regarding gender roles, physical abilities and relationships. Skatefeminism provides a way to make sense of these diverse outlooks and understand the different perspectives of female skateboarders while continuing to recognise their shared experience and subjectivities through skateboarding.