Views of Snowboard Culture
Snowboard culture is viewed and represented differently in different spaces, whether it is in the media, online, or in a scholarly article. There are some common stereotypes of snowboarders that don’t accurately describe the majority. These include punk, reckless, rebellious, stoners, and others that are similar. These stereotypes can be based on how snowboarding is represented in these spaces. There are many articles in the media covering snowboarding, however, there are few newspaper articles that talk much about the actual culture. Most articles are about the Olympics, the X Games, or other major events. Other than that, snowboarding is an uncommon topic for the newspaper. However, the media that does cover this culture usually markets it as a rebellious youth culture. This is one stereotype of snowboarders that is starting to fade. There are some individuals that fit perfectly with this stereotype, but it does not describe the majority of snowboarders. Similar to newspaper media, it is hard to find a scholarly journal that deals with the culture aspect of snowboarding. Most talk about injuries from skiing and snowboarding and how to help prevent them, but there are a few about the culture. Online is another space where many people voice their opinions and observations about this culture. These include online journals, blogs, and even YouTube.
One online article, “Snowboarding Sub-Cultures and the Barriers For Success”, is on a website where anyone can post articles about almost any topic. This article starts with the sentence “The snowboarders rebel against the sophisticated means of skiing and skiers were not able to accept the new culture on the slopes.” It talks about the punk and hip-hop attire that snowboarders wear, and the difference in language between snowboarders and skiers. It mentions a few early stereotypes of snowboarding that were brought from the skateboarding and surfing culture like “lazy, punk, grungy, stoners, troublemakers.” Then it goes on to say that these labels can be considered out of style. Some reasons for these stereotypes dying are that the sport is going more mainstream, and it has a varied crowd based worldwide. The part of the article about snowboarding culture concludes with the fact that snowboarders and skiers have become closer and show more respect for each other, and that the classic stereotypes of snowboarding are changing as the sport changes. (Sallador)
One good example of how snowboarding is viewed in other cultures comes from an article from CNN titled “Olympic snowboarder’s ‘street’ style offends Japanese.” A part of the snowboard culture is the way that snowboarders dress.
In many cases this is a “hip-hop” or “street” style. This article is about Kazuhiro Kokubo, a snowboarder fro
m Japan, getting off a plane in Vancouver for the winter Olympics. He was wearing the nation’s uniform, but he wasn’t wearing it right. The uniform consisted of a suit, shirt and tie. As pictured on the left, his shirt was untucked, his pants were worn loose below his hips, and his tie was loosened with his shirt unbuttoned at the top. He also had dreadlocks and a nose piercing. Many people from Japan were offended and thought that his dress was unacceptable. “It’s extremely regrettable that he dressed in a totally unacceptable manner as a representative of Japan’s nation team,” said Kawabata on the floor of Japan’s parliament. The Japan Ski Association punished Kokubo and his snowboard team manager and two coaches by keeping them from attending the Olympic opening ceremony as a show of regret. If Kokubo wore clothes of that style in America at a ski resort, nobody would think twice about what he was wearing because its common for snowboarders to dress in this fashion. However, the style that is “normal” here is not acceptable in Japan. If this was at an Olympic event, it may have been different. However, Kokubo was wearing this in his personal time when he was getting off of the plane. It is interesting to see how the clothing style of the snowboard culture is viewed in different countries. (Lah)
Another newspaper article “’Bizarre’ snowboard ban Parks Dept. says it goofed after Brooklyn confrontation becomes YouTube hit,” from the New York Daily News, is about snowboarders that were kicked out of a park. The snowboarders were kicked out by park rangers and told that it was illegal to snowboard in the park. The confrontation happened when the snowboarders took a garbage can and used it as a ramp. Rangers told them, “Snowboarding is illegal in New York City parks.” They also said that if the snowboarders hadn’t misused the garbage can, they could have looked the other way. The whole thing was filmed and was put on YouTube. After reviewing it on YouTube, a spokesman for the Parks Department said the rangers were right to reprimand the snowboarders for using the trash can, but said that the sport is not banned from parks. It was right for the park rangers to confront the snowboarders about misusing the trash can, however it was wrong for them to kick the snowboarders out of the park and tell them that it is illegal to snowboard in city parks. The park rangers may have told the snowboarders that its illegal in parks because of the stereotypes of snowboarders being rebels and reckless, and since the snowboarders were misusing city property. Snowboarding is permitted in parks just as sledding and cross-country skiing are. (McLaughlin)
Snowboard culture is also represented online. There is a video on YouTube titled “My Thoughts on Snowboarding Culture” that is just a video of a snowboarder talking about what he knows about the culture and what he has read and heard about it. He talks about conflicts between skiers and snowboarders, which is where most of the stereotypes about snowboarding come from. He points out that the only conflicts he has had with skiers have been with people from an older generation. He has never had a conflict with a skier from his generation. He says that this new generation of skiers and snowboarders understand each other, and they don’t have the traditional roots that older skiers have. The younger skiers are now wearing the same clothes as snowboarders, and the cultures are becoming more similar. The fact that there isn’t a conflict between younger snowboarders and skiers may be part of the reason that the older stereotypes of snowboarders are being forgotten. He says that snowboard culture is partially shaped by the media, and the media markets it as a rebellious youth.
“What Is So Punk About Snowboarding?” is a scholarly article about snowboard culture from the Journal of Sport & Social Issues from the year 2000. This article describes how the sport began and how its culture was very different from the ski culture at the time. The author explains that the rise of snowboarding offered resistance to the dominant ski culture. These two cultures were separated by age, fashion, etiquette, and lingo. Many snowboarders expressed the “I don’t care” attitude. There are also a few quotes from professional snowboarders talking about the sport. They say that snowboarding is about being yourself and not being judged by others, it’s not about nationalism and politics and big money. The author also states that the media has a significant impact on how the sport is viewed. The media markets snowboarding as a culture of rebellious youth. However, the demographics of people that snowboard are those who have enough money to continue in an expensive, middle to upper class sport. The sport is becoming more mainstream and is more accepted. There are much less conflicts between skiers and snowboarders, and the old stereotypes of snowboarding are fading. (Heino 176 – 191)
To someone unfamiliar with the sport, snowboarders may seem like they are reckless, punk stoners that are trying to “stick it to the man.” Stereotypes like this have been around since the beginning of snowboarding, and back then they were mostly true. It is understandable how someone may still think this if they don’t know much about snowboarding because the media portrays snowboarding as a young reckless culture.
However, snowboarding has changed a lot since it was created, and so has the culture. This is evident in the online and scholarly spaces, but the media still partially represents snowboarding as a rebellious youth culture. There are still people that fit this description, but the majority doesn’t. The culture has moved away from its rebellious beginning into a more respectable sport.
Citations
Heino, Rebecca. “What Is So Punk About Snowboarding?” Journal of Sport & Social Issues. (2000): 176-191. Print.
Lah, Kyung. “Olympic snowboarder’s ‘street’ style offends Japanese.” CNN (2010): Web. 3 Mar 2011. <http://www.cnn.com/2010/SPORT/02/18/japan.kokubo. olympics/index.html>
McLaughlin, Mike. “’Bizarre’ snowboard ban Parks Dept. says it goofed after Brooklyn confrontation becomes YouTube hit.” Daily News 19 Jan 2010, Web.
“My Thoughts on Snowboarding Culture.” YouTube. Web. 3 Mar 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mvqi3NcnkE>
Sallador, Victoria. “Snowboarding Sub-Cultures and the Barriers For Success.” Ezine Articles. Web. 3 Mar 2011. <http://ezinearticles.com/?Snowboarding-Sub-Cultures-and-the-Barriers-For-Success&id=3902941>
“Kazuhiro Kokubo” Japanese Fashion. Web. 3 Mar 2011. < http://fashion.3yen.com/2010-02-22/olympic-thong-and-other-transparent-trends>
snowboardculture 