Stark Raving Madeleine

Companies everywhere are telling us that the female market is NOT important to them.

Whether they tell us through sexist advertising or as in the athletic world… non-sponsorship of female athletes (unless they are giggly, sexy, blonde and willing to pose nude) the result is the same… they don’t care.

Female skateboarders have it especially rough this summer. While there has been a bevy of bikini-clad surfer girls and super-cool snowboard ladies trotted out to appease us, companies have quietly cancelled women’s skateboard events (which rarely got media attention anyway, so hardly anyone will even notice… “women compete in the X-Games??” is a query I almost always hear) and it’s recently been reported that Vans is ending their 20-year relationship with legendary skateboarder Cara-Beth Burnside.

So what can we do?

We can cry “unfair” and blog until we’re blue in the face about the poor little girls with nothing but Barbie to inspire them, but it won’t change a thing. CEO’s don’t care about fairness and they don’t care about the self-esteem of our little girls, they care about dollars and market share and return on investment.

If nothing can change a business mind except business… we’ve got one option. Stop buying their products and when they realize that we are an important percentage of their market, wait for them to court us back.

Why should they?

Marketing experts will tell you that teens are an important and growing market, not only because they are brand conscious with a disposable income, but brand loyalty is often established in the teen years.

And what about teen girls? Well, teen girls have a higher disposable income than boys, they also rank clothing as their #1 purchase and shoes as #2. Twice as many teen girls buy their clothes with their own money than teen boys. Even more importantly, teen girls are far more likely to promote a brand to their friends and consistently share their brand information via social networking, which is rapidly becoming the most important marketing method for all business.

They tell us that women are not a big enough piece of the pie to warrant the expense. But, research tells us that girls represent somewhere between 18-25% of the 18.5 million skaters in the USA alone. I don’t claim to be a business expert, but that seems to be a large enough chunk of consumers to warrant at least one female team rider. Especially when you consider that this percentage exists despite enormous odds; having only a handful of role models, frequent discouragement and judgment from parents, teachers, peers, boys… these girls still skateboard. Imagine how much potential for growth there is in this market if girl skaters actually got any media coverage, proper sponsorships, if parents didn’t insist that skateboards are for boys and manicure kits are for girls, and if our society didn’t perpetually discourage girls from partaking in something “dangerous”.

So if we eliminate the idea that the girls market isn’t worthwhile, we’re left with few other reasons as to why skateboard companies can’t be bothered to include one woman in their team of twenty or more sponsored riders.

As Vans simultaneously drops Cara-Beth while revealing a Hello Kitty/Vans campaign… I can’t help but wonder what this says about how companies view the female market. Perhaps they think they’ve got us anyway, that girls don’t care about having female role models and will still buy the product to look cool to the boys. Or perhaps they think we don’t have any other options.

So what do we do?

We support the companies that are willing to support us. This isn’t a vendetta, it’s just that we need to look out for ourselves and that means not giving our money to people who won’t help us out. It isn’t even just about women sticking with women… If you’re a guy and Cara-Beth Burnside inspired you, tell the world. If you think Lizzie Armanto deserves to have her name on the empty space on the banner for the ProTec Contest, speak up. If you’re a BMX’er, support some skateboarders… if you’re buying a board, try buying from a company that is like you, will support your community in return, will listen to you…

There are companies going right now by people who are struggling to make ends meet… people who will see you as a customer and not just another dollar in the register.

Etnies has five female skateboard team riders in addition to female surfers and snowboarders.

Skatera (whose awesome jeans I plan to buy every time I see Abby Zsarnay) sponsors girl riders and makes great products.

Silly Girl Design has an all-female team, great boards and work hard to create opportunities for girls of all ages to skate.

Cheapsk8r who has supported our project and girl skaters from the get-go.

I’m sure there are more… go find them, talk to them, buy from them. Let’s help people like us.

And if we don’t… we may be seeing the end of women’s skateboarding at a time when it should be at an all-time high.

- Madeleine

Madeleine (aka Stark Raving Madeleine) is currently in self-financed production on an exciting television docu-series titled Girls Just Wanna Grind. Her first documentary, Adventure Girls (still in post-production), has already garnered interest from major television networks, inspiring her to develop a television series on inspiring, adventurous women for the USA, UK and Canada.

You can support our girl skater documentary buy purchasing this shirt and others at:
THE STARK RAVING MADELEINE SHOP

Or visit our kickstarter campaign and pledge at:
GIRLS JUST WANNA GRIND

Tags: abby zsarnay, adventure girls, ameejay papelera, cara-beth burnside, etnies, female, girl power, girl skaters, girls, girls just wanna grind, hoopla skateboards, julie kindstrand, julie westfall, lizzie armanto, nora vasconcellos, silly girl design, skateboarding, skater girls, skaters, vans, x-games

I was once told by a toddler in a tutu that “Girls don’t ride motorcycles… only boys do.” When I insisted that the shiny red Ducati 900SS (with the half fairing and Termignoni pipes) parked outside was mine and I had, indeed, ridden it to ballet class today… she told me I was being ridiculous and walked off.

Next week, little Debbie Lynn came up with folded arms and told me in no uncertain terms that “Girls don’t ride motorcycles… my Mommy said so”. Not about to lose an argument with someone who still needed help getting their velcro shoes on, I raced out to the bike after class and started it up just as little Debbie Lynn was leaving the building with her Mommy in tow. As I pulled away and turned the corner, I saw a pink tutu bouncing as a little girl pointed and pulled on her immaculately dressed Mother’s arm.

Week three, Debbie Lynn arrives and conspiratorially shares with me “Girls DO ride motorcycles! I see them from my carseat!” At the end of class, I spy her talking to my motorcycle outside while her mother takes a call on her cell, when her mother drags her away, little Debbie Lynn blows my motorcycle a kiss before merrily skipping away.

One convert for the girl team… now let’s get to work on her mom.

Tags: cafe racer, chromo, ducati, female, girl, kawasaki, lady, monster, moto girl, motorcycle, riders, riding, suzuki sv650, woman

Finally I’ve finished the skateboarding video teaser for the upcoming documentary. These girls were amazing and kind and lovely and fearless! While I’m still not quite brave enough to drop in on a cement bowl, I have been inspired to keep skating and am skating every day along the cobbled streets of London, despite many a “women don’t ride skateboards” being muttered at my back. For all the dirty looks, it’s worth it to see the sparkle and awe in a little girl’s eye as she sees me riding a skateboard.

It’s for all those little girls that we’re making this documentary. Whether you skateboard, ride a motorcycle, start a rock band, or any other kind of adventure… you’re pretty cool in my books. Let’s get those stories out there, so that little girls have something to see other than bland pop stars and vain celebrities!

Please subscribe to our YouTube channel, we need to show the world that people really want to see girls doing awesome stuff. More videos are coming soon!

Tags: girl power, girls, portland trifecta, rip, skate park, skateboarding, skateboards, vert, women

Have you ever felt guilty for not appreciating how much you have? If you do, you’re not alone. One of the most frequent things I hear from people is just that. “I should feel lucky for having so much, but I don’t.”

We do have a lot, but it’s too much. Just think about how many choices we’re faced with daily. Many of us start our days with what used to be a simple cup of coffee; now we decide between non-fat, half-fat, full-fat, soy, decaf, half-caf, hazelnut/amaretto/vanilla, with whip, no whip, extra hot, iced, room for cream, sugar, Splenda, Equal, Stevia… and the endless options don’t stop after we grab our coffee. We choose cereal from an entire grocery aisle of options. We choose television programs from hundreds of channels. Looking something up on the Internet provides us with thousands of websites from the simplest query. It’s overwhelming. So many choices give us the feeling that we should be able to control every teeny aspect of our lives, so when our lives go awry, we feel responsible.

Advertisers have sold us the idea that choice = freedom. While that is certainly true for big things like voting, it doesn’t necessarily hold true for which brand of bottled water we buy. The human brain can only manage so many things at once. It’s exhausting. Sometimes I think we’re so wrapped up in wondering if we bought the right car seat that adding the burden of learning some of the basics like dealing with teething, what to do if the baby won’t latch, and other things that deal directly with caring for this new person in our lives, feels like too much. We are so focused on getting the right accessories and then wonder why it doesn’t all go smoothly like the advertisements promised it would.

We are lucky. We do have it all; we can vote, we can work, we may even have a woman president. We have bigger houses, nicer cars, and more clothes than our parents had. Some of us even have housecleaners and nannies. We take yoga classes and get massages. We’re so lucky that it’s too much. We gather more and more stuff, do more and more activities and wonder why we feel so empty. It’s time to cut back.

Tags: advertising, choices, consumption, economy, green, options, overwhelmed, resolutions, simpler living, too much, voting

Nana lived only a few blocks from the ocean. I don’t remember much about actually being at the beach, what I do remember are the walks to the beach, those I remember distinctly. We’d walk down flights of moss covered stone steps hidden away between blackberry bushes, ivy, and wild roses. We took our time, picking blackberries, braiding ivy and roses into crowns as we danced and sang. These walks to the beach hold some of my most cherished memories. It’s only now that I realize how fortunate I was to have a grandmother who didn’t need to act “grown up”.

As children, we’re naturally full of spirit, whimsy, and a strong yearning for knowledge. Our days are filled with excitement and our sense of adventure wins out over the challenges and obstacles we encounter. Why then, do we as adults frown, scoff, and even sneer at the idea of fun or silliness? Why are we so anxious to “grow up” and distance ourselves from the spirit of youth?

Why does there come a point when responsible adults exchange their guitars for briefcases, their motorcycles for sedans, their snowboards for golf clubs? What happened to the freedom that was supposed to come along with the added responsibility of being in charge of your own life? As we grow through childhood, pressure is put on us to be increasingly more self-conscious. Certainly by the time we make it through high school, most of us have learned, rather painfully, to keep ourselves as inconspicuous as possible. Heading out into the world of adulthood, it’s soundly reinforced that we need to “look the part”, “be serious”, and “act responsibly”.

Now, you’ll get no argument from me that adults need to be responsible. It’s just that I’m thinking along the lines of: not causing harm to others, paying bills on time, not forgetting to feed the dog, and taking good physical care of ourselves and dependants. What I don’t understand is this; how did riding a skateboard, spontaneously jumping into a pile of leaves, or spending an afternoon drawing pictures with crayons worm their way into unacceptable, irresponsible adult behavior?

We’re too hard on ourselves and each other. Living life with spirit and enthusiasm is far more important than meeting someone else’s standard of appropriate behavior. We need to discover ways of reclaiming the youthful spirit that brightened our childhood and we need to let it be okay for others to do the same without judgment. It should be fun to be an adult. Funny thing is, the more we open up and allow ourselves the space to be real, to do and say the things we please, the more it allows and encourages those around us to do the same. My grandma had that effect upon people, and it’s a gift she passed on to me.

I thank her for it every day.

Tags: adult, child, childhood, dancing, experiencing, growing up, happiness, joy, life, responsibility, self-conscious, singing, youthful