What is modern Surf Culture?

modern surf culture has become a bunch of flabby desk jockeys bitcching on a internet surf forecast website about "what modern surf culture is" and how much better it was in the past. look in the mirror.

 

to answer your question..

urban culture is responsible for the development of gangster rap. Keith Urban is a country music star, but he is from Australia, which is a country known for having pro surfers, beautiful women, and fantastic waves. Taj burrow is also from Australia and people who are familiar with him will usually refer to him just as Taj. This is not meant to be confused with Taz, which is the name for the Tasmanian devil in the warner brothers looney toons cartoon. The actual tasmanian devil is very similar to the new jersey devil, except that he originated from a freak birth in the pine barrens of tasmania; he drinks boags and is a big fan of rugby league. the new jersey devil, on the other hand, prefers to drink keystone light and gamble. Using the fortunes he acquired in atlantic city he purchased the nhl team that now bears his name. In the same way that a hockey player skates over frozen water, a surfer rides over liquid water. Furthermore, in many urban areas of New Jersey, the youngins have no access to a skating rink and neither do they know how to swim. The great corporate giants like quiksilver and billabong, out of the benevolence of their hearts, decided to market hip urban clothing so young ghetto children could feel like the surfers and hockey players that theyve always wanted to be. The corporates used marketing techniques and radical surf movies to promote the surf/hockey player lifestyle. They also contracted tank top and boardshort wearing neo-goons (robots that look like rich white teenagers with tan skin, blonde hair, and zero surfing ability) to drive around in jeep wranglers with boards on the roof blasting reggae music. they did this so the ghetto kids could be assured that it is ok "cool" to wear surf clothes even though not knowing how to surf. in the end, everyone is happy except the old hardcore surf dogs from the internet surf forums, because the forecast for hide was off by fifteen minutes and it totally ruined their sesh bro

 

I think in the 60's (ish) era when surf culture was being born around the world, there was a more easily defined stereotypical culture that was being developed. But even then, I think, it was very counter culture, not wanting to be locked down by rules and so called cultural norms. Now, the popularity has spread so far that it becomes harder to define, because it has reached such diverse populations. Anyone who has traveled to surf in a different state, let alone a different country, will recognize how each surf vibe in and out of the water is a little different.

I think this Tosh.O web redemption sums it up pretty good.

 

Two observations about the convergence of urban and surf culture. 1. I went to the premier of a surf video in Brooklyn--Brooklyn!--which in itself is kind of strange. But the people there were Brooklyn-hipster-surfers. I didn't know there was such a thing. The other thing is that there are surf shops in Manhattan. The Quiksilver in Times Square is not really a surf shop, which I guess is telling. Its a clothes store that plays surf and snowboard videos. But in soho, theres a shop that's more of an actual surf shop. It's bizarre. I don't really know what to make of these things, I'm just passing them on....

 

It's a general love for the ocean, its waves, and all who inhabit it. All else is hype.

 

does the sale of t shirts and surfing kitch help fund and elevate better gear for us to use in the water? if more kids in utah wearing oneal t shirts help fund better wetsuits i am all for it. interest is a good thing. without it the craftsmen that make boards would be doing other work having nothing to do with surfing. if that happens real talent would be wasted somewhere else. the sport needs to be funded to exist. \r\n\r\nI have seen what the lack of interest can do to a group. classical painting and sculpture has suffered because of the lack of painting and sculpture commissions in the past 20 years. things like lead white paint, soap tincture, and quality materials are disappearing making my life as a artist more difficult.\r\n\r\nthat could happen in surfing if you get rid of all of the urban, hipster elements that keep some interested in surfing as a style sense. in no way am i being a contrarian. i completly understand all of your sentiments.

 

Whats a flat rim hat?
Sometimes in summer around noon I put on a hat even if I lose it later. I'm 38 and my skin can't stand that much sun anymore. That zinc stuff helps too.

 

damn dude. preach.

 

IMO, it’s the latter, its just the shameless commerce division of the corpo’s at work. As Deepthroat said, “follow the money”. Quiksilver and Billabong make money selling tees, shorts and bikinis, not wetsuits. They’re attempting to cash in on the increased popularity of surfing as any good capitalist would, trying to push their brand as far as they can………..all the way to Manhattan.

It’s interesting to hear Quiksilver has a store in Times Sq, although I’m not surprised being that the Quiksilver Pro was held in Long Beach NY a few months ago, a chip shot from Times Sq, and had a record $1MM prize purse, and Kelly is being talked about for the cover of SI. I can hear the Ad mills of Madison Ave from here: surfing is cool! skateboarding is cool! you too can be cool even if you can’t surf or skate, all you have to do is wear one of our tee shirts, etc.

I think the surfing fad of recent years (and I think it is a fad) has peaked. As someone pointed out down thread, there is a lot less surf programming on FuelTV than there was a couple of years ago. It may be that the surf co’s already recognize this, hence the urban move. One of the old sayings on Wall $t is: when its on the cover of Time magazine, its time to sell. If I were long shares of Quiksilver or Billabong, I’d be thinking about selling.

 

I grew up surfing the mid 80s neon suits and new thrusters in the central nj coast. The line ups would get crowded but it seemed most people knew or recognized each other( not neccesarily liked each other). By the early 90s crowds thinned out. I would surf solo in the winter waiting for someone else to paddle out. Around the turn of century surfing popularity started growing again and hasnt stop since. A lot easier to surf yr round now w new suits. Well i just hit 40 still going out couple times a week if swell and still stoked and ridin a 6ft CI. So I ll still be here when surfing is uncool\r\n

 

"There's always someone gnarlier north of you" Granted wetsuit technology has come a long way, there are PLENTY of EMPTY places to surf miles from NYC and especially Boston, most of us (including myself most of the time) are just too lazy. Nevermind looking north to Canada!

 

I'm 33. "No Kooks" got me thinking...I wonder at what age i'll stop riding a "6 foot or less" surfboard. Just a thought.

As far as this culture thing goes. The skinny jeans are so freakin gay! I laugh at the little guys/men who squeeze into those things....wtf?

 

What I've noticed over the last 25 years or so is you have spikes in popularity, usually driven by a movie or TV show (from Gidget all the way to Point Break up to Blue Crush) and/or some sort of evolution in gear design or technology (pop-outs, thruster, wetsuits that don't leak, Surfline.com, Surftech/Tufflite etc.) but then inevitably the faddists get to a certain skill level and lose interest in favor of the next thing that Outside Magazine tells them is cool -- or much more likely, they fail to get past the learners stage and give it up.

 

agreed- we just gotta endure and stay above it! the weather!

 

dress any way you want. wear whatever you want.

just don't wear your personality on a hanger.

 

I think I'm going to write about this for my research paper. How surf culture has changed overtime and how it has become more mainstream recently. Should be a good one

 

Yup. The flash in the pan has been chugging along for 50+ years. Ebbs and flows at times but believe me there were some real crowds back then but more places to hideaway and so many areas around the world were uncrowded. There is NO modern surf culture -- it is all advertising and corporate. Overall population growth during the past 50 years is another major contributor to crowding.

 

When non-surfers cruised the beaches with boards racked on top of their cars, wearing huaraches and hang ten shirts "surfing culture" had become mainstream. That was back in the mid-60s, if not sooner.