Surf Culture - Research Paper Example

Surf Culture Youthful activities sometimes spawn subcultures that are constructed around the activity. These activities bring people with similar interests together and the people involved form groups with their own set of styles in clothes, jargon, art forms and rituals connected with the activity. Today as increasing numbers of people take to the enjoyable recreational sport of surfing, it has given rise to a youth subculture that has for many become a way of life. The sport has resulted in an upsurge of a whole new industry that thrives on products that project the carefree and casual lifestyle of surfers Although surfing as we perceive it today became popular in the 1950s and 1960s, the sport is much older. Surfing was both a pastime as well as a training module and exercise regimen in the ancient Hawaiian culture, where priests would engage in ritual dances and chants to please the sea so as to provide good waves for surfing. Surfing for the ancient Hawaiians was also a means of resolving conflicts and they took great pride in testing their skills in fierce contests. As it became popular in California and Australia, in the early twentieth century, the invention of new varieties of lighter, better designed surfboards with improved maneuverability made the sport more accessible to greater numbers of people. What revolutionized the sport perhaps more than any other invention was that of the wetsuit that allowed surfers to experiment with new and daring surfing maneuvers and enjoy the sport in all weathers. Today the subculture of surfing has become a way of life in many parts of the world especially Hawaii, California, Florida and Australia. Surfing has numerous characteristics that tend to contribute to group cohesiveness. The beach which is the natural meeting ground of surfers is a place that all can share. Since surfers meet at particular places where the waves are rideable, their interactions help form connections on the basis of the shared interest, and the excitement and intensity of the sport adds a special bond of belonging to the group. The surfing subculture has very recently gone through the process of forming a distinguishable organization, yet many surfers describe the feeling of riding the waves as an almost spiritual experience. The movies and music of the 1960s helped to popularize the sport in California and board shorts, baggies, bikinis, and woodies that transported boards to the beach became symbols of a new and growing popular subculture. In recent years surfing has become a professional and competitive sport with a huge fan following and funds from corporate sponsorship ensure that it is big business. This has given birth to a thriving industry that promotes fashions that symbolize the carefree lifestyle of the surfer. The windswept hair on which is perched a beanie or cap depending on the weather, the unshaven look for males and the fashion statements in clothes and footwear for both men and women are all the rage. “The commercial surf tourism industry in the Indo-Pacific is strongly linked to the clothing, fashion and entertainment industries, and marketed through specialist surfing magazines and surfing media.” (Buckley, Abstract)The discussion around the sport has turned to the connection with nature in recent times. People look at the surfing subculture as an embodiment of a sense of belonging and connection. Rituals play an important part in our lives. These could be connected to religious beliefs or part of the culture of a people, or just repetitive acts performed in our everyday lives that we may perform without too much thought because they are so ingrained in our psyche. The anthropologist Victor Turner once remarked that “formal, invariant, repetitive behaviors usually performed to ensure particular outcomes – are an essential and universal human trait. (Turner, qtd in theinertia.com) The surfing subculture too is associated with some rituals like waxing the surfboard before going into the sea or stretching to warm up the muscles or having a particular drink after the event. Wax seems to provide the crucial connect between the board and the surfer. Surfers the world over practice the ritual of a memorial paddle out, which is usually performed to honor the memory of a fallen comrade or a tragic incident. The ceremony connotes respect for and a bonding with the victim/s. This seems to be especially so “during the paddle out where the intimacy and tight knit respect among the surfing family is truly felt,” says Tyler Rock, media producer for Oahu’s Freesurf Magazine. (Rock, in Huffington Post) The increasing interest in surfing has given rise to a number of sponsored competitions all over the world. The Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) hosts the best competitions around the world. Surf music and surfing language are other additions to this subculture that has the youth of the world enthralled by a sporting event with its own set of rules and oddities. The sporting events are sponsored by industries and in addition to the prestige that goes with winning an event, the abundant monetary compensation is an added attraction. The Billabong Pipe Masters and Vans Triple Crown of Surfing are some of the prestigious contests that surfers vie for. Surfing and music have always gone hand in hand, creating the perfect setting for the surfing culture. In the early 1960s the Beach Boys were the pioneers of surf music. Their cool tunes and light music inspired interest in surfing and their songs became anthems to surf enthusiasts the world over. The 1990s have produced new alternative surf music in the tunes of Weezer that is a perfect fire up for a session on the waves. The language of the surf subculture is a typical youth oriented language that thumbs its nose at traditional language forms. A lot of it is mostly slang and is difficult to understand for those outside the culture, effectively making a clear distinction between those who belong and those who do not. Unique terms like grommet, in the soup, pipeline and stoked are added to the typical slang like dude, radical and a multitude of similar words that denote the casual attitude of the young surfer. The commercialization of the surf culture has ensured that these terms that were coined on the beaches of Hawaii, California and Australia, have found their way into the movies, playgrounds, bars and even the literature of places far away from the beaches of the world. This is mostly due to the media coverage of a culture that has transcended the humble beginnings of this exciting sport. Works Cited Buckley, Ralf. “Surf Tourism and Sustainable Development in Indo-Pacific Islands. The Industry and the Islands” (Abstract) DOI:10.1080/09669580208667176 Published online: 29 Mar 2010 Web 18 April 2015 Rock, Tyler. “Paddle Outs Are Surfings Most Hallowed (And Beautiful) Ritual” The Huffington Post In Association with the Times of India Group Posted 12 December 2014 Web 18 April 2015 Turner, Victor. qtd in theinertia.com “On Surf Rituals” Monday February 4, 2013 Web 18 April 2015 Read More