Rad College Student Launches Feminist Skateboarding Collective

The world of extreme sports is one where women aren’t usually well-represented. Action sports are a dude-bro realm, with a few exceptions. But an awesome new skateboarding collective in Philadelphia is out to change that. The group’s name is the same as their goal: Shred the Patriarchy.

Sky Kalfus, an Oberlin College senior, started the group over her summer break in Philadelphia as a way to meet like-minded “Internet feminists,” she told The Philadelphia Inquirer. “I wasn’t comfortable skating here by myself,” Kalfus said, mostly because the skate park was another male-dominated space. “The entire world is like a skate park, right?”

So Kalfus made some fliers and invited women and female-identified folks to join in the fun at Paine’s Park every Sunday. All skill levels—from beginner to hardened pro—are welcome at the meetups. All they need is the will to learn, and a longboard, skateboard, pair of skates, or other set of wheels. Kalfus posts photos of the meet-ups on the Facebook page, and encourages first-timers to come out.

Josh Dubin, executive director of Franklin’s Paine Skatepark Fund, is happy to welcome the newly formed skateboarding crew. When asked about this new shift in the sport, he said, “There are issues of misogyny. That strain exists in all sports, but particularly action sports. What’s needed is to get people in the same room—or in the same park.”

Kalfus is heading back to Oberlin for school for the fall, meaning that the weekly meet-ups may cool down with the weather. But shredding the patriarchy is always seasonally appropriate.

(Images via)