‘Stand out, not up’: bodyboarders, gendered hierarchies and negotiating the dynamics of pride/shame
In this paper, bodyboarders who surf the breaks of the Illawarra, New South Wales talk about their surfing experiences. We are particularly interested in leisured exclusions. Bodyboarders’ principal concern appears to be territorialisation of surf breaks and the legitimisation of bodyboarding in a sport where they are disavowed a ‘real’ surfing identity based on shortboarders’ desire to claim superiority. The paper explores how bodyboarders’ experiences of pride and shame articulate with understanding of space, self and masculinities. Alongside the physical environment of the surf break, interpersonal relationships between shortboarders and bodyboarders figure heavily in participant’s negotiation and construction of their gendered identities. We argue how individual bodyboarders negotiate the pride/shame nexus has important implication for understanding gender and territorialisation of the surf.