This girl knows what's up

I like finding happy things. This is one of them. The basic premise: this 13 year old girl wrote a letter to Tracks, a surfing magazine, and completely called them out. I say right on. The put their sexist tendencies bluntly and certainly got noticed. I had to copy/paste the contents of the letter, since it was a Facebook caption:

"I want to bluntly address the way you represent women in your magazine. I am a surfer, my dad surfs and my brother has just started surfing. Reading a Tracks magazine I found at my friend's holiday house, the only photo of a woman I could find was 'Girl of the month'. She wasn't surfing or even remotely near a beach. Since then I have seen some footage of Stephanie Gilmore surfing on your website, but that's barely a start.

I clicked on your web page titled 'Girls' hoping I might find some women surfers and what they were up to, but it entered into pages and pages of semi-naked, non-surfing girls. These images create a culture in which boys, men and even girls reading your magazine will think that all girls are valued for is their appearance. My posse of female surfers and I are going to spread the word and refuse to purchase or promote Tracks magazine. It's a shame that you can't see the benefits of an inclusive surf culture that in fact, would add a whole lot of numbers to your subscription list.

I urge you to give much more coverage to the exciting women surfers out there, not just scantily clad women (who may be great on the waves, but we'll never know). I would subscribe to your magazine if only I felt that women were valued as athletes instead of dolls. This change would only bring good. - Olive"