Women of Surfing: The Mexican Adventure (Video)

Perfect Mexican Pointbreaks, the Next Generation, and How Women’s Surfing May Never Be the Same

By Janna Irons
As featured in the March 2010 Issue of SURFER.

To read the full feature, download the March 2010 issue of SURFER.

"Back in my generation, the guys wanted the pretty girl who would sit on the beach, and now the guys are turning their heads at what the females are doing," says Megan Abubo, who's served as a role model to the rest of the girls growing up. Photo: Todd Glaser

“Are you girls going to have pillow fights in your underwear?”

Obviously. Because that’s what girls do when they get together. And that’s what comes to mind when guys hear the words “all-girls surf trip.” Most will see the yearly obligatory girls’ trip, give it a quick flip through, scanning for the inevitable bottom-turn shot or gratuitously sexy bikini photo, which deserves a few more lustful moments of meditation, maybe a second look or two, before moving on to other, more interesting subject matters. Most men will accept, or even invite, the inclusion of a few girls’ features a year, especially now that the young wave of professional surfers are openly hyped for their good looks, and “overtly sexy” seems to be the accepted marketing shtick associated with them.

I’m not going to tell you that the girls on this trip, as a whole, surf better than most of you, or that their ability should warrant respect, adoration, and even—dare I say it?—legitimate interest.

Those statements are true, by the way, but that’s not the point. This isn’t a lecture about sexism, or equality, or about how women are treated differently. Because the point is that women surfers are different. They surf differently, they compete differently, and their worlds—as professional surfers—are different.

And after a short surf and a long drive packed shoulder-to-shoulder with some of the best female surfers on the planet, that became blatantly clear...

View part one of the trip below. Stay tuned to SurferMag.com for part two of Women's Rights.

Part Two of Women's Rights

To read the full feature, subscribe to the digital version of SURFER for just $9.00 and download the full March 2010 issue of SURFER now.