Riding the Divide, Navigating Snowboarding’s Gender Gap – Opinion

Through tireless determination and skill, Jess Rich forged her reputation as one of Australian Snowboarding’s leading ladies. She has a message for those who wish to follow the path she has carved. Image:: Johnny McCormack

Transfer | Jess Rich

This article originally appeared in Transfer Issue #19. All of our back issues are available HERE

Female participation in extreme sports – especially snowboarding – is a sensitive and touchy subject. The community at large is often divided when it comes to this topic and people tiptoe around the facts, as they don’t want to be targeted as sexist or unsupportive. As a female rider, I’m often asked my opinion on these topics and for the most part, I try to keep my mouth closed, as I don’t want to ruffle anyone’s feathers. I know how tough it is for a woman in this industry because I am one, but sometimes the people that shout the loudest actually know the least.

When I started snowboarding I’d buy every magazine I could. I wanted to know who was doing what and how I could learn it; Transfer Snowboard Magazine delivered that. To me, Transfer represents aspirational media; it’s something we can all work toward, but it is not something that is unachievable. The magazine documents the culture of our sport at the highest level with no discrimination. So when I heard accusations from mainstream media that our Aussie magazines were not supporting Australia’s female snowboarders, I reached out to Alex Horvath, Editor of Transfer, to see what I can do to dispel those rumours. As a result of our chat, this article was born. What I want to say comes from my personal experiences as a female snowboarder who has been shooting for these magazines and personally dealing with our industry’s gender gap for many years.

“My fellow females should be focusing on earning respect by showcasing their talent and creativity – in other words: let your riding do the talking.”

I have been snowboarding since 2008 and appeared in my first magazine article in Transfer back in 2010. I started riding for no other reason than the love of it – not knowing about sponsorship, competing or coaching at the time. I was introduced into this world of specialist training and development during my first season at Mt Buller while watching everyone huck their meat at Cattleman’s Rail Jam. Instantly I was sold on the sketchy set-up and icy landings and I knew that I wanted to be in this competition the following year. So in 2009, I went through the qualifying rail jam against all the guys and made it into the night event. I was taught early on that in snowboarding that you have to earn your respect, and so I never felt entitled to any attention at all. I was never under the impression that I deserved anything from anyone unless I was really pushing myself to keep up with the standard set by the guys on those gnarly features. After getting completely wrecked multiple times, breaking my board and rolling down the concrete stairs, I finally landed my front blunt 270 out. Quite soon after this I received my first sponsor and then began my exploration into shooting for snowboard magazines.

One thing that really frustrates me is these days some women are led to believe – by media and supporters – that just because they are a part of a male-dominated sport, they should be rewarded with sponsorship or magazine coverage simply because they are female. Those that follow this school of thought need a wake-up call. Everyone in this industry has earned their place, whether it is in the magazines or representing brands – men included.

I do agree with people when they say that there aren’t many photos of women in Australian or New Zealand magazines, and I would love to see more coverage for the girls. But it’s definitely not because of a lack of support by the guys at the helm of publishing these magazines. Anyone hoping to have their shot run needs to recognise that it is the rider’s responsibility to organise a photographer, find a feature to set-up and shoot and then try and get a photo that’s worth being published. My fellow females should be focusing on earning respect by showcasing their talent and creativity – in other words: let your riding do the talking.

If girls take the initiative to do this, then chances are your shot will get published. Trust me when I say, there is nothing that will stoke a mag Editor out more than seeing an epic photo – no matter if it is of a guy or a girl. It’s not the job of an Editor to pick out riders and tell them what to shoot and when. Sure that will happen occasionally, but these positions are coveted, and will always go to the riders that the Editors decide deserve it the most – based on raw talent, personality and style.

Of course, I couldn’t address an issue like this without pointing out that in Australia there really aren’t that many girls going out there to shoot in the streets or backcountry. So to show their support for female riders, the mags often run those lifestyle shots which they then receive flak for. This has created a situation where I feel that our industry’s magazines are damned if they do and damned if they don’t. We have some incredibly talented and hard working girl snowboarders in Australia and I hope that reading this becomes a call-to-action to go out there and help support our dwindling industry by getting shots and creating that kind of ‘aspirational media’ to stoke out the next gen of up-and-comers.

PRIZE MONEY

The ‘equal prize money’ debate usually follows any talk about women in snowboarding. When we look at events like the X Games, US Open or the European Open where riders compete on the biggest courses among the best field in the world, then yes, the money should be equal. But those people who get their knickers in a knot about the Perisher Night Series or the Thredbo Freeride Series not being equal clearly don’t understand the Australian Industry. The standard and number of girls riding in these comps is simply much lower then the guys. We might be looking at 30 guys and six girls, so it’s certainly not fair for a girl to come in and win the same amount as a guy for just doing a few straight airs and 360s when the guys have to do double corks to just be competitive. Any girl that wants a chance at that money could just enter the boys division anyway, right?

THE FUTURE

Don’t get me wrong, I definitely respect the girl snowboarders that are getting out there and doing it. And I thank those who are trying to stick up for us – I mean those with good intentions of course. But I do believe we need to take responsibility for ourselves and earn respect instead of complaining about what we aren’t getting from the industry. Women do have the ability to progress much further in our sport. If you question that, take a look at the handful of girls that are currently pushing the sport, and you will see what we are capable of. We need to stop focusing on what tricks can win women’s competitions and focus more on what we should do to progress and set our own standard. I’m not saying we all need to be doing doubles, triples or even quad corks now, but why not strive to learn those tricks?