Redefining the So-Cal Skateboarder Image
Deconstructing Heteronormativity Through Roller Skating and Skateboarding
swampy smiling with a backdrop of a colored wall, holding roller skates and a skateboard leaning next to him.
INTRO
What’s your name, your pronouns, and Instagram handle?
My name is Swampy. I go by he/him/they and my Instagram is @___swampy.
What city do you live in?
Huntington Beach, CA.
When did you first start skateboarding?
14 years ago, so 2006.
When and why did you first start roller skating?
WHEN → My first attempt at roller skating was early 2019. I was skating with Natalie (@missphynx). We were skating the mini ramp at the rock. I asked “what size do you wear in skates?” I tried them on and hit the ramp.
WHY → The beginning of February of 2020 is when I started with my own pair of skates. And that is because a bunch of homegirls pitched in to buy me my skates! Every time I put them on, it blows my mind! I was first exposed to roller skating on ramps mid 2018 and I went to the Orchid ramp and saw a bunch of girls skating it. And I was like “wait what?”. I always thought Estrojen was the only one that skates. I was like “huh, I didn’t know it was a thing, but I want to try it out.” Along with the exposure and interest in 2018, when I moved down to SoCal, in Long Beach, I became friends with rollerskaters. It just happened. I don’t really talk to people at skateparks because I get nervous. It’s only when they come up to me to talk that I became friends with all of the rollerskaters. Since then, I’ve wanted more exposure to this community. Faythe (@skateyyperry) was one the first friends I’ve made and I’ve hung out with her a lot which is the main reason why I tried out roller skating. Same thing with Natalie (@missphynx). They are the two reasons that inspired me to roller skate.
swampy does an ollie over a pair of roller skates
Do you believe you caught on to roller skating quickly with your skateboarding experience?
Yes, because 14 years of rolling on wheels, slamming, going fast and having to react to my environment definitely helped with learning quickly. At first, switching from a board to 8 wheels attached to you was very hard. Once I figured out my footing, I picked it up a lot faster than I thought I would. Skateboarding has definitely helped.
From my experience, the men that take on rollerskating fairly quickly. A lot of my femme friends agree that it seems like a breeze for men to get the hang of tricks and whatnot. Why do you think men get the hang of roller skating quickly?
This is something I have come to realize with skating: my entire life, I was involved in acrobatic activities, rollerblading, parkour, BMX, and after all that, I then started skateboarding. A lot of slamming is part of the thing that has helped me get better. It’s about not being afraid to fall and I'm used to being in pain, so I'm just like “whatever” when it comes to eating shit. I guess that would tie into the heteronormativity. While guys grow up, they’re allowed to go and eat shit. Girls are a lot more sheltered. They’re told to not do “boyish” things, so big props to all the femmes eating shit and still sticking with it. Like I fucking love that. It’s so sick.
QUESTIONS TOUCHING ON EMBEDDED SOCIAL ISSUES
What do you think about more women skating at the skateparks?
I think it’s fucking sick. Action sports should be more open to all. These aren’t even sports. It’s just another way to express yourself. It shouldn’t be closed to only dudes. It’s really fucking lame that skateboarding is.
Nyjah Huston said “girls shouldn’t be fucking skateboarding.” He’s a good skater, I won't deny that, but a lot of boys and men look up to him, and it's like “oh, he views skateboarding and women that way. I should trust his opinion.” It’s not right that he says those things and that he’s put on a pedestal.
This happened a couple of days ago: I was at Volcom skatepark. There was this dude there, very agro and showing off, but he was more obvious like “hey, I’m here, and I'm fast.” These girls were skating the bowl and I noticed them talking to the guy. I realized he was giving unsolicited advice, you know hyper masculine dude. He said to me, “yeah, normally I'm not a fan of girls at skateparks.” I said “dude, the skatepark is for fucking everyone.” He said “oh, yeah you’re right.” Then, I just went to the other side of the park because I didn’t want to deal with this idiot.
How many friends do you have that are roller-skaters? Men who roller skate?
Okay, men, I can count on one hand. There’s Adam (@found.fresh), I love him so much. Ahhh! The other is Zak (@swurvana), who skateboards and roller skates. Nick (@nickthemedic). There’s Miguel (@miguelcamina), Estro’s boyfriend, who rollerblades, which I think is sick. I’ve never seen anyone rollerblade like that.
Women/Non-binary/Transgender/Queer who roller skate?
So, so many. I don’t even know where to start. They are women, femme and nonbinary. I have so many friends that are not dudes. I couldn’t give you an exact number. There are so many. That's another thing that's really cool and different because, along with skateboarding, dudes are macho. And there are very few things on their mind which are getting with chicks as much as possible. I say “like no, these are my friends. You gotta cut that shit”. It is possible to be friends with someone that's not your gender.
Do you believe roller skating and skateboarding has changed how you interact with roller skaters and skateboarders? I ask because I’m sure it comes as a shock to people at the skate parks. You juggle both and I don’t think it is fairly common for men like to skate both wheels in Southern California these days.
In my current state and perspective, I don’t think it’s changed, but I think 5 years ago me would definitely have been an asshole. I'm not even gonna front, I was caught up with the machismo bullshit. Like “fuck scooters. Scooters are lame. Rollerbladers are lame.” I wish I could go back in time and punch myself in the head. I'm glad that I already had a clear perspective when meeting roller skaters. Now I think, “This is sick. Now I'm glad I do skate.”
I think being around rollerskaters has definitely pushed me to be more accepting of scooters, like damn you know, we are all on wheels, that’s all that matters. We’re all here for the same reason. I don’t know.. It’s just made me more accepting.
swampy skateboards on a half pipe
Do you receive praise for skating roller-skates as a guy?
Yes! Like a lot. It’s kinda overwhelming. I think it's really cool. The rollerskating community as a whole is a lot more supportive with each other. Aside from the issues of the roller skating community, I’ve received a shit ton of support. I feel guilty because there’s been people in the community that built it and was there from the beginning. I feel like I shouldn’t be getting this recognition. I'm just self-conscious. I hear a lot of good things, but I don’t think I'm that special. I don’t feel like what I am doing deserves as much recognition as it’s getting. The attention makes me nervous. That goes for skateboarding and roller skating. I just like to focus on the session and having fun with my friends. So yes, I do receive praise, but it's overwhelming. I'm just trying to enjoy my homies.
Another issue: We’re all skating, but there’ll be few skateboarders that are really wary and weird when they see roller skaters, until I put my roller skates on. Then they start saying, “yo, you roller skate, too? That’s fucking dope.” Once I start doing tricks, they start saying, “yew!” and hyping me up. Like, you are all really sus for not hyping up my homies until I start skating. It’s 90% of the time. It really bums me out and my best friend Kelly. We go to the skatepark a lot together, she’ll be doing her thing, and some guys will mention like “oh dude, that’s scary”, but yeah immediately after I put mine on, dudes say, “oh what the fuck bro, that’s so sick”, but my friend Kelly has been doing that shit since we got to the park, so what the fuck.
How do you feel about the compliments or comments you get?
It was immediately when I started roller skating that I got an overwhelming amount of compliments. It should feel good, but it doesn’t. It bums me out. But that's also the same with my skateboarding. I get praise for doing weird shit, but that’s something I was also made fun of for years back at home, so I beat myself up about how I skate. When I go to skateparks, I’m just like “please ignore me” because I’m just here to clear my head.
Do you ever get negative comments by others because you roller skate?
Surprisingly, no… Actually yeah! Some 12-year-old kid in Huntington Beach said straight up “F****t!” and I was like “uhhhh okay”, which is really weird.
Oh! Something I wanted to bring up, with the change in perspective: my first few times rollerskating with people, I was even more nervous to skate because I didn’t want to be made fun of. Why was I ashamed of this? My first couple sessions I was nervous about putting on my roller skates because I know how skateboarders can be very judgemental of anybody who isn’t skateboarding. I’m guilty of this and I didn’t want to be made fun of.
Looking back at it, I really wish I wouldn’t have been that way. I was fully expecting to be made fun of, like a few months when I started, but now at this point, I haven’t heard negative shit. One person from my hometown was making fun of me, but I didn't care for him. I don’t know, yeah. It’s been 90% positivity. I'm really confused, but I'm like “okay”.
Now at this point, I am able to skate more on roller skates. If they make fun of me, I don't care. But if someone talks shit to my homegirls, I’m coming after them. I don’t give a shit.
Do you see a division between both communities of wheels, roller skaters and skateboarders?
I have noticed that Long Beach skaters intertwine and are fairly accepting of each other because, at the end of the day, Long Beach is super diverse and we share the common love: skating.
Yes, there's a division, but there’s a lot of diversity. People are still talking shit about women at skateparks like “they’re ruining this session”. Like no, fuck you. You skate everyday, let them learn. Doesn’t matter if they are a dude, a chick, or non-binary. There's still room for improvement, but I'm very glad I'm a part of this scene. It is, overall, pretty inclusive because everybody can be friends and not have to show up to do very “dude, bro” things. Again, it’s just about having fun with my friends.
swampy rollerskates on a half pipe
Why do you think skating is gendered, roller skating and skateboarding? Is one reason you took on rollerskating to go against this heteronormative social issue?
At first, no. I literally just wanted to do it because it looked like fun. I’ve been skating for 14 years. After roller skating more, diving head first into it, I’ve seen the bullshit women and femmes have to go through, but fuck! People want to talk shit. This is an interesting question because it goes deeper than that, like seeing and hearing the stories that my roller skating friends go through. They get treated super shitty. One: you’re getting treated like that because you’re not a dude. Two: you’re roller skating. If I can sway some dudes and change their opinions because I roller skate, I will. Which, I actually have! Which is interesting, I’ve had so many guys say, “Yo, that looks really fun. I want to try it”. And I'm posting unapologetically and I'm not separating the two (roller skating and skateboarding). If I can get macho guys to try it, that would be really cool. I would like to see more people try roller skating.
Circling back to that dude I mentioned earlier, he didn’t say this, but I knew where he was headed to: “well normally, I don’t like girls at skateparks, but...” and that “but” was going towards “but I do find these women conventionally attractive”, which is creepy and lame.
On the topic of All Girls skate sessions, Swampy gets invited to them a lot since the roller skating community of women are very accepting of him.
People have said “you should come.” I say “no” because it’s not my place to be there. That's not the point if I'm cool. But for the Caruthers girl sesh, Adriana and Tati asked me to come and said “you have to come”, so I said yes. A lot of people at the Caruthers skate session said “it's a girls session, but it's for everyone.” I guess I just overlook these things. It feels like I'm inserting myself.
Something I find interesting is the power of the setting in which roller skating becomes acceptable to all genders. I’m talking about the difference in roller rinks versus skateparks. What do you think about that?
That is something that literally blows my mind. I went to a roller rink before the weekend of the first lockdown. I was blown away seeing everybody just having fun, groovin’ like “omg”. I didn’t know about that. That is just the normal thing. Once you take it out of the roller rink, the action sports, there is a definite division because the skatepark is hypermasculine, but things are changing...things are changing. Roller skating is female dominant now. Honestly, I think that’s cool because they made that for themselves (in Southern California). It’s really cool and powerful. That's what else makes me feel more guilty. It just feels wrong because I don’t want to take away the art of rollerskating from females/non-binary/queer/transgender folks. Now, I’m getting attention for my roller skating and skateboarding because it's unique these days.
SWAMPY’S ADVICE FOR ALL SKATERS:
Fucking be nice to each other, like jesus christ. Sure, you have to unlearn shitty behavior, but just challenge yourself and be cool with everyone. With all the shit going on with the world right now, just donate, research, educate yourself, and protest, if you can.
Be nice to yourself.
Support your homies. Go skate with them. Stand up for yourself and for people when others are being shitty at the skatepark
Go slam!
Skateparks are not bars where you can go to hit on people, so stop fucking doing it.
Don’t give unsolicited advice to people. If they wanted it, i'm sure they’d ask.
Call your friends out with their creepy comments at the skate park and in general.
Try anything! It shouldn’t be confined by gender.
swampy poses with his skateboard and roller skates around his neck
