Drop In
The Gender Rebels Who Changed the Face of Skateboarding
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
The bad*ss story of the female, queer, bi, and nonbinary skaters who charted a path to the Olympics and changed the face of skateboarding.
Who gets to tell the story of skateboarding? Drop In is the first book to recognize and historicize the female, queer, bi, and nonbinary humans who blazed the path that led to today’s more equitable skate culture. It wasn’t easy getting here.
Like the rest of the world, skateboarding has long been patriarchal. In the 70s, it personified the punk rock, lock-up-your-daughters, middle-finger-to-the-man ethos. In the 80s, it was Miami Vice soundtracks and parachute pants, neon graphics and fingerless gloves. In the 90s it was New York City—graffiti, hip-hop, and skating in the street. Rarely did you see a woman’s name in a skate video—either on a deck or behind the lens.
The four skateboarders at the heart of Drop In defied expectations of gender, talent, physical ability, and mental capacity to fight the status quo: Alana as the first openly nonbinary athlete in Olympic history; Vanessa as a record breaking runaway; Marbie as an accidental boundary-breaking trans icon; and Victoria as the skate rookie turned social media sensation. Drop In spotlights their paths from rebellious outsiders to recognized pioneers on the historic stage of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, where skateboarding made its debut. Their experiences reveal a side of skateboarding that’s never been recorded, amplifying voices that have, for too long, gone unheard.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This animated report from journalist Stoll (Unvarnished) explores how "female, queer, bi, and nonbinary humans" have made skateboarding culture more inclusive. She traces how Marbie Miller, Alana Smith, Victoria Taylor, and Vanessa Torres became professional skaters and discusses the difficulties each has faced in a sport dominated by cis men. Smith, who came out as nonbinary in their early 20s, had trouble focusing during qualifying rounds for Olympic skateboarding because they kept getting misgendered. Nonetheless, they secured a spot in the 2021 games and became the first openly trans Olympic athlete. Elsewhere, Stoll recounts Torres's spats with her sponsor over not wearing their branded clothing during competitions (the articles, made for boys, were too ill-fitting to skate in). After retiring due to injury, Torres started judging skateboarding contests, providing tips and encouragement to female participants. Other sections cover how Miller found community in a queer Wisconsin skate collective and how Taylor learned to cope with sexist and demeaning comments on her popular Instagram account. Stoll's finely observed portraits will have readers rooting for the four skaters as they reshape the sport in their own image. This sticks the landing with flair and poise.
