Pink posse: Documentary fights gender stereotypes in skateboarding

San Diego, New York – Gnarly in Pink is a short documentary about a trio of skateboarding six-year-olds that are defying the stereotype of the male-dominated sport.

The girl gang, the Pink Helmet Posse, consists of three friends living in Encinitas, near San Diego.

While they might be skateboarding in pink tutus and helmets, the girls represent a new breed of empowered princesses. They are encouraging others to join their tribe through a series of skateboarding tutorials published on their blog and a line of skateboarding clothes available from a dedicated online shop.

Discovered in 2013 by The New York Times, the girls were featured in a short documentary, Gnarly in Pink, which was filmed for the Op-Docs section. The aim was to highlight the issue of girls being under-represented in extreme sports.

‘While women’s visibility in skateboarding has gradually increased in recent years, the Pink Helmet Posse is an unusual sight. Of over 12m skateboarders in the US, fewer than a quarter are estimated to be female,’ write Kristelle Laroche and Ben Mullinkosson, directors of the documentary. ‘We hope this Op-Doc encourages more girls and young women to defy these odds.’

The Pink Helmet Posse represents a generation of girls brought up with strong female characters. To learn more about the shift, read our Tiny Tot Feminism microtrend.