Is Skateboarding Still a Subculture? GQ on Epicly Laterd

[Tear Up a Trick]

Article

https://www.gq.com/story/pulling-weeds-with-chris-black-patrick-odell-qa

[Sloppy Krooks]

Parts of it are.
Maybe not the main activity, sponsored by energy drinks, whored by massive corporations, tamed and submissive with public acceptance.

But the fringes have coalesced into tight subgroups that are still not accepted, even by each other.

Pool skating, freestyle, curbs, and downhill are examples of almost independent groups with their own scenes, contests, media, and even companies making custom products, but are still not popular enough for big companies and media to exploit.

[Septa Bus]

depends on who youre looking at

campus cruising bros and 'athlete' mfs will say its not, and its a sport

violit and supreem will say its counter culture

its cringe rn if anything

[backside_frontside]

Funnily enough the article really didn’t touch on the subculture of skateboarding at all. It’s more about O’Dell and Epicly Later’d

Is skateboarding still a subculture? I’d argue yes. It’s become way more mainstream but skateboarding is still a distinct subculture.

[trash]

"This guy was talking to me and I was like, "So, you here for the skate camp?" And he's like, "Oh, I'm a gymnast." It tripped me out that I couldn't tell the gymnasts and the skaters apart anymore. And that this guy who's a gymnast was watching the Antwuan Dixon episode."

I think dude was fucking with O'Dell lol. I don't know many gymnasts but I can't imagine there's much overlap in the "familiar w/ Antwuan" and "male gymnast" venn diagram

[apport]

"This guy was talking to me and I was like, "So, you here for the skate camp?" And he's like, "Oh, I'm a gymnast." It tripped me out that I couldn't tell the gymnasts and the skaters apart anymore. And that this guy who's a gymnast was watching the Antwuan Dixon episode."

I think dude was fucking with O'Dell lol. I don't know many gymnasts but I can't imagine there's much overlap in the "familiar w/ Antwuan" and "male gymnast" venn diagram

a lot of people just watch whatever is on vice, i had friends who didn’t skate or know anything about skating who loved kotr and epicly later’d

[Newphone]

Expand Quote

"This guy was talking to me and I was like, "So, you here for the skate camp?" And he's like, "Oh, I'm a gymnast." It tripped me out that I couldn't tell the gymnasts and the skaters apart anymore. And that this guy who's a gymnast was watching the Antwuan Dixon episode."

I think dude was fucking with O'Dell lol. I don't know many gymnasts but I can't imagine there's much overlap in the "familiar w/ Antwuan" and "male gymnast" venn diagram

[close]

a lot of people just watch whatever is on vice, i had friends who didn’t skate or know anything about skating who loved kotr and epicly later’d

Both solo sports that favor diminutive people doing rotation/ contortion/ balance maneuvers.  Bound to be lots of crossover. 

I get that it seems surprising because of the predicted “ethos” of each activity, but it’s a thing.  it’s never surprising to see a skater have a trampoline (gymnastics equipment) in their day in the life type video, much more common than say a basketball player or football player.

This is like when people are shocked that some rappers come from a ballet or dance background because they seem antithetical, but most of that is just image.

[Sedition]

I'm not reading a GQ article....that said, skateboarding used to be a pure sub-culture. Now, it's just culture. It mirrors the rest of society, and like society, you can find every facet within it, from Olympic athletes to satanic (barrier) kult types. It's hard to argue that skateboarding, as whole, is still a sub-culture when you can now find a skate park sandwiched between the dog park, soccer field, and little league diamond in almost any suburb.

[wax poetic]

No.  But eventually it will be again if it falls out of being seen as cool.  Right now it offers a lot of people, who may not be in it because they love it, one more box to check off to promote a company/themselves.  Social media was probably the biggest factor in this. 

@Sedition nailed it.  I didn't read the article either, but the fact GQ has an article on it only confirms it's not a sub-culture in any way

[breezer]

arguably its the last subculture............goth, punk, psychobilly, mod etc all dead as can be.......but skating lives on. And you can recognise a fellow skater.....the subtle tells.....what shoes are they wearing, the ollie scuffs etc......we are a tribe.

[Frank and Fred]

That interview was useless.

[carcinisation]

What even is subculture these days?

[lurkluke]

arguably its the last subculture............goth, punk, psychobilly, mod etc all dead as can be.......but skating lives on. And you can recognise a fellow skater.....the subtle tells.....what shoes are they wearing, the ollie scuffs etc......we are a tribe.

I think you have a limited understanding of what a subculture is, if you think skateboarding is "the last"

[Pipe Dreamer]

arguably its the last subculture............goth, punk, psychobilly, mod etc all dead as can be.......but skating lives on. And you can recognise a fellow skater.....the subtle tells.....what shoes are they wearing, the ollie scuffs etc......we are a tribe.

The early 90s are calling they want that take back.

[breezer]

80's and 90's

[Lenny the Fatface]

arguably its the last subculture............goth, punk, psychobilly, mod etc all dead as can be.......but skating lives on. And you can recognise a fellow skater.....the subtle tells.....what shoes are they wearing, the ollie scuffs etc......we are a tribe.

Sounds to me like you’ve never met a Mexican that’s REALLY good at The King of Fighters.

[j....soy.....]

It's less sub...more culture....again, if the present was the same as the past.....it would have kicked people like O'Dell to the wayside....Warren Bolster didn't get many shots in the 90's....

As much as I like what he's doing, I hope he does episodes on more current or less expected skaters...

[Ricky Vaughn]

Chewy Cannon epicly later’d would be sweet

[somethingmustbreaknow]

"[Culture is] a whole way of life"

[Yakusoku2]

Maybe it depends on the country? Skateboarding in USA is perceived differently than skaters in Uganda. Even inside those countries it depends on the region. I don’t know. I wish I could explain myself in English.

[Shtonk]

You'd have to pick a definition of subculture first... It has definitely  gone through a process of acculturation where the spiky bits have been sanded off and it's largely compatible with capitalism and society now. Who still skates street without a camera around, now that we have all these amazing parks they built for us? Even Thrasher is suddenly the SF Administration's best friend... Who still dresses so different they get laughed at in school if it isn't backed by at least 10K followers? All par for the course if a scene grows and has no dominant political agenda for how to deal with outsiders when the big money comes knocking on the door (grafitti held out a lot longer, for example, because there was/is a strong anti-capitalist code)

[Mystical Leader]

The image of skateboarder/ing has transcended from sub culture to mainstream decades ago but I'd say the act of skateboarding can still be considered sub culture. You can buy all the tropes like thrashed shoes, big boys, thrasher hoodies etc. but if you are skating in some rural buttfuck town and you and your five friends are the only ones doing it  I'd say it's sub culture for that specific area.

Also this general talk about the death of sub cultures, dig a little deeper, it is still there you are just not looking in the right place and are accustomed to what the algorithms offer you...

[devils acrobat]

Maybe it depends on the country? Skateboarding in USA is perceived differently than skaters in Uganda. Even inside those countries it depends on the region. I don’t know. I wish I could explain myself in English.

This. And what Sedition said.
Also fuck GQ and their pseudo-interested, pseudo-journalistic take on skateboarding.

[Sila]

It's more just another lifestyle trend at this point. Like westernized yoga lol. The diy/homie video thing is like a culture of it's own though. Skateboarding still seems like a subcultural thing in some parts of Asia like India.

[djoekr]

From my own experience in The Netherlands, street skating is definitely not popular. The 'mainstream skaters' are all posted up at their local indoor or outdoor parks and I can count the times I've seen people hit street spots in the four years I've been skating on two hands.

[Bummer Vacation]

What even is subculture these days?

Juggalos?

[kook1234]

was watching a house hunter type show and the home owner said "love the culture of this neighborhood" - not sure what that means.

[The Ghost of Lenny Kirk]

i don't think street skating will ever fall out of culture again. i feel like the 70s may have been like this? it's decreasing in popularity  but it's hard to imagine it falling out of culture completely without something taking it's place. maybe rollerblading will kill skating lol.

[ChuckRamone]

No. Because a lot of the people doing it now are the types who would not have done it when it was just a thing that freaks did. They would have been the jocks bullying the skater f*gs. Also tons of kids with training regimens and skate coach parents. Decidedly not subculture.

[D10S]

ChatGPT says:

It's important to note that subcultures can evolve and change over time.

While skateboarding may still maintain its subcultural roots in many aspects, it has also become widely accepted and integrated into mainstream culture.

The extent to which it remains a subculture varies in different regions and communities.