Culture

Since its invention, skateboarding has spread throughout the world, and there are skaters in most countries of the world, on every continent (except perhaps Antarctica). Thus, if there is such a thing as a skateboarding culture, it is as diverse as the world’s population. There are older skateboarders, although a lot of them are young, and skateboarding is seen as an activity of the youth. There are pro skaters who can perform amazingly complicated tricks, and there are people who just like skateboarding to places as a means of transportation, to save gas or get some physical exercise, perhaps.

But there still is a distinct skateboarding culture. Some, skaters and non-skaters alike, associate skateboarding with being wild, extreme, rebellious, disrespectful toward authority, although many people today would reject that view. Skateboarding has been “mainstreamed,” so to speak.

People who share a fascination for skateboarding may form loose social groups, where they might also share musical tastes, for example. But skateboarding culture cannot be clearly associated with any particular music genre.

Diverse though they may be, most skateboarders share at least some common role models (or at least a respect for certain skaters who have contributed a lot to the art of skateboarding), the most obvious example being Alan Gelfland, inventor the ollie. Skateboard shops cater to skaters, and “skateboarder identity” can be formed and expressed through skateboarding magazines and online communities where people can create bonds based on their common interest in skateboarding.