Morgan is asked if he has any thoughts on the discussion around how women are portrayed in surf and he says:

I think women need to be portrayed respectfully and not objectified, but at the same time their whole existence, industry, and careers are supported by bikini brands. Unfortunately, it has edged some girls out of the industry because they were deemed “unmarketable,” but it has also laid the foundation for girls to both surf professionally and be used in lieu of models. Girls like Stephanie Gilmore, Laura Enever, Felicity Palmateer, Malia Manuel, etc. are really amazing and inspiring in both realms.

He’s right, it’s definitely better that bikinis are sold to us by sporty looking surfers rather than skinny models so life has certainly got better in that sense, but sadly he’s also right about the flip side that it has “edged some girls out of the industry because they were deemed unmarketable.” Can you imagine a guy surfer being pushed out of the industry for not being hot enough or a footballer? Jeez some of the world’s most famous footballers aren’t remotely ‘marketable’ in that coding of the word and it’s just the shittest message ever for young girls growing up, and already fretting about their form and faces not matching those hurled at them 24/7 from various brands’ ad campaigns, as Laura Enever touches on in this interview, which you can watch here.

The world is broken but we haven’t got the faintest idea how to fix it.

If you want to make your brain ache, read more about these kind of issues HERE