Trailer: The Line
THE LINE is a short documentary film series about the determination and courage of high-performance female athletes, who excel in adventure sports while shaping these sports for future generations of female athletes.
The line is where the athlete begins, turns and wants to go. She chooses. She controls the line, navigates it, negotiates obstacles and pushes her performance to progress to the next level of her sport.
Each episode is a monument to her dedication, progression, adventure and the human spirit. Her creativity is only bounded by her imagination and THE LINE.
www.thelineseries.com / @thelineseries
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Member since Sep 29, 2015
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All this "I love seeing more women getting into the sport" attitude and pretentious shite like this video are dated and embarrassing.
It's 2015. Loads of women ride, many of them ride better than men. We're all just people who ride bikes. Any kind of distinction between gender is negative and screams insecurity.
Want to watch a good video on women riders? Watch the Cascadia Enduro video from earlier in the week. Three girls having fun racing bikes but it could just as easily be about three guys.
sports.vice.com/en_us/article/the-long-fight-for-womens-parity-in-action-sports
Ya wanna know what would be really empowering and inspiring to me as a chick? A video with women absolutely ripping up the trail, but without mentioning that it's about chicks. To me, all this girl-power crap is a catch-22; by constantly acknowledging that we're the minority, we're separating ourselves even more. It's patronizing and honestly proving the opposite point. You don't see men prefacing their videos with "As a mtb'er and a male".
Of course a lot of chick riders have courage, confidence, and push boundaries. It should be a given; of course we're f*cking rad and have courage and confidence..why the f*ck do we alway have to talk about it and how about we just prove it with our riding.
New campaign if anyone's interested. A movie with chicks absolutely shredding (I mean like sending big jumps, riding gnarly stuff, stuff that's on par with what you see in other mtb movies), no excessive slow-mo, no soft music, just sick, flat out, shredding. No mention of "finding courage, confidence, etc", just awesome riding that proves that fact.
A video made of some women shredding, no dorky commentary, just a bunch of girls having fun. This is a few years back, and I can say with confidence that every girl I know in this video has done nothing but get faster on a bike since it was shot (my wife and daughter are in here).
I agree 100% with your point.
Besides, most of us aren't looking to participate in the courageous, boundary-pushing sport of Women's Mountain Biking, we're here to participate in mountain biking. What if they just put female riders in the same edits as male riders? You'd think that was some kind of shocking social taboo, like unisex public bathrooms, going from the number of mixed-gender edits I've seen. The universe will not blow up if a male and a female rider are shown in the same frame, honest.
Somebody is gonna say that you can't find any female riders who will look good on video next to the guys, I can feel it. Well, Rachel Atherton's training time at Vallnord would have put her 72nd on the men's board this year, so there are 3.7billion-71 men on this planet who can make a woman rider look good. Give me a break.
Also, the next time someone tries to pitch me a women's product as "confidence inspiring", I might grab them and shake them. Especially if the product is pink.
What is ironic about this, is that I see this message pushed more strongly by women than by men. It’s this weird paradoxal thing that I’ve seen happen over and over and have a hard time wrapping my head around. Like, if you’re going to advocate exclusively for a women’s mtb community, then you lose your right to fight any kind of sexism, because you just created it.
My other problem with focus on gender in this particular instance boils down to the fact that, well, it’s pretty irrelevant to mountain biking. This isn’t competitive penis-twirling, and although men may always have the upper hand on the extreme ends of the sport (damn you physiology!), it’s totally possible for 99% of women to shred just as well as 99% of men. This idea that women need to see other women to be inspired is bullcrap. Women can be inspired by men, and men can be inspired by women. What’s not going to inspire anyone is mediocre riding flavored with excessive gender talk.
In response to your comment “putting down women is not rad”; I’m not sure if that was directed at me, but nowhere in my comment did I put down women. Quite the opposite actually.
lol
This video is showcasing 3 entirely different female riders coming together for the first time to ride together. Those 4 days of filming were some of the best riding days I've had to date. I was challenged and fatigued but also beyond thrilled to be part of something that will help continue to build and grown our women's riding community. That's the MOST important message. I don't care if you think I am an average rider, it's about the sisterhood that most men will NEVER understand.
Take it how you will, but the reality is women make up a small percentage of the mountain bike community - and not all of us are inspired by huge gaps and drops. It's about the experience and connecting with others who share the same love. Don't be too quick to judge, you might actually enjoy the film.
Spot on (y)