International Women's Day - Minnie Mearns

To mark International Women's Day we asked a few friends of Welcome to talk about some of the marginalised gender skateboarders that they've found to be inspirational in this wide world of skateboarding. This is what Minnie had to say:

When I was initially asked about my favourite influential marginalised gender skaters, my mind darted to Alexis Sablone. She's basically my fashion icon, skating inspiration and artistic muse. However, a quick Google will tell you everything there is to know about her life and journey within skateboarding.
 
Instead, I would like to highlight some women and marginalised gender skaters that probably don’t realise how impactful they are. Some are names you might be familiar with, such as Hilda and Connie who absolutely smashed it last summer filming and staring in Drafts vol 3. Watch it here:

Connie Gascoyne Connie (@conniegascoyne)
Connie recently featured in Vague. She talks about her journey to becoming a veterinarian, her love of the M62 and riding for Lost Art. Fun fact she also has the most on lock kickflip in the game and her secret vice is Katie Prices Mucky Mansion (same tbh).
 
Read Connies Vague interview here: Connie Gascoyne - Issue 35 Interview.

Connie Gascoyne – Ride On 5-0 Grind ~ Photo: Ash Wilson

Hilda Quick (@hildabquick)
Hilda is quickly becoming the no1 name when talking about women filmers in the UK. She has earnt this title. No questions. We all can’t wait for the next instalment of Drafts and to see her progress into one of the most established filmers in the UK.
 
Izzy Almond (@izzyalmond)
Izzy is a highly skilled graphic designer, skater, and on the right day comedian. She's had an interview in Companion (go give it a read!) and filmed with the likes of Hilda, Joe Allen, and Josh Hallett. To say this gal is a busy bee is an understatement. Izzy is the most determined and funny skater I’ve met. She has a wonderful nose slide and one to watch for the future.
 
You can read Izzy’s PUSH interview here: Push: Izzy Almond

 
Jasmine Lowe🕸 (@2lowe_)
Jaz skates for Division 24 in Wakey. She has the most insanely cool (he$h) style on a board and a budding tattoo artist. Jaz is an all-rounder and can skate incredibly on transition and street. Keep an eye out for Miss Lowe and someone plz get this girl an interview she’s highly killing it.
 
Abi Townsend-Smith 𝓖𝓸𝓪𝓽 𝓷 𝓱𝓸𝓷𝓮𝔂 (@goatnhoney)
Abi! I met Abi Townsend-Smith years ago whilst skating Hyde. You can always find her lending a helping hand to skaters and bringing the most hype to a session. On top of that, she also runs her own business called Goat and Honey Tattoo where she creates unique hand-poked tattoos.
 
Elsie Aimes (LC) (@elsie.a)
LC has done more for women and marginalised gender skateboarding sessions in the north than any person I know. She has ran multiple sessions in Leeds and Manchester helping to grow both scenes and give people confidence from the get-go. Also, she’s got sick mannys and she’s from Manny.
 
Erin Cooper-Jones (@erin_cj_)
Erin is an extremely talented photographer. Her work has been featured in Vague and she was the first person to take a ‘proper’ skate photo of me. I remember getting to hug her at the end of my trick. Having her there made that one of my most fond memories of skateboarding. She also hugged me when I got bullied online by 47-year-old men because I clipped my back truck on a front shuv. Yeah, I’m still bitter.
 
Al (Jack) Lovell (@lovell.35mm)
Al has used their skills in photography and design to create eye-opening work on marginalised gender skating. They created a zine called ‘This isn’t very ladylike’ which I urge people to read and be open to. Al believes skating should be for everyone and that people’s safety should be at the heart of that message.
Basically, without being the mushiest person in the entire world. The most influential skaters to me are my friends, in particular my female and marginalised gender friends. I know what they go through on a personal and skating level. Thriving in a space that once and still is low-key aimed towards men is a challenge, but their determination to improve their skate scene and skills inspires me to pick up my board every day.

A majority of these people are featured in a short documentary called ‘Where do you want us?’ An insight into women and marginalised genders experiences whilst street skating. For free tickets to the screening click the link below:
 
Where Do You Want Us? - Thu 14 Mar 2024 at 18:00
 

 
Happy International Women’s Day to all the skaters and haters out there. Lots of love, Minnie x