Originally published in the Style section of CNN, January, 25, 2021
Girls Can’t Skate spotlights an all-female and non-binary skateboarding community in New York City. By exploring these women’s shared passion and resilience, it celebrates female empowerment in contrast to the machismo culture and normalized violence against women that plagues much of the world.
These women are challenging barriers of the traditionally male-dominated sport at a historic moment for skateboarding, which will be part of the next Olympic Games. The images were captured before the COVID-19 pandemic, and then during the lockdown via FaceTime.
"Being resilient is one of the best and worst traits I got from being a skateboarder. I'll fall nine times but I always get up ten." Joscelyn Fuentes, 18
"The positive for it is fearless. The negative is reckless. Either way skateboarding is fun." Ariana Navazesh, 22
“Skateboarding took me away from a dark place in my life. Sometimes I don’t understand why I love it so much but I honestly made it my home. In the past, many of the boys didn’t accept me due to the fact I was a female skateboarder but as the years past many understood me.” Melissa Ramírez, 23
