Surf culture, developed by Polynesians, has influenced mainstream culture with its casual, laid-back attitude, slang, and fashion. It values fellowship and cooperation, but territorialism and commercialism have challenged its traditions.
Surf culture is the complex and incredibly diverse culture that is involved in the sport of surfing. Besides creating a unique subculture, surfing also triggered major cultural trends, especially in the 1950s and 1960s, shaping mainstream culture with changes in language, attitude, and social norms. Many surfers share this collective cultural heritage, and some non-surfers imitate some aspect of surf culture because they find it interesting or admirable.
Surfing was developed by the Polynesians hundreds of years ago. The first explorers of the South Pacific were introduced to the sport, which was briefly suppressed in the 1800s before becoming famous in the early 1900s. By the 1950s, surf culture had begun reaching the US mainland, thanks to the movies that made it popular, and a collective surfing craze swept America.
There are many aspects of surf culture, and some of these aspects are clearly adopted from Polynesian culture. Surf culture tends to place a high value on fellowship, kindness, and cooperation, with surfers helping each other out when they can and working together toward common goals. Many people also associate surfers with a casual, laid-back attitude characterized by casual language and dress. The surfer style is heavily imitated in some parts of the world, with several major companies making big profits from their surf-inspired lines that include sandals, casual jewelry, and shorts.
This unique culture also has its own musical traditions and linguistic tendencies. Many surfers’ speech is filled with surf slang to describe everything from an attractive woman to the way the waves break. Some surfers also ascribe to the spiritual aspects of surfing, and surfers may hold their own prayer groups, funerals, or other expressions of spirituality in ways unique to surf culture. Most spiritual surf meetings take place on the beach or on the waves and end with a surf session.
With the expansion of surfing as a popular sport, some of the ethos and traditions of surf culture have been shaken. In some regions of the world, for example, surfers are very territorial about their main spots, leading to a localism phenomenon that can be alienating or confusing for visitors or people new to the sport. Competitive surfing is also sometimes characterized by a break with the traditional relaxed, cooperative aspects of surf culture, although the percentage of surfers who surf competitively or for an income is relatively small.
Some surfers have been irritated by the commercialism of surfing, thanks to big companies like Roxy and Quicksilver. Others believe that the popularization of surfing has introduced many new people to a sport they might not otherwise have explored, and are happy to be able to share the pleasure of surfing with others.
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