So some of us had this discussion a few months ago and I just came across this article. I know most of the members here are male, but I thought I would post this anyways.....stir some shit up and kill some time. I especially liked the part about the different names for gear.
I feel like outerwear is pretty comparable however. Keep in mind this article is about 10 months old, but most of it is still relevant. I for one would like to see a more mature spin on women's gear versus selling towards little girls. Can we get some badass colorways and designs please?
A few snowboard names I came across: Twin Sister, Romp, Swoon, Mystique, Radiance, XOXO, Sugar Banana, Push Up, Pillow Talk, Lip-Stick, Emoticon.
Good read. My gf hates all the girly snowboard stuff. I agree as well.
The names of the boards are just ridiculous. Enough with the pink, cats, etc as well. There are plenty of adult females in the sport and I'm sure many of them have outgrown their middle school phase.
As a man, it makes it super hard to buy gear for my gf.
In basic economy lectures we've learned that the deman dictates the market... that would mean that the demand for girly stuff is simply higher than for "reasonable women's" gear :shrug:
Those, who outgrew the girly stuff - or never liked it - found other options, sure, in a small selection, but found n bought gear anyway.. so the lack of a bigger selection didn't prevent to buy, you just get something else, e.g. select only from 2 potential options in the women's department, or get men's gear instead. So I assume the lack of selection didn't really affect the sales.
I'm going to go ahead and say that most snowboard companies aren't marketing gods. We all understand econ 101; it's not complicated.
It's clear the women's snowboarding gear is aimed at a target market of ~8-15 years old.
Based on what I see, I deduce that snowboard companies are WAY more concerned about enticing new female snowboarders than catering to older, more experienced riders (that have since developed different, more "adult" tastes). There's much more money to made on younger beginners because there will always be more female beginners than experienced, more mature female riders.
i think they're just trying to appeal to as many women as possible with their designs. i don't think there's any overt sexism going on. even as a guy, i'm definitely in the minority in terms of the things i like (metal, horror movies, skulls and other dark artwork, pretty much a stereotypical metalhead). hardly anything is marketed towards my interests. it's tough just finding a t shirt that i like unless it's a band shirt.
i know. gnu has had some awesome artwork on the billy goat in years past too but that's why didn't limit it to just snowboarding. i meant with everything.
In my observation…women’s rec gear is divided in to 3 levels:
The gaper….pink, beginner, mass marketing.
The recreationalist….like the rei, ll bean…basically somewhat functional for a short period of activity.
The core…which is mainly male dominated and developed by has recognized there is a niche…the main manufactures are Arc’teryx and OR.
Its about market demand…how many women are going to drop $700 for a gortex shell to go with their stilettos to get from the escalade, to starbucks and then the mall?
Gnu...at the high end...e.g. the lady's choice and Bpro...tries to have a girly look but provides a fairly high performance product. And Jones forgoes the girly look but is somewhat indistinguishable from the men's line.
I tend to like simple graphics, like my Proto. Since many ladies ride smaller "mens" boards already, why not just expand the smaller sized offerings in a neutral design?
I just read this article and it's nice to see we are moving in the right direction.
A chick from Burton reached out to me on IG after I commented about their boots. I wrote a fairly extensive email and no response, but it was nice to put it out there in any case.
while i already know that there's far less gear choices for women then men i decided to take a look at all of the women's gear on evo because i see this topic being discussed more and more. the only stuff that really stood out as being too girly were the boards. everything else seemed to have more variety. but if you're still unsatisfied then unfortunately the 2 ways to see more gear that you like are to either keep being vocal about it or start your own brand. but don't just stop at emailing brands. email and talk to shop owners too and tell them what you'd like to see more of because they'll turn around and tell the brands since they also have their eye on the bottom line. i would think, to a brand, having a shop like evo tell them what their customers want more of would carry more weight (or at the very least, be the same) then just the small percentage of women who actually took the time to email the brands (i assume most customers just buy whatever they like or dislike the least and call it a day)
As an older man, I too find it a little difficult to find a brands that have graphics etc that appeal to the older rider. Most snowboard brands seem to be marketing to 15 year olds not rad dads.
I think I will buy a Jones board next. I like their under-stated graphics. Jeremy Jones is old and rad like me. Arbor looks good too. I really liked the Burton Flight Attendant Graphics this year, surprise surprise it is sold out on their website. I'm not buying a board with half-naked women on it, sorry Capita DOA. Great board but I hate your graphics. Libtech and GNU seem to be marketed towards younger demo as well.
I think women have it really tough sometimes in this sport. Some shops I go into only have 1 or 2 ladies boards. Horrible selection. But other shops have lots of product for ladies. I guess go to the good shops when you can, or buy online.
I think this sport needs to grow up a bit. Sure there are tons of young people in our sport which is great. But there are also lots of old farts that were shredding back in the 90s.
This isn't really the right lace for this prob but I'm sharing this here for now.
A few reviews for 2017 Jones Twin Sister, Jones Air, & NOW Vetta bindings. It seems particularly difficult to get legit reviews for women and I like a lot of what this site posts.
Neni, I think I saw in a past article about 2017 Dakine women's avy packs too. No wait that was somewhere else. Nm
Me personally, I used to HATE pink.
I hated anything pink or super girly stuff.
Now I'm at the point just tolerating them.
They don't give me hives anymore.
Just ordered this one.
Hope they'll fit my short Asian legs.
Me personally, I used to HATE pink.
I hated anything pink or super girly stuff.
Now I'm at the point just tolerating them.
They don't give me hives anymore.
Lol, I've a love-hate relationship to my pink pants (they're NOT pink! They're salmon. Flamengo. Dragon-fruit. Whatever, but not pink! K... maybe they are a bit pink-ish... ) but I love how highly visible they are - important in BC IMO - and due to the very good contrast to the snow they make for good pics.
Would have preferred orange, but that sort-of-pink was the only available high vis colour I had found when buying pants so I bite the lemon and live with them now, cos meanwhile, orange is written off for me cos the SO has orange pants now.
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