There’s a show on the Food Network called “The Pioneer Woman.” It features a matronly redheaded woman named Ree Drummond preparing recipes for her husband and children, who spend most of their days working outside on the family’s ranch. She’s an indoor cat. And guess what? Ain’t nothin wrong with that! Because nowadays, thanks to a few trailblazers* (see below) women can do whatever the F*CK we want! We can skate in huge JNCO jeans or in skirts and crop tops, like Skate Moss, and everything in between. The days when dead presidents with their faces printed on money (not to mention our current douche-in-cheif) got to determine our gender & cultural norms are over. Make it fucking rain on that antiquated bullshit! Celebrate individuality instead of shit talking people for not fitting into conventions, or at the same time, fitting into them too well! Cook if you want to cook, skate if you want to skate and wear whatever you feel like wearing each day. Because the best version of you, and the people around you, is ALWAYS the most authentic.
In 2004 in Melbourne Australia, I met *Hilary Pearce, another kind of “Pioneer Woman.” At the time, “Hizza,” Monica Shaw, Esther Godoy & Sally Clark were casually forging new ground for women in skateboarding. Not necessarily by aiming for that result; by having the courage to be themselves and do whatever the fuck they wanted. It’s hard to grasp now, but women with skateboards were often treated like pariahs back then. Hilary and I became friends and together with Vanessa Torres, we enjoyed months of tram rides, skate parks and Victoria Bitter beers. Hilary is courageous, fun, hilarious, faithful, caring, and has genius-level intelligence. Because of Hilary and her generation of female skaters, we can now look masculine or feminine and skateboard. We can be domestic or nomadic. We can be sexy as we want. Or not. And bang whoever we want. And if you haven’t caught up, you’ll get left choking a dust cloud of dead presidents. If Ree Drummond wants to skateboard she can too. And if she wants to bring her homemade biscuits and wear a goddamn petticoat, sweet!
Last summer, Hizza and her girlfriend Simoen took a 2-week trip throughout California, from Big Sur to the Mojave Desert on rented Harleys with their skateboards strapped to the back. Talk about badass. 15 years later, Hizza is still out blazing new trails. And doing it quietly & gracefully, simply by being herself. And doing whatever the fuck she wants. Be like Hilary. -Migzy
1. Name – Hilary
