29 Mar 2024
Tuesday 2 December 2014 - 09:59
Story Code : 133902

Iran's female surf pioneers

Iran
Balochistan. The place sounds made up, like something from a terribleBoratsequel. But its very real, and its very dangerous. TheNew York Timesrecently christened Balochistan as The Scariest Little Corner of the World. Its an amorphous blob making up rural and often lawless parts of Pakistan, Afghanistan, and southeastern Iran. It also boasts the only coastline in Iran thats even relatively open to swell. In this case, a small 60 mile stretch that faces southwest into the Gulf of Oman, and further out, to the Arabian Sea. Its remote, its rugged, and not somewhere typically visited by Westerners, let alone surfers.
All of this sounded good to Irish surfer Easkey Britton. In 2010, she took time off from finishing a PhD in Marine Science (andtowing into beasts at Mullaghmore) to surf this moonscape of a coastline. It was a lark, a chance to see and surf someplace new, a serious adventure. It ended up being the beginning of a brand new surf culture: the women surfers of Iran. Britton recorded a short video of herself riding a few small Iranian waves near the village of Chabahara traditional hijab worn over her wetsuitand posted the clip on the Internet. A handful of Iranian women saw the clip, and they wanted in. They found Britton online and asked her to come back to teach them how to surf.

Britton has since made two more trips to the Chabahar area, and last year, with filmmaker Marion Poizeau, she made a longform documentary about the nascent Iranian surf scenea scene Britton says is uniquely pioneered by womencalled Into the Sea. It recently premiered on the international surf film circuit. Intrigued, I spoke with Britton about Iran, and herWaves of Freedomproject, which uses surfing to inspire social changean organization inspired by the women of Iran.

 

Why Iran?

Ive always been attracted to offbeat places. Actually, the idea didnt even come from me, it came from friends who like to travel. A friend-of-a-friend who worked for Lonely Planet actually encouraged me to go; hed been in Pakistan and saw surf there, and he wondered if there was surf around the cornerin Iran. I think the reason I first went to Iran was because once Id looked into it I realized how little I knew about such a huge country. I didnt even know it had a coast exposed to any waves. I was just curious, really, and excited about the chance to surf waves that had never been ridden before. It was about a sense of adventure. But initially, I hadnt really thought of what that might actually mean as a woman, including about having to be covered and everything. The whole journey, up until right now, has been pretty organic.

What did you expect youd find in Iran? Both in terms of surf, and cultural reception?

The first trip was massively eye-opening, we just didnt know what to expect at all, or if wed even find waves. We ended up getting waves everyday, but nothing spectacular; maybe three foot beachbreak. We only spent a four or five days on the coast. It wasnt until after our short video had come out that we started to get a reaction from the local Iranian community to what wed done. The motivation to return after that first trip only happened because wed been invited to come back by other sporting women in Tehran. Theyre actually part of an Iranian snowboard community, if you can believe that.

They saw the clip on their own?

Yeah, they stumbled across it online, and contacted me and Poizeau. Obviously, they knew about surfing but they didnt realize that it was something they could do in their country. There are all sorts of issues for people in Iran to travel to other countries if they want to try to surf, so the chance of being able to do it in their own backyard was pretty appealing. But it was also quite challenging for these women, because theyre from Tehran, from a more open-minded background and wealthy upbringing, and where we were surfing is very remote and rural. When you talk to many Iranians about Balochistan, theyd say What, youre going there? Its a different ethnicity and a different sort of religion. Its a whole different culture and social class within Iran.

What was the reaction of the local villagers?

Well, we didnt have the beach to ourselves for very long, thats for sure. For the women who were with us, it was quite brave on their part. Its one thing for me to go to rural Iran and surf as an outsider, but we didnt know what it would be like for the women from Tehran to do it. There was no blueprint, nobody else had really done that at all. I mean, some male French surfers had come through briefly, many years ago, and theres a paragraph on Iran inStormriders, but thats about it. This was really different.

For the people on that coast, their first impression of surfing at all is of women surfing. And I think the fact that when I went surfing Id gone through the effort of getting covered up and wearing a hijab worked in our favor and helped it get accepted by the powers that be. Which was very important.

In 2010 [Britton's first trip] I was mostly surfing way out in the desert in the middle of nowhere, and our guide told us not to worry about a hijab. But I didnt want to give anyone an excuse to think it was something that we shouldnt do. First impressions really matter. Even if it wasnt something I might agree with, because I was traveling in someone elses country, I thought it made sense to respect the culture.

The real challenge was trying to get local girls and women involved. They have much more of an invisible role there. There were key factors that got them interested. One, we just went in and had direct dialogue with the locals, from the village leaders up to politicians, religious leaders, both men and women, everybody. The local community really got on board, and surfing has created a positive impact already. Its shown that its something that women can do while still respecting the traditional ways and the hijab. In that way too, it wasnt necessarily brought in as a western sport, it was introduced in a much more culturally sensitive way, I think.

So theres a burgeoning surf scene in that area now?How do they get boards?

Trying to get surfboards to that corner of Iran was a logistical nightmare. We brought over six beginner boards last year, and then I gathered up as many donation boards as I could this year. The scene has really taken off. We held a cross-cultural workshop, which drew a lot of people from different parts of Iran, where they could meet with each other, and learn how to surf. The locals organized a second surfing workshop themselves after we left. There are at least 20 women and girls in the area who tried surfing, and 30-40 men. In fact, for now, its a mix of women, young girls, and men and boys teaching each other to surf.

Will this be an annual thing for you?

Its sure turning out that way. Its just been so incredible to see a surf culture be born right before your eyes. Waves of Freedom actually came from this experience in Iran and in seeing the connection you can have with people through surfing. I guess I always knew about that, but just seeing the reaction that people have from the whole surf experience was amazing. Surfing there has opened up a space where people can share experiences with each other that wouldnt happen otherwise. And its especially inspiring to see that surfing is a tool that women and girls can use for empowerment. Ive seen the importance of having female role models in places like Iran and India, just because there are still so many barriers for women in these places. Whats truly unique, is that the whole story of surfing in Iran will have been started by women. Its quite incredible really to have a surf history in any nation be led by women.

 

By Surfer

 

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