Women in action sports and the gender bias they face.

Cara-Beth Burnside is a legend in women's skateboarding, no doubt. She's paved the way for younger female skaters to receive more respect and exposure because she's been ripping for more than 20 years.

However, action sports as an industry still fails to see even her as more than an opportunity to sell their pink bikinis and their flower printed equipment. Female skaters face an especially tough challenge given that their sport doesn't highlight their curves in swimsuits at tropical locations, nor has it been sanctioned by "respectable" organizations such as the Olympic Games. Add to that the fact that women only make up about 12% of skateboarders, compared to 31% of surfers and 24% of snowboarders, then it's no wonder that glass ceiling remains without a crack.

This quote pretty much sums it up for me... "At Vans, skate icons such as Tony Alva, Steve Caballero, Jeff Grosso and Hosoi are part of a "Legends" program. But Doug Palladini, who is both the president of the Surf Industry Manufacturers Association and vice president of marketing at Vans, points out that although Vans respects everything Burnside has achieved, with so few women's skaters, it makes little business sense to include her."

To me, this sounds like our politicians thesedays - so concerned about winning their next reelection that they lack the moral fortitude to do what's right for the long term. What they don't realize is that they may win this battle, but they're losing the war. That is what skateboarding is doing by not taking Cara-Beth and others as seriously as they should.

Sponsor a female legend now, before it makes "business sense", and become the industry legend long term.