ABSTRACT
Th e television program Hardcore Candy1 is de scribed as h aving been created with “the aim of exposing adventurous role models largely ignored by the media […] It’s time this exciting and visually stunning world of women in extreme sports is documented. We want to tell the stories of our hidden heroines” (https://www.hardcorecandy.tv). In spite of claims-made in commentary during major events, interviews with athletes, articles in skateboarding and snowboarding magazines, and academic articles-that skateboarding and snowboarding are intentionally al ternative to dominant sp orts (like baseball, basketball, and football), with respect to gender relations, they seem to maintain the status quo. According to these sources, skateboarding and snowboarding subcultures are self-governed, anti-competition, informally organized, and participant oriented (e.g., Beal, 1995, 1996; B orden, 2001; Heino, 2000; Humphreys, 1997, 2003). Yet, like so many dominant sports, these subcultures seem to be about (and for) boys and men. In light of this, the creation of a television program dedicated to the “girls in action sports and lifestyle”, off ers an interesting site of analysis.
