Olive Bowers, 13, was disappointed that the surfer magazine "Tracks" did not include many women, and that those who did appear were rarely "surfing or even remotely near a beach," according to PolicyMic.
The young Aussie is a surfer girl herself, and was unpleasantly surprised that this self-proclaimed "Surfers' Bible" did not feature many women catching waves.
Bowers wrote a strongly worded letter to Luke Kennedy, the magazine's editor, to voice her complaints.
"These images create a culture in which boys, men and even girls reading your magazine will think that all girls are valued for is their appearance," Bowers wrote. "I would subscribe to your magazine if only I felt that women were valued as athletes instead of dolls."
"Tracks" does exclusively cover women in their "Girl of the Month" section and website tab dedicated to "Vixens" and "Poster Girls," but Bowers says they are lacking and overtly sexy.
"I clicked on your web page titled 'Girls' hoping I might find some women surfers and what they were up to, but it entered into pages and pages of semi-naked, non-surfing girls," she added.
According to News.com.au, Kennedy offered a simple response: "Obviously [girls] are not our primary audience. We have written extensively about female surfers in the past."
This is not the first time the sport has been criticized for its sexism. In 2013, Hawaiian pro-surfer Anastasia Ashley pointed out that most headlines about female competitors focused on their looks rather than their surfing accomplishments, The Huffington Post reported. Recently, a Roxy surf wear campaign has been under fire for filming world champion Stephanie Gilmore in her bed, checking her phone and getting dressed -- none of which involves a surfboard.
Bowers argues that the magazine is losing out on a serious marketing opportunity.
"It's a shame that you can't see the benefits of an inclusive surf culture that in fact, would add a whole lot of numbers to your subscription list," she said.
In the mean time, Bowers says she and her "posse of female surfers" are going to tell everyone they know about the negative portrayal of women in "Tracks," which they plan on boycotting.
