Open Letter to Tony Hawk: NO Girls in the Wasteland

Here's the story of the death of a little girl's dream.

My daughter is your run-of-the-mill little girl. It's Princesses, Butterflies and Ponies all the way. I've paid my dues with Barbie and My Little Ponies. Thankfully, my daughter recently took an interest in a game that the boys had rented from the video store. Yep, Tony Hawk's American Wasteland. This girl has been more into this game than any of the guys. She is lit up inside with the drive to go outside and skin up her knees.

But there are no women in this game. Why? Suddenly my little girl is asking me why no girls want to skate and if she should skate at all because it's just for the boys. Tony Hawk is the most famous skater in all the land and HE thinks that girls shouldn't be skaters.

Man, we had to mutate this guy in skate mode, put pink sunglasses on his head and a set of horrendous pigtails just to try to create some resemblance of a girl. Did you not realize that women are over half of the world's population? Did you not think that girls should be encouraged to skate as well as boys?

It's difficult to not speculate the implications of a lawsuit in this situation. Did you know that in 2003, 2 percent of females who participated in sports were skateboarders? This is according to Cleveland's 'The Plain Dealer'. In 2002, 26 percent of all skateboarders were female, up from 7.5 percent in 2001, according to research firm Board-Trac. What about Lyn Z Adams?? Elissa Steamer? Where IS Elissa this time?!? Allison Matsi? Vanessa Torres? COME ON. For YEARS now, women have been participating in the Gravity Games, X Games and the World Cup.

It is very disappointing that you have approved the #1 skateboarding game to exclude women from the ranks. Meanwhile, my little girl is skating her pixelated man-broad around while I tell her that you simply made a mistake. She's no dummy, and it's going to take quite a bit of convincing for her to understand that women ARE accepted as skaters.

Thanks a lot pal,
Rain

More from skateboarding guide Steve Cave - Tony Hawk's American Wasteland was reviewed on this site last year (see review). As it turns out, there is the option for playing with a pre-made female character named Trisha. Trisha can be used in classic mode and online, but not in the story mode of the game (the story has love elements that would have been complicated to adjust for a female main character). There aren't any female pros in the game, and there weren't any in the last Tony Hawk game either (Tony Hawk's Underground 2). The previous five did feature Elissa Steamer.