Ben Gravy Discusses Localism and Whether It’s Justified

Localism, as we all know, is a touchy subject in the surfing world. Some feel like it’s a necessary evil to protect sacred places from becoming too crowded, to overrun with people who may not really appreciate the beauty of a certain place.

Or those who are taking too many waves.

Then there’s the other side that can get extreme – tires are slashed, noses punched in, and windshields tagged with “kook” using surf wax.

Ben Gravy has surfed in every state, and he is trying to surf in every country. So yeah, the man has experienced localism. 

“For the most part everyone in surfing is very friendly but there are people who are agro,” he recently said on the podcast, Camp Gagnon. Haven’t heard of it? Me neither, but comedian Mark Gagnon has a surprising number of episodes.

“There are certain places where people are stuck in their mindset of how surfing is and should be,” Gravy continued. “I feel like at a certain point, surfing was so influenced by this Hawaii localism thing where it’s spread to certain parts of the world where it doesn’t need to be. I’ve experienced localism on the Great Lakes. And the biggest thing about localism in this day and age is that most of it happens on Instagram. So they’ll just wait until you leave and then they’ll attack you on Instagram. It’s gone digital.”

There’s a lot to unpack there. Yeah, localism at a wave that could kill you (like Pipe), where someone paddles out not knowing what they’re doing, shit could go wrong fast. I can see a reckoning there (“You might want to paddle in, bra”). But on a random, crumbly Lake Superior peak? Not so much, especially if said localism isn’t done face-to-face. Digital localism is the quintessential example of the world we’re living in. If you’re going to be mean and nasty, can’t we do it the old fashioned way, up close and personal?

Ben goes on to break down, and give further nuance, to his thoughts on the dicey subject matter.

The post Ben Gravy Discusses Localism and Whether It’s Justified first appeared on The Inertia.