Smith 1

Robert Smith

Professor Artin

SPEECH 1315

27 February 2015

Cultural Speech Outline:

Specific Purpose: To inform my audience of the surf sub culture, so that they will have a better understanding of it, and may have a different view of how the surf culture impacted lives and society.

Central Idea: The surf subculture isn’t just a group of people who only like to surf in , it is a way of life style that impacts the way they see the world and has actually affected our society in many ways.

Introduction: Attention Getter: Show of hands? How many of you love going to the beach?

How many of you have seen someone ride a wave? Doesn’t that look fun? Topic Reveal: Today,

I am here to talk to you about the very fun and exciting culture of . Credibility: I chose this topic because I too am very fascinated and interested in surfing. Preview: Today, I am here to discuss with you about who surfers are by explaining their background, beliefs, values, and norms.

Body:

I. Background Information:

A. The exact origins of surfing are unknown but evidence points out to the

Polynesians and Native Peruvians as the founders of surfing. Smith 2

i. He’e nalu [heh' eh nah' loo] (wave sliding) was first named by the

Polynesians in (Finney, 28-31).

B. Surfing actually rose in popularity much later, in the 1950’s, in California.

i. Popular locations included Santa Cruz, Huntington Beach, and San

Clemente (Hull 32).

Transition: Now that I’ve briefly discussed with you the origins of surfing, let me describe to you the beliefs of surfers.

II. Beliefs:

A. Surfers believe that the ocean is a reflection of self, and harnessing the waves

shows how you endure difficult times or self-control in your real life outside of

the ocean.

i. Many surfers use this belief to set the foundation of their lifestyle, using

this style of harnessing waves to reduce depression and combat anxiety

(Hull 47).

Transition: Now that we’ve covered the beliefs of the culture, let’s discuss the values.

III. Values:

A. Surfers value fellowship, kindness, and cooperation. (Robberts 2).

i. They help each other out when possible.

ii. They work together toward common goals they have in their personal

lives.

B. Surfers also place a strong value and importance in art. Smith 3

i. Value in art, has made surfing culture a big impact in our society and

pop cultural world for many generations before and until today.

C. Surfers also place an obviously strong value in their loves of beaches.

Preserve their identity by protecting their “turf” of beaches (Palmas 1295-

1296).

i. Groups of surfers, called surf gangs, who are regular surfers who live

around a desirable surfing area.

a) Guard with jealousy

b) Expression “locals only,” derived from surfer gangs.

1. Fewer people, more waves.

Transition: Now that we’ve discussed the values of surfing culture, let’s move on to the norms that identify them.

IV. Norms:

A. Fashion

i. Many surfers in past time wore Hawaiian shirts

a) Reyn Spooner, - designed a shirt that would be more favorable to

native Hawaiian's… opposed to the plain shirts the western

missionaries provided in order to cover up the naked natives

b) Elvis' presence in Hawaiian history also holds fashion significance.

Elvis often wore Hawaiian or Aloha shirts, flowered or colorful

patterned shirts.

1. Displaying how surfing culture had such a great effect on

pop-culture. Smith 4

ii. Today, many surfers can still be identified by the way they dress

(Robberts 4).

a) Board shorts

b) Surf t-shirts, with designs and surf motifs on them.

c) Shoes: sandals, and flip flops.

B. :

i. Shaka sign (Watanabe 9).

a) Known as “cowabunga or hang loose”

b) Extending the thumb and pinky while placing the three middle

fingers into the palm.

c) Means “hang loose” or “awesome,” this is a reminder in

Hawaii, there is no need to worry or rush.

d) The shaka gesture represents the embodiment of “island style.” It

signals that everything is alright.

e) With California surfers, the gesture is known as cowabunga which

came from a character in the 50's television program "The Howdy

Doody Show".

f) Origins due to losing the three fingers in an accident, like trying to

catch fish by throwing a stick of dynamite into the ocean.

C. Slang: (Watanabe 9).

i. Brah: Used to describe friends in Native Hawaii.

ii. In the Soup: The white foam that appears after a wave that has finished.

iii. Wipe-out: falling off your board. Smith 5

iv. Shubee: a poser to the sufer subculture, he/she buys surf gear and clothes

but has never surfed.

Conclusion: As we draw to a close, we note that though we learned many things about surfing culture today, there is much more to learn. We discussed the background of surfing, the belief of harnessing the ocean, the value of support, and the norms of their fashion. I leave you now with a rhetorical question, with all of this information about how awesome surfers are, how many of you are ready to ride that wave?

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Works Cited

Robberts, Michael, Dr. "SDSU Understanding the Surfer." Ed. Coleen Geraghty. SDSU

Marketing & Communications. San Diego State University, 19 July 2008. Web. 24 Feb.

2015. .

Watanabe, June. "Wherever It Came From, Shaka Sign Part of Hawaii."Honolulu Star-Bulletin

Hawaii News. Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 31 Mar. 2002. Web. 26 Feb. 2015.

.

Palmås, Karl. "From Criminality to Creativity: How Studies of Surfer Subcultures Reinvented

Invention." Sport in Society: Cultures, Commerce, Media, Politics 10.1080/17430437

17.10 (2013): 1290-305.Taylor & Francis Online. Web. 20 Feb. 2015.

Hull, Stephen. "A SOCIOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE SURFING SUBCULTURE IN THE

SANTA CRUZ AREA." A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the Department of

Sociology San Jose State University (1996): n. pag. Web.

.

Finney, Ben R., James D. Houston, and Ben R. Finney. Surfing: A History of the Ancient

Hawaiian Sport. San Francisco: Pomegranate Art, 1996. Print.