Woman often portray a diminished role in the skateboarding community. Lacey Baker defies the stereotype that skateboarding isn’t for women. Baker is one of many successful woman skateboarders. Lacey inspires, shows persistent effort and defies all women’s skateboarding stereotypes. She’s hardcore and shows that if you work hard enough for something you can achieve it.

Often young girls are engraved with the idea that skateboarding is just for guys. I’ve only ever seen male skaters and I’ve been wanting to skateboard for as long as I can remember but I was afraid of what my guy friends would think of me if I suddenly wanted to pick up skateboarding. I was afraid that they’d think I was a poser or that I’d picked up the sport for the attention from guys but I just wanted to skate. Lacey has a team of female skaters that aim to grab the attention of young girls with their brand Meow Skateboarding. She hopes to make a positive impact for young girls coming up skating. She hopes to empower young girls from all over the world.

When Baker was just 14 she placed first in street competitions at both the Canadian Open in Toronto and the Slam City Jam in Calgary, which is an incredible accomplishment for anyone, especially one who’s only 14. Since the beginning she’s put all effort into things such as winning first place but also something as small as landing a Kick flip. This is said to be her proudest moments. Since Lacey was 14 she’s been invited to skate the X-Games and she’s been invited every year since. She shows continuous effort and is said to be one of the best female skaters in the world.

Girls are often discouraged when they believe their incapable of doing something due to the circumstances. How to solve this problem? Encourage young girls to explore their options and don’t deny them the privilege of doing something because it’s mainly male dominated. Manly or not girls should be able to challenge themselves. Girls feel as if they’re not tough enough to be able to skate but they’re capable of many things. Baker makes girls comfortable and feel as they can amount to much more than they think.

This woman is no doubt a hero. Through hard work and dedication she’s changed many lives. She’s succeeded and undoubtingly defied all stereotypes. She inspires many people and has made such a positive impact on young woman. Being a woman in the skateboarding community is hard but with idols such as her and many other women, skating is capable for types of people.