Drop In: The Gender Rebels Who Changed the Face of Skateboarding – A Cultural History of Queer Pioneers at the Tokyo Olympics

by Deborah Stoll

A bad*ss story of the female, queer, bi, and nonbinary skaters who charted a path to the Olympics and changed the face of skateboarding.

Who gets to tell the story of skateboarding? Drop In is the first book to recognize and historicize the female, queer, bi, and nonbinary humans who blazed the path that led to today’s more equitable skate culture. It wasn’t easy getting here.

Like the rest of the world, skateboarding has long been patriarchal. In the 70s, it personified the punk rock, lock-up-your-daughters, middle-finger-to-the-man ethos. In the 80s, it was Miami Vice soundtracks and parachute pants, neon graphics and fingerless gloves. In the 90s it was New York City—graffiti, hip-hop, and skating in the street. Rarely did you see a woman’s name in a skate video—either on a deck or behind the lens.

The four skateboarders at the heart Drop In defied expectations of gender, talent, physical ability, and mental capacity to fight the status Alana as the first openly nonbinary athlete in Olympic history; Vanessa as a trailblazing runaway, dominating contests while drinking to excess; Marbie as an accidental boundary-breaking trans icon; and Victoria as the skate rookie turned social media sensation.  Drop In spotlights their paths from rebellious outsiders to recognized pioneers on the historic stage of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, where skateboarding made its historic debut. Their experiences reveal a side of skateboarding that’s never been recorded, amplifying voices that have, for too long, gone unheard.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Sports, LGBT, Audiobook

304 pages, Hardcover

Published July 16, 2024

About the author

Deborah Stoll is a journalist, lyricist, writer and animator. Her work has appeared in The Economist, Los Angeles Times, LA Weekly, Portland Mercury, San Francisco Chronicle, Punch Drink, Buzz Bands, Ignite and White Hot Magazine. Her short stories have appeared in Slake, Swivel, and Fresh Yarn. Her band, Hot As Sun, has opened for Phantogram, Gotye, and Foster the People, been featured on TV shows like Vampire Diaries, Pretty Little Liars, Glee, and CSI: Miami, and in the movie For a Good Time, Call and the forthcoming, Space Cadet. Her first book, Unvarnished, was co-written with Eric Alperin. Drop In is her first book as a solo author.

Reviews

[Jordan]

Could really have done without the "sound effects", and so many of the people intertwine with each other's stories that it was sometimes hard to keep track of who exactly the reader is supposed to be following.

[Natalie Porter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Buy this book! I fist-pumped the air and muttered “f*ck yessss” throughout the reading of Drop In… it was such a joy and a credit to Deborah, and all the individuals who were willing to be vulnerable, share their truths and inspire future generations of skaters.

There’s so many highlights, but I especially appreciated the unfiltered critique of some of the more toxic aspects of skateboarding culture, learning more about the impact it has had on queer and trans skaters, and the focus on joy and how wonderful skateboarding is when it’s about community and inclusion. Hurrah!!!

Sending virtual hugs to Alana Smith, Vanessa Torres, Marbie Miller and Victoria Taylor. Thank you, you beautiful, radiant, defiant skaters. It was a privilege to read about your stories - skateboarding is a better place thanks to all of you!! Great commentary from Kim Woozy, Amelia Brodka, Mimi Knoop, Alex White, Kristin Ebeling, Jessie Van Roechoudt, and Cara-beth Burnside, and the many others who contributed. And, congratulations again, Deborah – fantastic work.

[Peyton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book provides a very interesting and current history of skateboarding, wirh a background focus on skateboarding joining the Summer Olympics. While this is an encompassing history, there is special focus on several different characters, weaving their stories with the history. I was especially drawn to Alana’s story because of Alana’s terrible mother; I was very sympathetic to Alannah’s plight and found it to be one of the most interesting stories. I feel like Marnie’s story wasn’t given as much time as the others, but I did enjoy it. I can’t remember if it’s Victoria or Vanessa who became the Olympic judge. Whomever it was, I really liked their narrative. I believe Victoria is the “pretty” one who had a ton of struggles with social media. It was all very intriguing to listen to. I did find the author amusing as there were a lot of moments where they clearly talked from their emotions and they called out the bulls**t moments in life. I’m glad I can across this book.

[Griffin Wold · Rating 4 out of 5]

Drop In, featuring the stories of four people outside the cishet White man perspective of skateboarding, brings us through time into the progression of gender equality within skateboarding.

It was incredibly interesting to hear the stories of these four people, as well as hear bits and pieces of the stories of other women and girls throughout history. Not only was it super informative, it was also incredibly joyful. You can tell Stoll is incredibly proud of these people, but is excited to tell their stories and is passionate about skateboarding itself.

The organization left a bit to be desired (and me a bit confused at times), but that barely takes away from the enjoyability of this book.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.0 I really enjoyed this book and love anything where women are the center. My friend, Colin Bane, was also interviewed and shouted out in this book. I learned so much about skating and the women and girls who have been doing it since the beginning. Knowing their stories after hearing about them and watching them is awesome. I listened to this book but am going to borrow from the library to see the pictures mentioned.

[Artnoose McMoose · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is somewhat of a history of female, trans, and non-binary skaters. It weaves the stories of five different skaters and includes some history. I was a little worried in the beginning that it would only include very recent history, just because all of the skaters featured are so young, but it turned out less like that than I feared.

[Gabriel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting look into a bit of history I didn't know much about.
It's no surprise that misogyny and queerphobia are prevalent in almost any profession or hobby. Still, it's informative to see how they manifest here and the ways people like Alana, Vanessa, Marbie, and Victoria cope and carve out their own space.

[Karime AV · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sooo good! I learned a lot about skate history and these particular skaters, whose journeys were so different! The last part of Victoria’s story really resonated with me 🩷. I’m gonna go skate now

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you skateboard this book can come across a little corny at times, interesting history, enjoyed reading about Marbie and Victoria the most

[Tanet Higgins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting stories of the lives of a diverse skaters.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

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