Women in wetsuits: revolting bodies in lesbian surf culture

The article unpicks the notion of lesbian bodies as revolting through an analysis of how "women in wetsuits" are experienced as both disgusting and desirable by lesbian surfers. Based on ethnographic research carried out within British surf culture, I consider how lesbian surfing bodies come to be experienced and embodied as disgusting, desirable, and revolting. Informed by interview data and personal reflections I suggest that the affective power of lesbian desire might offer ways in which to disrupt the cultural processes that shame bodies and in doing so enable surfing bodies to revolt.