Roller Derby and Burlesquing It.

During my spare time, (the few hours I find in between skating and teaching) I scan the internet for feminist blogs and articles because I really enjoy reading about the issues that permeate women's lives these days: sex, sexuality, identity, money and competition. I also scan the internet for anything.derby.related. I mean anything.

So, I was very surprised when I stumbled upon an article in Bitch magazine called "Holy Rollers" that I had never seen before. I read from Bitch frequently, but I guess I overlooked this insightful piece because it was published in 2005 and filed away under the sports archives. (My obsessions with hot women and rollerskates began long after 2005).

While the piece is a bit dated, the ideas in it are still very relevant for women who participate in modern day roller derby. Tammy Oler, former Texas skater and frequent writer for Bitch, compares the revival of flattrack roller derby to burlesque dancing because both activities ask women to present themselves as both sexual and competitive all at once. (Burlesque dancing, by the way, is an art in which women swing on poles and do some very acrobatic moves. She must be in prime physical shape to be able to perform.) As most of us know, fulfilling the role of both a vixen and an athlete is hard: how can we be sexy when we are covered in stinky sweat and how can we be a successful athlete if we are too worried about our hair getting mussed? The sport of roller derby, in particular, asks us to think on this problem.

These days, there are few skaters who don't spend some time obsessing about their uniforms or their female presentation on the track. Ladies, there is a reason why derby skinz exist. As Oler notes, roller derby was only able to come back in full force, able to "revive," because female skaters catered to the desires of a male spectatorship who wanted to see tough but beautiful women on the track pummeling each other. Oh, the trap of living in a world in which sports are, even under the best intentions of females, driven by the desires of men.

How do we deal with the problem we have created for ourselves?; Yes, we need our largely male spectatorship to survive as a sport, but do we really have to flaunt our sexuality on the track to keep our fans? What is the answer?

Declaration of Derby Commercial 2009

What A Photo Can Do

One of the best things a rollergirl can do to improve as a skater is to look through photos of herself skating during a game, when she is at her best and worst all at once. Luckily for most rollergirls, fans love to take pictures of chicks on the track so a wide variety of photos are always available after any big game.

Seeing myself on film helps me to best identify if I am skating with the correct form, if I am throwing elbows at certain times, and if I am playing fairly.

I had a very hard doing this for my first year of play because I was too embarrassed to see the pictures of myself that were less than flattering. Believe you me, there is nothing quite as humiliating as coming across a picture of yourself where your ass cheek hangs out a little too far or your mouth guard is dripping spit, or you look like you just peed yourself a little bit.

Recently, though, I have been sifting through last season's pictures because I am going to approach the upcoming season more maturely and proactively. I wanted to share some of the funny and interesting shots I came across.

In this photo, if you look closely, you'll see that Seige is growling at me and I am terrified! I actually remember that moment on the track because she did actually growl:




And in this photo, I am doing something that a rollergirl should never do while on the track: staring at the scoreboard. Taking the time to check the score means you aren't watching what is ahead of you and you're likely going to get clocked:


I'll post more photos as I come across them and hopefully will have some new and improved ones after the season picks up.

Taking Hotrod Seriously

My season officially begins in three days. It is then I will begin training to play for ARRG's 2010 season. I have taken the past two months off to recuperate--mostly from a pretty nasty shoulder injury but also because, as much as I love derby, I just needed some space and time for myself. Any athlete could agree that a sport cannot be played 12 months out of year.

In the next few days, I will start attending practice three or four nights a week. In addition to training with my team in the evenings, I also plan to do rigorous weight training and yoga on my own at least 3 other days of the week. I have always been active and healthy, but I have made it a personal goal to *really* get in shape in this season. I'm not talking maintenance; rather, I want to gain some serious muscle, flexibility, and endurance.

I was in New York last summer and was lucky enough to see Suzy Hotrod, a very prominent and well known skater from Gotham City. She is the kind of player I aspire to be: fast, agile, and completely solid on the track. As I watched her, it was really obvious that she hits the gym in addition to the rigorous training she does in order to be able to skate for the number one league in the nation. I really admire her ability to push herself that hard even when she is not on the track. Now, I know I cannot assume that Suzy's desire to work out is soley for derby, (I don't know the lady) but with derby quickly becoming a more recognized and respected sport, I can claim that we need to think of ourselves as more serious female athletes.

Anyway, I hope that writing this down will help me stick to my goal of getting in shape. Somehow, publishing my words makes me believe that it will be easier to get out of bed to run, forgoe a few bottles of beer at least a few nights of the week, eat more nutritiously and think more like Hotrod.

Equipment

Some roller girls make the argument that wheels and bearings are not very important for performance. I, however, am a firm beleiver in a good pair of wheels. There is nothing more frustrating then sliding around a corner at full speed with no grip. There is also nothing worse than getting hit and realizing that your wheels are too bald to take the hit without sliding out of bounds.

I recently purchased some Atom Strokers and am very excited to start my upcoming season on them! Apparently, their grippiness and wideness allow for maximum speed and agility. I used to use Devil Rays, but this is a fresh season for me and I want to up my performance and change my style. New wheels seem like a great place to start.

Now, if only the hubs were purple!





Now, if only the hubs were purple!

Recognition

After taking a long break from my writings in order to throw myself into my skating, this article has inspired me to start writing once again.

I was particularly drawn to this piece because Zach Dundas, a respectable sports blogger, argues that roller derby is a legit female sport with a complex history and a burgeoning future. Over the past year, there has been an explosion of news clips, television shows, and popular journal articles which portray roller derby as a game ( but not a sport) that women play mostly so they can dress up in fishnets and beat each other up. As a serious roller derby girl, I am continually disturbed that anyone can write about our sport so superficially.

Dundas' recognition of our sport is fresh. Not only does he offer a detailed explanation of how roller derby has progressed into something nationally organized, but he compares the sport to other "coporate sports" like the NBA and NFL:

"At less than a decade old, derby has created a full-blooded internal
world—and has done so without corporate cash, deep-pocketed owners, or
even a shred of attention from mainstream sports media. This has come to
pass not because it is so totally awesome to see hot, tattooed chicks on
skates attack one another—though I admit that the appeal therein is not
lost on me—but because these particular hot, tattooed chicks on skates
have seized control of their own sport to a degree no other American
athletes can claim"

And, he recognizes that roller girls are athletes and not just women who want to act out some violent, sexual show for the amusement of the men and women who pay for them.

I would have been thrilled if a woman had written this article, but unfortunatley female sports writers have yet to be taken very seriously by readerships who are members of the old boys' clubs. But Dundas clearly has an extensive knowledge of sports (this article will be published in his upcoming book, The Renegade Sportsman, about underground and grassroots sports) and I hope his publication will help spread the word about just how legitimate female roller derby really is.

They Tell Me There Is No Crying in Derby

Wow, it has really been a while. Perhaps this is because in the course of about thirty days, my derby world has been turned upside down. This month, my team battled the Smashinistas. This game was, to say the least, very intense because winning guaranteed our spot in the Championship bout. I don't know if we felt over-confident or over-pressured by the potential victory, but something went wrong that night. We lost to the Smashinistas by twenty points.

Those twenty points turned me into a mess. After the game ended and we had given the Smashinistas their well deserved congratulations, I skated around the rink feeling terribly dissapointed...and ended up crying.

There is no crying in derby!

At least, that is what I told myself as I stood on the rink after the game, looking pathetic and trying to sign autographs for all the fans who probably thought I had gone crazy. This wasn't just a sniffle or two, but a full blown, snotty, snivelly mess of tears that wouldn't stop. I put Hilary Clinton to shame that night.

This sappy reaction was not typical for me; usually I accept the results and enjoy the fact that for a few hours, I got to engage in play with very talented women. After this game, however, I felt a deep sense of personal dissapointment...like maybe there was something I could have done to score those points. Over the course of that night, I did the "right thing" and continually reminded myself that I skated as well as I could have for that game; there was no point in analyzing what could have been; I would just have to push myself to do better next time.

So that should be the end of it, right? Well, sort of. The next morning I woke up and checked my messages only to realize that one of our best jammers had decided to retire! I won't go into all the details on that story (that is her story to tell!) but her decision to leave came as quite a suprise.

As I read her message, my world spun. With her out of the game, our chances of getting into the Championship became even smaller. And, with her out of the game, my personal goal to step up my game just became very a public expectation.