English

English 130: Section 1

Draft 2

24 April 2014

Roller Derby Subculture

The beautiful game of roller derby is basically a women’s game. In many ways, the game has developed from a mere women’s game to a subculture that seeks to uplift the weaker ones among the women folk. Essentially, the culture attracts women of all ages who would otherwise not be part of any game because of the restrictive culture on women participants in sport a culture that has been there for a long time now. Rushin (16) observes that, “the game was essentially created to help women who have emotional baggage deal with it by confronting their distress in the game with other women”. In America today, there are nearly 750 amateur leagues and double that in the entire world. A lot has been said concerning the legitimacy and purpose of Roller derby as a fun sport that many women have participated in for decades; it has however, also given a window of opportunity for feminists to air their views regarding women’s roles in society and gender parity (Neale 5).

Basically, the sub culture accommodates mostly women of all walks of life. Even though contemporary roller derby culture includes men, the vast majority or the purpose of the culture is to recruit women. Essentially, the culture seeks to recruit emotionally distressed women. Moore identifies a category of women such as “those who lack self-esteem; those struggling with weight related problems—be it overweight or underweight and women who have been in one way sidelined or discriminated at some point in their lives” (Moore 7).

The purpose of the group is to recruit these women into the subculture by encouraging them to either join the roller derby team or be part of the cheering squad. Suffice to say, the core benefit of the game is create an exercise regime. In my interview with Thump Her, I learnt that the group had recently introduced a junior team for the young for the purpose of guiding them against the ills of sedentary lifestyles. However, the game is more than meets the eye. It is not just a game; rather it is a lifestyle for these ladies. In fact, it is a culture. Ideally, these ladies are supposed to join the group to boost their confidence. The main theme of the culture is the ability to do anything without the limitations of self-deficiencies. Moreover, it gives the girls a chance to confront their fears. This is done by putting the ladies is conflicting situations where they are supposed to overcome their difference in more amicable manners. Thump Her remarks, “that's not saying roller derby is for the faint of hearted.  It does take a certain kind of person to be hip checked by a 200lb woman and get knocked down then get right back up…..” As a matter of fact, one of the rules is that you cannot resolve any issue with a team mate through social media. This can only mean that disputes are resolved in the team training in a face to face manner.

Another role of the Roller Derby culture is to put women in decision making positions by making them leaders of small projects. In retrospect, the group is engaged in community projects in a bid to uplift their societies. Finally, the culture provides a safe haven for all women with all kinds of inadequacies e.g. overweight women, Lesbians, women with tattoos, etc. It is against the culture to discriminate anyone. In fact Thumps Her says, “The roller derby community is compassion, friendship, and respect. If I were to travel to another city and need a place to stay, any roller derby girl, even if I didn't know them, would open up their home just because we are derby sisters.”

In the 1880, roller skating was the most popular game in America. In fact, it was the hallmark of all the endurance races in that era. The sport was held both is the flat and banked tracked whereby the fans would enjoy the spill and falls of the skates. Initially the derby title was used to refer to these races in 1922 (Rushin 24).

The game is said to have been largely drafted from the banked-tracked roller skating marathons in the 1930s.However, Leo Seltzer and Damon Runyon are hugely credited for the evolution of the game to its current state today. Indeed, the game became a spectacle to watch such that Damon Runyon, a sport writer, persuaded Leo to include contact as part of the rule of the game. This brought about the contemporary contact roller derby. By 1930, the game had become so popular that Leo decided to make a company of 4 pairs of touring teams which included a team of 5 persons on the field scoring against each other once teammates lapped the opponents (Rushin 25).

In the year 1948, the first Roller Derby match was broadcasted on TV. This brought about a new euphoria in the country with many people turning out on the pitch to watch the game. This sudden interest in the game lead Leo to introduce the National Roller Derby League (NRDL) in 1950. At the same time, more and more stations had come on board to broadcast this new found crazy. Despite all these efforts by television stations to popularize the game, the craze for the game started to dwindle away threatening the very existence of the game. Televisions started to script story lines regarding the game, however the response did not change. By this time, the theatrical part of the game had started to evolve with development of Derby culture.

By the year 2000, the revival of the game had begun. The game was finally taking up the shape of a well-organized woman’s game with some critics defining it as a defiant group of women.

By August 2006, there were over 135 leagues in America alone and an almost similar number of leagues in the international front. What followed were worldwide leagues, which including teams from Australia, Canada, New Zealand among others. Similarly, the theatricals and the sisterhood at this time had grown far and wide. Girl related more to their team mates than to other close members of society (Chanan-Hill 45).

During the last decade, more and more recruitments have been taking place. The game has brought about many girls into the culture. For a new girl into the team, she is referred to as “Freshmeat”. For the first few weeks, one has to undergo intensive training to be able to join the team. The training goes for two training sessions per week after which, on completion, one is allowed to participate in the Rookie Rumble (Chanan-Hill 45).

Apparently, the core belief in the subculture is the ability to do just anything. This has been misinterpreted to mean that the girls aim is to rival their male counter parts, however this is not true. The main aim of the group is to strengthen members of the group. Ideally, the group incorporates all people from all walks of life majority of who cannot be accepted into any other groups. These include the low self-esteem girls; the overweight, and the discriminated ones. The purpose here is to help this girls build some sense of confidence by accepting them to the team. Moreover, the group offers a new family for the girls. Redfern (31) observes that “such groups offer support to their members with any physical or psychological problems, which are eventually relieved by participating in the game which is essentially an aggressive one”. In addition, the group helps the girls break the stereotype that girls cannot participate in sports as it was in the past (Glorioso 12). In this case, the group also helps the girls to keep fit by maintaining an exercise regime (The roller derby culture Par 5).

Most critics who mostly tend to be men believe that the aim of the culture is to create rebellious women who defy traditional roles and aspire to become more independent than their predecessors. Other critics suggest that the game is too aggressive for the women folk and it should be abandoned to avoid injuries. Since the society is still overly, patriarchy most people believe that the culture contravenes the norms of the society and that the role of the woman is in the house. In addition, the group has at times received a backlash from the public for its liberal stance. The fact that the culture accommodates some members from the gay community makes the group to be regarded as a culture of lesbians. As a result, most parents deter their children to join the group (Pavlidis 23).

One of the problems that the group faces is stereotyping from the critics of the game. These are mainly the male folk who believe the culture should be abolished as it overemphasizes the role of the female. There is also the invasion of the male roller derby that is threatening to take all the attention from the women game. In addition, the players are faced with myriad of injuries due to the aggressive nature of the game. These injuries range from common injuries, sprain and concussions (The roller derby culture Par 8).

There are two Roller derby teams that represent the city Chico namely the ViVa and the Nor call girls Roller derby teams. The main aim of the teams is to represent the town and other places surrounding the town. The teams have a huge following in Chico and Northren California where most of the team players and the fans who make up the sub culture hail from.

Among one of the famous people in Roller Derby culture is Jessica Smith who is popularly known as Flicka Flame is game’s fraternity. Jessica Smith is more popularly known for her days as the captain of the undefeated Nor Cal girl.She is also a model and a designer (she designed uniforms for her team). Recently, she became more popular for her role in the Survivor: Cook Islands (Smith, np)

The sport is broadcasted in the local media by many television networks. There has been movies about Roller derby good examples are Whip it! And Kansas City Bomber. The subculture also has social networks group on Facebook and Twitter where they share information and register all members (Rushin, 14).

Apparently, the game endeared to so many people in America and the world at large. However, its aggressive nature and association with feminist has not favored the progression of the game at all. From the ongoing presentation, it is clear that the debate on its positive effects versus its negative effects is far from a consensus. This article opines that, further scientific based research on both sides of the debate should be carried if it is to develop up to the level of other popular sports such as football volleyball and cricket among many others. Proponents of the game should avoid taking the feminist stance lest it be labeled as discriminatory. Though popular in America, the game has not taken shape in most conservative nations in the world. For it to develop, supporters should make efforts to popularize throughout the world for it to have any chance at attaining widespread recognition.

Work cited

"Nor Cal Roller Girls." Nor Cal Roller Girls. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.

Chanan-Hill, Ruth., Jennifer Waldron., and Natalie Umsted. “Third-Wave Agenda: Women's Flat-Track Roller Derby1” Women in Sports & Physical Activity Journal. 21.1 (2012): 33. Web.

Glorioso, Michelle. “And maybe that's feminist in a way: Feminisms and Feminist Identity in Women's Flat Track Roller Derby Revival” Ann Abor. PDF file.

Her, Thump. Personal Interview. 14 Mar 2014.

Jessica, Smith." Survivor Wiki. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Apr. 2014.

Moore Ollie. "Roller Marathon thrills and jars: 100 Boys meet with adventures and tumbles in West Side Boulevard race. Dodge cars and autos. But records are smashed by contestants in red tights, overalls, etc". Chicago Daily Tribune. 27 November 1908. p. 5.

Neale, Rick. "All-Female Roller Derby Elbows Its Way In as a Legitimate Sport", (2008):USA Today

Pavlidis, Adele. Writing Resistance in Roller Derby: Making the Case for Auto/Ethnographic Writing in Feminist Leisure Research. Journal of leisure Research. 45. 5 (2013): 661. Web.

Redfern, Catherine and Kristin Aune. ” Reclaming the F Word: Feminism Today. “ New York, NY: Zed Books, 2013. Print.

Rushin, Steve (1998-12-14). "Air and Space: A Forward Roll: Dusted off and spiffed up, the Roller Derby is aiming to regain the hold it once had on TV". Sports Illustrated.