Figures from Her rINK

“Figures from Her rINK” is an affective, autoethnographic piece that blends reflexive, narrative writing, and poetic representation to explore how lived sporting experiences of the past inform perceptions of Self in the present. Writing—in ink—from the position of doctoral researcher—in the academic arena, or rink— I weave my struggle with writing about paradoxical experiences and finding meaning in the memories as a competitive figure skater, and the comprehension of feminine/ity within the sport and academic arenas. Using personal journals, photographs, and recorded performances from skating, instead of writing from a conventional linear, rational, disembodied pattern, I carve my feminist sport history into the writing itself via spiraling logic, visual thinking, and kinesthetic learning. Moreover, this paper brings voice to memory, feminine consciousness, embodiment, self-awareness, and self-acceptance in and through the autoethnographic story of figure skating memories and meaning.