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37 3 “Cruising for a Bruisin’” Women’s Flat Track Roller Derby Natalie M. Peluso Athleticism can be an activist tool for third wave feminists and can have important social consequences. —Leslie Heywood and Shari Dworkin At a large indoor sports complex, an all-female flat track roller derby league prepares for the evening’s game. Wearing shirts emblazoned with their derby names, the skaters rush around the complex hanging signs, testing electrical equipment, and taping down the track. As audience members pour into the stadium seating, the skaters pull on their protective gear and padding, scrawl their numbers on their arms with permanent marker, and lace up their roller skates. Pierced and tattooed, outfitted in booty shorts, fishnet stockings, and knee-high socks, the skaters take warm-up laps around the track and occasionally pose for pictures with adoring fans. The team bench is buzzing with adrenaline as skaters return to stretch their limbs and talk strategy. Even before the start of the game, these skaters are challenging conventional attire, appearance , and body norms. Within the past six years, all-female flat track roller derby has caught the attention of the nation and media as thousands of women have flocked to the sport. By the end of 2010, according to the website of the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) ninety-eight leagues in the United States were full members of the association and another fifty-three leagues were under apprenticeship.1 Embodying the “doit -yourself” ethic, women around the country are starting up local leagues and taking on the roles of skaters, referees, coaches, business owners, managers, and spectators. In this chapter I draw on my ethnographic research as a skater in an all-women’s flat track roller derby league to show how roller derby creates performative and discursive opportunities for women to transgress cultural norms regarding the appearance and performance of the female body. My research shows, first, that flat track roller derby itself creates a safe space in sport for marginalized and transgressive bodies Second, skaters subvert attire and adornment norms by wearing sexualized clothing and sporting multiple piercings, tattoos, and unconventional hairstyles. Finally, roller derby participants reconceptualize corporeality by framing injuries as physical and subcultural capital, and by adopting narratives of the “cyborg” and “robot” when discussing bodily performances. 38 Embodied Resistance What Is Roller Derby? Roller derby began in New York during the 1930s as a co-ed speed-skating competition . While roller derby began as an endurance sport, a points system and banked track were eventually adopted that transformed the game into a strategic and physical competition between two teams. Skaters were now encouraged to bump, block, hit, and fight on the track. Though the rules of the game gradually changed, roller derby remained a popular U.S. sport until the 1970s. Several revivals were attempted in the 1980s and 1990s, all with limited success. Their failures have been blamed on a combination of waning audiences, decreasing television ratings, concocted storylines, and absurd theatrical antics (Mabe 2007). Present-day roller derby differs in several ways from the televised roller derby of the past. It is now a form of recreation rather than an occupation; the vast majority of roller derby games now take place on flat tracks rather than banked tracks; and modern leagues have abandoned the staged theatrical fights typical of “old school” roller derby and penalize on-track fighting of any kind. Also, contemporary leagues pride themselves on being member owned and operated (Joulwan 2007). Contemporary women’s roller derby is an amateur, competitive, full-contact team sport played on traditional quad roller skates. The sport itself incorporates racing, hitting, positional strategy, and offensive and defensive blocking. During a game or “bout,” two teams compete and attempt to score points on their opponent. A team lineup normally consists of one jammer, one pivot, and three blockers. After her initial pass through the pack, the jammer scores a point for every opposing player she passes legally. The pivot and three blockers escort their jammer through the pack while simultaneously blocking the opposing team’s jammer. The team with the most points at the end of the bout wins. Roller derby is a full-contact sport for which players are required to wear protective gear, including helmets, mouth guards, elbow pads, wrist guards, and kneepads. Roller skates and protective equipment, however, are costly, and most leagues expect skaters also to purchase some form of health insurance and to pay monthly dues...

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