Reply-Turned-Post: Roller Derby and Gender Roles

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4Nov/102

Reply-Turned-Post: Roller Derby and Gender Roles

Last night, one of my favorite co-Wannabes, Cogs and Gears, posted a really awesome commentary on gender and roller derby, examined through the lens of the forthcoming documentary about men's roller derby, This is How I Roll. Negative Attitudes Towards Men’s Roller Derby (and Why Women’s Roller Derby Should Care). Click. Read it. Here's a highlight--talking about a man who heckles some male derby players to "play a real sport," she says:

The implication is that women aren’t really athletes, that roller derby is acceptable for women precisely BECAUSE it isn’t, to this man’s mind, a real sport. Women are tolerated in it at best, perhaps for the same reason mud wrestling is occasionally called a “sport.” An old white man in the video is asked if he would go see men’s roller derby— he flat out says no. This video was likely shot at a female roller derby bout, so it’s not that he objects to the sport itself. Why wouldn’t he go see men play? Perhaps because they aren’t in hot pants, they aren’t titillating him the way women beating each other up in fishnets does?

Here is my response to her (or not to her, because apparently Tumblr isn't like that, but to her post):

I’m very curious to see this movie once it comes out. I think the tagline says something about the movie being about equality, and there is a possibility of a point-missing here (although maybe not by the filmmaker). I think Cogs and Gears hits it on the head when she says that it is an example of how patriarchy hurts men too. I have heard a whiff of a gynocratic conspiracy theory, and how only gender parity will save roller derby from itself. As though the sport can only be legitimized by male participation. Far from the truth - the sport is marginal because it is feminized (and thus can’t be a “real” sport), but it doesn’t need to be baptized in the waters of binary/gender/conformity to be redeemed. It’s the gender constructs that need to be exploded.

That is: the girls don’t need to let the boys in. The boys need to stop being assholes and realize that it’s a fucking sport, even without sticks and balls (literal and metaphorical).

Speaking of men's derby, here's a really sweet video from the Twin City Terrors for the It Gets Better Project. <3

Tagged as: Cogs and Gears, feminism, gender, men's derby, other wannabes, reply-turned-post Leave a comment

Vin

Interesting response. In your last point, which boys were you referring to?

I think there is a big difference in attitude between guys who watch roller derby, and guys that are part of the derby community. The later, I’d argue, are already very aware of the fact that derby is a real sport. I don’t think they need to prove anything to derby followers, as if the legitimacy of the sport as a whole depends on the mens game being taken seriously.

In a previous life derby was just as ‘serious’ for both genders, so I don’t think there needs to be a massive shift in mindset, just a lot more bouts with a lot more visibility.
Roller Wannabe

Thanks so much for your response, Vin. You know, I struggle with making any generalizations, but I largely agree with your delineation of viewers vs. fans. Some of the biggest derby fans I know are men (hello, DNN!) and they totally recognize that it is indeed a real sport regardless of who is playing. Other “boys,” like the hecklers in the video, clearly don’t get it and are probably watching for for “tits and hits” as they say. On the other hand, I’ve seen some pretty retrograde shit go down on a comment thread on DNN wherein people were straight up saying that men are just more athletic, yadda yadda. So I guess even among fans maybe there are some deep-rooted buggaboos on gender.

I wonder about your last point – I have zero doubt that the likes of Ann Calvello and Loretta Behrens were world class athletes. But I wonder whether they were actually taken seriously. Some people seem to acknowledge that there was a little bit of a sleaze factor to the viewership, and even Calvello recognized that that it was female bodies, and not female athleticism, that sold “tickets.”

And I definitely agree that we need lots more bouts and visibility! : )