Fashioned Bodies in Roller Derby League Logos: Critical Analysis of Race,Gender,Body Size and Position,Clothing,and Aesthetics

Abstract

Revival of roller derby in the early 2000s garnered significant interest in the sport, and an extensive network of leagues began to form. By 2018, approximately 1,500 leagues were operating in North America, each with a unique logo. In this study, we focus on the league logos as a potent form of embodied fashion representation. Using content analysis, we examined all of the logos for U.S. Women’s Flat Track Derby Association–member leagues and have interpreted our findings through a critical cultural analysis. Revival of roller derby in the aughts has repositioned the sport as inclusive of diverse bodies; however, the logos tell a different story. League logos perpetuate hyperfeminized, thin-centric, white bodies—that is, the norms that derby athletes are performatively challenging through participation in the sport.

Keywords

roller derby race body size fashion logos do-it-yourself gender

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Barthes

(2006). Myth today. In Storey

(Ed.), Cultural theory and popular culture: A reader (pp. 293–302). Prentice Hall.

Battle-Walters

(2004). Sheila’s shop: Working-class African American women talk about life, love, race, and hair. Rowman & Littlefield.

Beaver

T. D.

(2012). “By the skaters, for the skaters” The DIY ethos of the roller derby revival. Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 36(1), 25–49. https://doi.org/10.1177/0193723511433862

Beaver

T. D.

(2016). Roller derby uniforms: The pleasures and dilemmas of sexualized attire. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 51(6), 639–657. https://doi.org/10.1177/1012690214549060

Brick

(2008, December 17). The dude of roller derby and his vision. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/18/sports/othersports/18devildan.html

Butler

(2006). Gender trouble: Feminism and the subversion of identity. Routledge.

Carlson

(2010). The female significant in all-women’s amateur roller derby. Sociology of Sport Journal, 27(4), 428–440. https://doi.org/10.1123/ssj.27.4.428

Chalabaev

Sarrazin

Fontayne

Boiché

Clément-Guillotin

(2013). The influence of sex stereotypes and gender roles on participation and performance in sport and exercise: Review and future directions. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 14(2), 136–144. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2012.10.005

Corbin

Strauss

(1990). Grounded theory research: Procedures, canons, and evaluation criteria. Qualitative Sociology, 13(1), 3–21. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf00988593

10.

Cox

Thompson

(2000). Multiple bodies: Sportswomen, soccer and sexuality. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 35(1), 5–20. https://doi.org/10.1177/101269000035001001

11.

Crenshaw

(1991). Mapping the margins: Intersectionality, identity politics, and violence against women of color. Stanford Law Review, 43(6), 1241–1299. https://www.jstor.org/stable/i252725

12.

Creswell

J. W.

(2014). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Sage.

13.

Davis-Delano

L. R.

Pollock

Vose

J. E.

(2009). Apologetic behavior among female athletes a new questionnaire and initial results. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 44(2–3), 131–150. https://doi.org/10.1177/1012690209335524

14.

Draft

(2017). Sizing up skaters: An interrogation of body discourses in elite women’s flat track roller derby. Women in Sport and Physical Activity Journal, 25(1), 20–29. https://doi.org/10.1123/wspaj.2015-0031

15.

Eklund

Masberg

B. A.

(2014). Participation in roller derby, the influence on body image. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, 32(1), 49–64. https://doi.org/10.1177/0887302X13511295

16.

Ezzell

M. B.

(2009). “Barbie dolls” on the pitch: Identity work, defensive othering, and inequality in women’s rugby. Social Problems, 56(1), 111–131. https://doi.org/10.1525/sp.2009.56.1.111

17.

Finley

N. J.

(2010). Skating femininity: Gender maneuvering in women’s roller derby. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 39(4), 359–387. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891241610364230

18.

Fredricks

J. A.

Eccles

J. S.

(2005). Family socialization, gender, and sport motivation and involvement. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 27(1), 3–31. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsep.27.1.3

19.

Fredrickson

B. L.

Roberts

(1997). Objectification theory: Toward understanding women’s lived experiences and mental health risks. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 21, 173–206. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-6402.1997.tb00108.x

20.

Green

(2009, April 20). Fifty-fifty [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikBtOfyXTbs

21.

Hall

(1997). The work of representation. In Hall

(Ed.), Representation: Cultural representations and signifying practices (pp. 15–61). Sage.

22.

Harlan

(2019, July 26). The long and surprising history of roller derby: “Noise, color body contact” for all. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/26/sports/roller-derby-history-photos.html

23.

Kane

M. J.

LaVoi

N. M.

Fink

J. S.

(2013). Exploring elite female athletes’ interpretations of sport media images: A window into the construction of social identity and “selling sex” in women’s sports. Communication & Sport, 1(3), 269–298. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167479512473585

24.

Kauer

K. J.

Krane

(2006). “Scary dykes” and “feminine queens”: Stereotypes and female collegiate athletes. Women in Sport and Physical Activity Journal, 15(1), 42–52. https://doi.org/10.1123/wspaj.15.1.42

25.

Krane

Choi

P. Y. L.

Baird

S. M.

Aimar

C. M.

Kauer

K. J.

(2004). Living the paradox: Female athletes negotiate femininity and muscularity. Sex Roles, 50(5/6), 315–329. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:SERS.0000018888.48437.4f

26.

Lampert

(2015, October 1). The world map of roller derby leagues. The Frogmouth Blog. https://www.frogmouthclothing.com/blogs/frogmouth-blog/67525699-the-world-map-of-roller-derby-leagues

27.

Lintott

Irvin

(2016). Sex objects and sexy subjects: A feminist reclamation of sexiness. In Irvin

(Ed.), Body aesthetics (pp. 299–318). Oxford University Press.

28.

Mabe

(2007). Roller derby: The history and all-girl revival of the greatest sport on wheels. Speck Press.

29.

McDonald

M. G.

(2005). Mapping Whiteness and sport: An introduction. Sociology of Sport Journal, 22(3), 245–255. https://doi.org/10.1123/ssj.22.3.245

30.

McKinney

Shin

(2016). Exploring criteria consumers use in evaluating their online formal wear rental experience: A content analysis of online reviews. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, 34(4), 272–286. https://doi.org/10.1177/0887302X16654269

31.

Moscone

A. L.

Amorim

M. A.

Le Scanff

Leconte

(2017). A model-drive approach to studying dissociations between body size mental representations in anorexia nervosa. Body Image, 20, 40–48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2016.11.003

32.

Musser

A. J.

(2016). Queering the pinup: History, femmes, and Brooklyn. GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies, 22(1), 55–80. https://doi.org/10.1215/10642684-3315229

33.

Musto

McGann

P. J.

(2016). Strike a pose! The femininity effect in collegiate women’s sport. Sociology of Sport Journal, 33(2), 101–112. https://doi.org/10.1123/ssj.2015-0034

34.

Neuman

W. L.

(2011). Social research methods: Qualitative and quantitative approaches. Pearson.

35.

Nussbaum

M. C.

(1995). Objectification. Philosophy & Public Affairs, 24(4), 249–291. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1088-4963.1995.tb00032.x

36.

Parry

D. C.

(2016). “Skankalicious”: Erotic capital in women’s flat track roller derby. Leisure Sciences, 38(4), 295–314. https://doi.org/10.1080/01490400.2015.1113149

37.

Pavlidis

Fullagar

(2016). Sport, gender and power: The rise of roller derby. Routledge.

38.

Peluso

N. M.

(2011). “Cruising for a bruising”: Women’s flat track roller derby. In Bobel

Kwan

(Eds.), Embodied resistance: Challenging the norms, breaking the rules (pp. 37–47). Vanderbilt University Press.

39.

Reddy-Best

K. L.

Choi

Park

(2018). Race, colorism, body size, body position, and sexiness: Critically analyzing women in fashion illustration textbooks. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, 36(4), 281–295. https://doi.org/10.1177/0887302X18779140

40.

Ross

S. R.

Shinew

K. J.

(2008). Perspectives of women college athletes on sport and gender. Sex Roles, 58(1–2), 40–57. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-007-9275-4

41.

Schultz

(2014). Qualifying times: Points of change in US women’s sports. University of Illinois Press.

42.

Storms

C. E.

(2008). “There’s no sorry in roller derby”: A feminist examination of identity of women in the full contact sport of roller derby. The New York Sociologist, 3, 68–87.

43.

Strübel

Petrie

T. A.

(2016). ‘Bout time! Renegotiating the body in roller derby. Sex Roles, 74(7), 347–360. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-015-0490-0

44.

Thompson

M. A.

Gray

J. J.

(1995). Development and validation of a new body-image assessment scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 64(2), 258–269. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327752jpa6402_6

45.

Weitz

(2004). Rapunzel’s daughters: What women’s hair tells us about women’s lives. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

46.

The Women’s Flat Track Derby Association. (2019a). Surveys. https://resources.wftda.org/surveys/

47.

The Women’s Flat Track Derby Association. (2019b). WFTDA history. https://wftda.org/history

48.

The Women’s Flat Track Derby Association. (2019c). WFTDA leagues. https://wftda.com/wftda-leagues/

49.

The Women’s Flat Track Derby Association. (2019d). Women’s flat track derby association statement about gender. https://resources.wftda.org/womens-flat-track-derby-association-statement-about-gender/