A look at the changing athleticism aspect of roller derby.
written by the fantastic ms. cindy lop-her - charm city roller girl og and general beacon of inspiration and amazingness.
I hear a lot of complaints about Oly upping the derby game … but I’m proud of that. Derby skaters have been complaining for a LONG TIME that people characterize derby as just fishnets and sex on wheels … we’re always yelling “BUT IT’S A SPORT! WE’RE ATHLETES!” And now Oly comes along and proves that derby excellence can be achieved without tattoos, fishnets, or crazy track antics. How can we complain about that?
We can’t talk out of both sides of our mouth here. I’m excited that Oly raised the level of competition. Next stop? Derby in the X Games.
When do you think that becomes more about conformity and loses the rebellious essence Roller Derby was reborn in? You can have athleticism with tattoos and fishnets and “antics”.
Oh, I definitely think there’s room for all that stuff. I’m just making the argument that they’re no less “derby” without them.
You can pry my fishnets out of my cold, dead hands.
