Ninth International Conference on Sport & Society

Abstract

Roller derby is a comparatively young, full contact sport, beginning in the early 2000’s, and was (re)invented by and for women. As derby has matured I argue that it follows overlapping discourses or arcs of legitimation. First is a tension internal to derby between overt, gendered parody during game play indicative of game play in the mid to late 2000’s and current game play. Second is the activities that it’s international governing body the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) engages in to move women’s roller derby into the larger arena of a sport among others, as illustrated by derby’s Olympic aspirations. Third and finally, the possibility that a full contact sport, invented by and for women could be considered legitimate as such, given the norm of sport as a male pursuit, played by men. I use the established assumptions of women as athletes and women’s sports as a foil to conclude that derby’s various attempts at legitimation both internally and externally should be abandoned in favor of affirmation and the women who play as entirely, proudly illegitimate.