Date of Award
2012
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Sociology
Abstract
Using ethnographic methods, I began this project with the goal of understanding the full experience of what it means to be a derby girl. This included examining how the sport dictates performances of gender and how derby girls perform gender on and off the rink. Additionally, I paid special attention to how the women negotiate femininity and beauty. I found that roller derby girls maneuver through the world of gender dichotomies skillfully by means of their actions and words in the derby space. Unlike at the inception of derby, current derby girls engage less consciously with the feminist movement. Instead of that being a failure or corrosion of initial guiding principles, the current crop of derby girls embrace the sport because it is a place where they can be themselves, regardless of whether their behavior falls into traditional masculine or feminine categories. I argue that new derby girls represent a compelling example of the new breed of modern woman who rejects traditional gender norms and reaches across the aisle to masculine qualities without contradicting their feminine qualities.
Recommended Citation
Mullin, Kaley Marissa, "Neither Butch Nor Barbie: Negotiating Gender in Women's Roller Derby" (2012). Master's Theses. 853.
https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_theses/853
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Copyright Statement
Copyright © 2012 Kaley Marissa Mullin
