While some depictions suggest that roller derby includes staged fights, nearly everyone familiar with the sport disagrees with that assumption. I conducted two interviews, and both derby players displayed annoyances when asked about fake fighting in roller derby. Samantha Boehle states, “I actually get kind of angry when people compare roller derby to things like professional wrestling. We don’t perform fights like they do. Roller derby is a competition. Yes, it’s rough, but there’s no performed fighting.” Likewise, Josie Esker states, “I am so frustrated with derby’s early history of staged performances and ridiculous theatrics. We have to follow rules just like other sports, which means no fights.” Speaking from my own personal experience, fights, staged or not, do not normally occur in roller derby. I have never witnessed nor heard of one happening. While derby girls push and shove, fist fights are unlikely to occur. In roller derby, any violation of the rules will result in penalties. Penalties normally consist of spending a minute in the penalty box before re-entering the jam. If any player accumulates too many major penalties, it can “lead to expulsion from the game” (Parnavelas). Because fighting is punishable, roller derby players are encouraged to maintain roller derby's objective of professionalism.
The athleticism of roller derby is evident in the many hours of demanding training it requires. Like any other serious sport, derby teams practice several times a week, and they focus on conditioning and stamina training. Because tired players are more likely to injure themselves, derby teams work extremely hard to make sure that their players have the stamina to handle the challenging physical requirements that derby entail...
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...ouisiana State U, May 2013. Web. 13 Feb. 2014.
Parnavelas, Ellen. The Roller Derby Athlete. New York. Bloomsbury Publishing, 1 Dec. 2012. Web. 10 Feb. 2014.
Peoria Push Derby Dames. “Re: Team Survey." Survey by Maria Esker. 22 Feb. 2014. Email.
Prahl, Crystal. Team Photo. 2013. Photograph. JPEG file.
Rosecrans, Mary. “Fan Interview." Personal interview. 22 Feb. 2014.
Wehrman, Michael M. "Response to Cohen: Separating Sport from Sexuality in Women's Roller Derby." Women in Sport and Physical Activity Journal 21.1 (2012): 71-78. ProQuest. Web. 13 Feb. 2014.
WFTDA. "Roller Derby Demographics: Results from the Third Annual Comprehensive Data Collection on Skaters and Fans." WFTDA.com. World Flat Track Derby Association, Mar. 2012. Web. 11 Mar. 2014.
WFTDA. "The Rules of Flat Track Roller Derby."WFTDA.com. Women's Flat Track Association, 2014. Web. 14 Mar. 2014.
...need to know. The most important is the general rules of the demolition derby. These rules tell a participant how to build their car and the requirements of the car. Rules are important when building a demolition derby car to keep the driver safe and prevent injuries like a broken nose or wrist. A broken wrist can happen by not letting go of the steering wheel when getting hit in the wheel, the steering wheel can jerk around and break a participants wrist. It is possible to break your nose by hitting someone or another participant hitting you so hard that you smash your nose on the steering wheel and break your nose. Demolition derby and regulations can make the sport fun and safe. The motto I live by when doing demolition derby's is ''Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.” by Dr. Suess. This helps me remember if I win or lose, I had fun doing it.
Marcia K. Anderson. ”Women in Athletic Training.” Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance 63.3 (1992): pp. 42. Journal Article.
It goes without saying that a person's gender, racial and social origins influence their participation in sports. Particular races and genders often dominate certain sports. African Americans, for example, tend to dominate football and basketball, while Caucasians tend to dominate ice hockey. The same holds true for gender as well. Football is an entirely male dominated sport, while horseback riding, gymnastics and figure skating are much more female oriented. How and why did these divisions come about? Determining the origin of gender goes beyond the scope of this paper, however one can speculate about how gender classifications and stereotypes affect one's role in the sports arena.
Turning, stopping, and making lateral movements are extremely easy to do on ice, but roller hockey is completely different. In roller hockey there is no such thing as making a tight turn or stopping on a dime, because the wheels just slide out from underneath the player. The stopping technique for roller hockey is basically the same as ice hockey, but the player slides a little before coming to a complete halt.
“The past three decades have witnessed a steady growth in women's sports programs in America along with a remarkable increase in the number of women athletes (Daniel Frankl 2)” From an early age women were thought to be “Lady Like”; they are told not to get all sweaty and dirty. Over 200 years since Maud Watson stepped on the tennis courts of Wimbledon (Sports Media Digest 3); women now compete in all types and levels of sports from softball to National racing. Soccer fans saw Mia Hamm become the face of women’s soccer around the world, Venus and Serena Williams are two of the most popular figures in tennis, and Indy car racing had their first woman racer, Danika Patrick. With all the fame generated by these women in their respective sports, they still don’t receive the same compensation as the men in their respective sports fields.
In 1970 only 1 in 27 girls participated in high school sports, today that ratio is 1 in 3. Sports are a very important part of the American society. Within sports heroes are made, goals are set and dreams are lived. The media makes all these things possible by creating publicity for the rising stars of today. Within society today, the media has downplayed the role of the woman within sports. When the American people think of women in sports, they think of ice skating, field hockey and diving. People don’t recognize that women have the potential to play any sport that a Man can play, with equal skill, if not better.
...ennis, basketball, soccer, and martial arts—have come from the days of cheerleading and synchronized swimming when she was growing up in the ’70s.” Disparities in media coverage and over-sexualized female athletes on magazine covers is something that needs to come to an end because of its effects on both male and female viewers, young and old, athletes and non-athletes. Both female and male athletics influence young people and shape their personality and morals as they mature. Retired WNBA player, Lisa Leslie credits her participation in basketball with shaping her character, as well as her career. “Sports can also help teenagers during an awkward time in their development.” (“Women’s Athletics: A Battle For Respect”). The solution is to come together as a society and identify how to balance the respect for female and male athletes in the media.
The fight for women's ice hockey players to earn respect and acceptance has been hard fought over the past one hundred years. Women have constantly been told that they can not play with men and that there sport is a second rate version of the men's game. The road of women's ice hockey has had many ups and downs but has perservered to the present day and is stronger than it has ever been. The future of women's ice hockey is bright thanks to diligence and hard work of those who kept it all going. Ironically women began playing the sport side by side with men over 100 years ago right at the sports inception. One of the oldest action pictures featuring ice hockey shows men playing with women. Part of the reason that women enjoyed early participation with men is because of the way that the public viewed the game. At the start, hockey was seen as a recreational activity. Women have been routinely barred from participating in serious and competitive sport, but if the game is viewed as merely recreational then women are more accepted. In the 1890's this is what happened to the sport of ice hockey. Suddenly the game was more than recreation and organization entered, rules were drawn and leagues were formed. With the new structure came segregation of the sexes. As the sport progressed for the men, the women were left behind. In spite of all this, the first all female organized game was played in Barrie, Ontario in 1892. Women's ice hockey slowly limped on up until the 1920's.
Within todays sporting community, certain aspects of sport and its practices promote and construct ideas that sport in general is a male dominated. Sports media often provides an unequal representation of genders. Women athletes are regularly perceived as mediocre in comparison to their male equivalents (Lenskyj, 1998). Achievement in sport is generally established through displays of strength, speed and endurance, men usually set the standards in these areas, consequently woman rarely reach the level set by top male athletes. Due to this, the media significantly shows bias towards male sports while we are ill-informed about the achievements in the female sporting community. On the occasion that a female athlete does make some form of an appearance in the media, images and videos used will usually portray the female in sexually objectified ways (Daniels & Wartena, 2011). This depiction of female athletes can cause males to take focus solely on the sexual assets of the athlete in preference to to their sporting abilities (Daniels & Wartena, 2011). Sexualisation of sportswoman in the media is a prevalent issue in today’s society, it can cause physical, social and mental problems among women of all ages (Lenskyj, 1998).
Necessity turned out to be the mother of invention. In a short period of time, Mabel, the first black superstar skater in the history of the United States, came up with the new variations of basic spin. They were so gorgeous! She was the star of the shows at British West Indies with the famous Ice Follies, and in Mexico with the Ice Capades. The only sad thing is that the spins she invented have never been called anything more than just spin's variations. If it were for me, I'd call them Fairbanks spins.
High School and Collegiate Sports Participation. Digital image. Thesocietypages.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2014.
Sabo, Don. "Women's athletics and the elimination of men's sports." Journal of Sport & Social Issues, Feb98, Vol. 22 Issue 1, p27.
In all of the narrative films we watched for class that featured women in sports – Bend It Like Beckham, Girlfight, and Love and Basketball – there was a very clear heterosexual love interest interwoven for every female athlete. Though I am not purporting that straight women cannot be athletes or that they are compromising the...
As I entered the building which housed the rink, the warm, nostalgic scent of popcorn hit that part of my brain where dusty, cobwebbed memories live, memories of my own adolescence. I made my way past a group of exuberant teenagers at the snack bar until I reached the skating rink. Skinny, hard benches, made for small butts, lined one wall. I took a seat and scanned the rink. My eyes paused to read a sign; white, block letters on a black background warned, "Skate at Your Own Risk."
Whether its baseball, basketball, soccer, hockey, or tennis, sports is seen all over the world as a representation of one’s pride for their city, country, and even continent. Sports is something that is valued world-wide which has the ability to bring communities together and create different meanings, beliefs and practices between individuals. Although many people may perceive sports to have a significant meaning within our lives, it can also have the ability to separate people through gender inequalities which can also be represented negatively throughout the media. This essay will attempt to prove how gender is constructed in the sports culture while focusing on female athletes and their acceptance in today’s society.