The pain and pleasure of roller derby: Thinking through affect and subjectification

Abstract

Writing about pain in roller derby challenges us to rethink old dichotomies that separate mind and body, 'real' and virtual, feminine and masculine. The 'tough' roller derby 'girl', willing and able to endure pain for the pleasure of the game, has become a powerful figure in contemporary western popular culture. Our analysis of roller derby reveals women's complex relation to pain and pleasure, as part of a feminist reimagining of sport. Through an analysis of derby texts we explore how painful affects are mobilized in particular ways: to imagine collective belonging, to invent alternative feminine subjectivities, and to mark out the limits of self and other. In this way we endeavor to think through the affective experience of derby and how sport might become more gender inclusive as a transformational cultural site. The embodiment of pain is not simply one of 'overcoming', but a corporeal relation that is productive of multiple feminine subjectivities.

“Pretty Disgusted Honestly”: Exploring Fans’ Affective Responses on Facebook to the Modified Rules of Australian Football League Women’s

“…Using the term sacrosanct -most often used in the context of human rights discourse (Chopra and Weiss, 1992;Short, 2000) --women's breasts are protected, though the question is for whose benefit? Our focus on affect builds on feminist research showing that official rules and social norms contribute to the construction of pain in sport and the shaping of gendered identities (for example, Pavlidis and Fullagar, 2015). The digital accumulation of collective expressions of disbelief, confusion and anger at the modified rules foreground the political implications of attempts to minimise female athletes' experiences of pain.…”

Kinaesthetic cities: Studying the worlds of amateur sports and fitness in contemporary urban environments

“…Creating critical distance from professional sport brings to light a more mundane world of physical activity. This can trouble preconceptions about who and what kinds of bodies take part in fitness activities (Pavlidis and Fullagar, 2015;Huang, 2016), where fitness practices takes place (Stahl, 2008), and the social significance of amateur sports and fitness (Woodbine, 2016).…”

“…Run Dem Crew, November Project, Track Mafia, and Project Awesome, all Dem Crew, can be found in the camaraderie produced between women during roller derby (Pavlidis and Fullagar, 2015). And this kind of affective appeal is at the heart of how people are pulled into volunteer work in the local community through the innovative exercise group Good Gym (Gilmour, 2015).…”

Female Roller Derby Athletes’ Athletic Identity and Systematic Pursuit of Leisure

“…This helps facilitate participant leisure identity development and career-like progression in the sport (Heo & Lee, 2010;Raisborough, 2006Stebbins, 2001. In understanding roller derby participants' involvement and dedication to the sport, several studies (Beaver, 2012;Eklund & Masberg, 2014;Paul, 2015;Pavlidis & Fullagar, 2015;Raisborough, 2006) have shown a substantial connection with the concept of serious leisure through the six distinguished qualities of serious leisure developed by Stebbins (1992), including: (1) perseverance, (2) a leisure career in their endeavor, (3) significant personal effort, (4) durable benefits, (5) unique ethos within the activity, and (6) strong identification with the chosen activity. For example, many roller derby participants wear their bruises and scars with pride and celebrate injury as an honor to the sport (Paul, 2015;Pavlidis & Fullagar, 2015;Storms, 2008), all of which enhance their internal identity as roller derby women and create a community to enable them to enforce their external identity through friendship and sense of belongingness (Fagundes, 2014).…”