CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE Dare to Derby: A Story of the Discovery of Empowerment through Roller Derby and Community A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements For the degree of Master of Arts in Sociology By Karen S. Sabbah May 2015 Copyright by Karen S. Sabbah 2015 SIGNATURE PAGE The thesis of Karen S. Sabbah is approved: Amy Denissen, Ph. D. Date James E. Elias, Ph. D. Date Lauren E. McDonald, Ph. D., Chair Date California State University, Northridge iii California State University, Northridge ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This thesis would not have been possible if not for Scarletta Vendetta for her passion for Derby. You fueled my curiosity, made it possible for me to interview your league, and continually supported me throughout this three-year process. You gave me a thesis topic and opened my eyes to the amazingness of Derby! Thank you amazing Emerald City Roller Girls for allowing me to observe you, providing me with extra footage, and to those of you who shared your experiences and stories with me. You made my thesis so very rich. Thanks to my CSUN crew – Elizabeth Bogumil, Jade Pearce, Heather Harper, and Christopher Lawrence for your constant support, brain drain time, avoiding thesis conversations and, most importantly, adventures. And of course, thanks to Dani Fogel, John Kephart, Danielle Peters and Heather St. Dennis for calming me down when I got frazzled, revamping my presentations, making me laugh, and simply being there for me. I also want to thank the CSUN thesis support award for providing funding for my thesis. I want to thank my graduate advisor, Dr. Ellis Godard for your editing, plethora of commas for my complex sentences, supporting my research and providing me the opportunity to become an “international” presenter. Finally, I want to especially thank my thesis committee, Dr. Lauren McDonald, Dr. Amy Denissen, and Dr. James Elias. I have been blessed to have your constant support, mentorship and guidance over the years. I have learned so much from you. Your support is how I was able to make it through graduate school. I don’t think I could have done it without any of you! iv DEDICATION I dedicate this thesis to my mom, Danielle Michaels and my sister, Sophie Sabbah. To Mom for teaching me how to read when I was little and Sophie for giving me the permission to drop out of college when I was not ready to be there! I never would have made it this far without my love of reading and coming back to school when I was ready. You both have been instrumental in all of my successes in life! v Table of Contents Signature Page ................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgement ............................................................................................................. iv Dedication ........................................................................................................................... v Abstract ............................................................................................................................ viii Chapter 1 – Introduction ..................................................................................................... 1 Background ..................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 2 – Roller Derby in Context .................................................................................. 5 The Birth and History of Roller Derby ........................................................................... 5 Revival Attempts ........................................................................................................ 8 Modern Roller Derby – 2001 to 2015 ......................................................................... 8 The Nitty-Gritties of Roller Derby ............................................................................... 12 The Skaters of the Game ........................................................................................... 13 The Track .................................................................................................................. 14 What is in a Derby Name .......................................................................................... 15 Who is a Derby Girl? ................................................................................................ 17 Gender Policy................................................................................................................ 17 Chapter 3 - Literature Review ........................................................................................... 26 Women in Sports........................................................................................................... 26 Gender-Deviant Sports, Stigmatization, and Resistance .............................................. 28 Roller Derby.................................................................................................................. 30 Chapter 4 - Theoretical Framework .................................................................................. 35 Doing Gender ................................................................................................................ 35 Gender Frames .............................................................................................................. 37 Emphasized Femininity and Hegemonic Masculinity .................................................. 38 Gender Maneuvering and Pariah Femininities ............................................................. 39 Chapter 5 – Methods ......................................................................................................... 41 Participant Selection ..................................................................................................... 41 Data Collection ............................................................................................................. 42 Procedure ...................................................................................................................... 44 Who are the Emerald City Roller Girls? ....................................................................... 44 Chapter 6 – Results ........................................................................................................... 46 The Transformative Effect of the Derby Community................................................... 46 The Significance of a Derby Identity ........................................................................ 47 vi “Every BODY has a Place in Derby” ....................................................................... 53 The Global Community of Derby: Sisterhood on Skates ......................................... 57 A Family Affair......................................................................................................... 64 The Transgressive Nature of Roller Derby ................................................................... 70 “One is not Born a Woman, but, Rather, Becomes One” ......................................... 71 Sexual Fluidity and Derby ........................................................................................ 75 Transgender and Derby ............................................................................................. 78 The Commodification and Athleticism of Derby ......................................................... 84 “We’re more than Strippers on Skates” .................................................................... 85 Athleticism of Derby................................................................................................. 91 Derby Injuries ........................................................................................................... 99 Chapter 7 – Discussion ................................................................................................... 105 Limitations .................................................................................................................. 108 Implications for Future Research ................................................................................ 109 References ....................................................................................................................... 113 Appendix A: Call for Volunteers .................................................................................... 122 Appendix B: Counseling List ......................................................................................... 123 Appendix C: Interview Questions ................................................................................... 124 Appendix D: Survey ....................................................................................................... 126 Appendix E: Participant Demographics.......................................................................... 129 Appendix F: WFTDA Leagues ....................................................................................... 132 Appendix G: IRB Approval ............................................................................................ 133 vii ABSTRACT Dare to Derby: A Story of the Discovery of Empowerment through Derby and Community By Karen S. Sabbah Master of Arts in Sociology Since its resurgence in 2001, roller derby has become a world-wide sensation with over 34,000 female skaters. Using a feminist theoretical framework and semi-structured in-depth interviews with women in the Emerald