This article was pulled from our site earlier today due to it having transmisogynist / transphobic language and a subsequent issue that caused with one of our staff members. We are restoring the article for the sake of accountability and to use as a learning experience for our readers on how certain terms / concepts can be transmisogynist / transphobic. The relevant sections will include editors notes, in addition to insertion of "cis" where relevant.
-- Lynn
I am a woman, I am an athlete, and I have a problem with cis men.
Maybe it’s obvious. Maybe it’s because, when I was in elementary school, I beat every boy on the playground in tetherball, and then they told me I couldn’t play anymore.
Or maybe because in Jr. High I beat every boy in my class at arm wrestling, one by one, one right after the other, and then they all declared it was unfair.
Maybe because in high school I played men’s water polo, because there was no women’s water polo, and when my coach said I handled the ball better than any of them, I had absolutely no friends anymore and none of them would speak to me.
It’s hard for a woman to get respect in sports–especially if that sport is “male” by default. Let’s not kid ourselves: just because they allegedly have women’s pro basketball doesn’t make it a female sport. It’s not respected or considered watchable when women play it. It’s as though women are now merely allowed to play a man’s sport.
Maybe, by that definition, there aren’t any female sports.
This brings me to roller derby. The roller derby resurgence of early 2000 is largely attributed to Texas Roller Derby of Austin, Texas, who brought the once-scripted exhibition out of retirement and transformed it into a female-owned, female-operated competitive sport. No grants were obtained, no government infrastructure was revised or created. All they had and all they needed was a few women looking for something different and tired of hearing the word no. With a DIY attitude, the unconditional inclusion of all women, of any size, color, orientation or ability, and the global power of social media, TXRD tapped into a vein of need running through women everywhere.
TXRD had a radical proposition: let us together build something we have always been lacking, a sport for women, a sport by women. A sport created outside all social norms, a sport created using the brainpower, professional prowess, and ingenuity only women could bring together. A sport that neither required nor sought the acceptance of male-dominated society.
In the beginning, roller derby was largely ignored, labelled a subculture, a punk hobby, a place for fat girls to wear silly clothes and go by funny names. Leagues everywhere kept themselves afloat with their own money, their own sweat and tears, their own dependence upon one another. More established leagues mentored infant leagues and a free exchange of information became the standard. To everyone’s surprise, under everyone’s noses, roller derby became a worldwide phenomena and the fastest growing female sport in the world.
Suddenly, cis men became interested, not just in watching, but playing. Cis Men are starting men’s leagues, making films about the “history” of men’s roller derby, and making assertions that roller derby is a men’s sport along with broad sweeping statements about how the sport should be played, especially about how the rules should be written and interpreted. Once roller derby became a global phenomena, cis men wanted a piece of it and they wanted to change it to be more acceptable to the same mainstream roller derby was originally built in defiance of.
The MRDA (Men’s Roller Derby Association) adopted the rules set forth by the Women’s Flat Track Roller Derby Association–who themselves have adopted gender neutral language to accommodate a multi-faceted,trans and genderqueer inclusive democracy—but this alone does not make roller derby a “men’s sport”.
I suppose I could take the high road, and just hand over equality and all that, the way I wish it would have been handed to me, but: fuck the high road. Roller derby has an identity that is inherently female. It was started by women, it was built by women, it has been maintained by women and spread by women. It isn’t just a sport for women, it’s a sport in which women support each other and help each other grow.
Roller derby is a network of women with different abilities working together to create a complete picture. Certain women have certain contributions to make, like money, marketing skills, professional connections, time off during business hours, previously hidden recruitment abilities–some are adept at dealing with bureaucratic paperwork, some are born organizers, sports psychologists, personal trainers, nutritionists, massage therapists, journalists. With a dozen or so women working toward a singular cause–the right to roller skate–there is nothing that cannot be accomplished. Maybe this is why men never want women to gather in masses. Because we are a dark force able to operate outside their sphere of influence. And here they come, trying to pull us back into the fold.
Almost all other sports that cis women are now allowed to play (and I literally mean allowed) go unwatched, unnoticed, and disrespected.
Women’s American Football for example is rarely offered in high school or college even though women have been playing football since 1926. Professional male golfers make almost four times the amount of female pro golfers. The WNBA wasn’t founded until 1996;—since then games have had low attendance and receive almost nothing but derision in the media.
Even though cis women athletes are paid ⅓ to ¼ the amount of cis male pro athletes, and even though sports media tends to overlook female sports (excepting those of course that feature skimpy outfits, like beach volleyball) female athletes are accomplishing feats that are unmatched by their male counterparts. Women’s basketball is often considered “boring” because the women make more free-throws and fewer dunks. Isn’t a free-throw, however, a more difficult accomplishment that nets a higher point value? Does the fact that men don’t want to watch women play basketball mean that they aren’t incredible athletes doing incredible stuff, even if no one is watching.
The MRDA was founded in 2007, three years after the formation of the WFTDA, which explicitly excludes men and those identifying as male from playing competitively. In the 8 years since the MRDA was founded, it has grown to encompass 60 member leagues. In comparison, since the WFTDA was formed in 2004, there are 315 full member leagues, and 98 apprentice leagues. It is estimated however, that there are over 1,400 amateur leagues (over half outside of the United States) playing by the WFTDA rule set. And this number is increasing every day. If we go strictly by the numbers, tell me, whose sport is this?
I couldn’t play “women’s water polo” because there was no such thing. When I played men’s water polo with men, and played it better, that made me wrong, because I’m a woman and therefore can’t be better than a man at his own sport.That’s pretty well set in stone since, by conservative calculations, forever. The Greeks held the Olympics in the nude, just to make a sure a woman didn’t get a chance to compete.
Roller derby as we know it now was started by women in Texas. Who does everyone want to see? The women. Who makes it look sexy, feminine, violent, dangerous, and amazing? Women.
Why do cis men show up to bout wearing bras, half-tops, and tutus? (Editors Note: the author has not taken the time to verify the gender of these individuals, they are likely not all cis men) When roller derby first reappeared women wore sexy revealing costumes to bring men into the audience (as was successful in women’s tennis and women’s beach volleyball). As the sport advanced to being more and more athletic, sexy costumes were replaced by amazing feats on skates. What does dressing as a mockery of a woman accomplish? What message does it send about the origin of the sport? Is it not saying, with little subtlety, that what came before men’s roller derby was both female and ridiculous? (Editors Note: saying something is a "mockery of [womanhood]" is a common line of attack used by TERFs, to police the gender of trans women. Also, positing "sexy" as the opposite of "professional" (or athletic, in this case) is a common SWERF attack line.)
Furthermore, roller derby is played in close quarters, with women body to body (Editors Note: there are likely a lot of nonbinary (that is: not women) bodies in roller derby. Gender is not binary. There is more to gender to men VS women). There is no advantage in racing around the track as quickly as possible. The advantage is in slowing the progression of the pack and playing a lateral game, preventing the jammer from passing. This requires what is often refereed to as “ass to vag” (Editors Note: it's not even the case that all cis women have a vagina) or “put your butt in her gut”. (Editors Note: some derby players go by pronouns other than "her") This formation allows one skater to control another with her hips. This key element of roller derby is all but never seen in men’s roller derby and I suspect it’s because men have a problem with this kind of touching.
Instead, men’s roller derby quickly degrades into a race around the track with men smashing into each other without a discernible pack or strategy. There are men’s teams with the talent and skill to execute derby at the highest level but they are too few and far between to give the men’s sport as a whole a good name. They are more the exception that proves the rule.
Why can’t men let the girls play on the lawn without turning the sprinklers on us?
Why don’t you take a step back and wait awhile? Why don’t you exercise the patience you’ve been beating women down with for centuries and see where things end up? If gender equality really is on the horizon, as men in politics constantly assert, then it shouldn’t be too long before any gender can play any sport. Until then, why not lead by example, the one you’ve set for so long.
Sit quietly, don’t criticize, and wait for your turn.
Hate mail and the inevitable slew of comments on how I should act or look if I want “respect” isn’t any more likely to change my mind than men’s concern trolling about “real gender equality.” Even within women’s derby, I have to fight for respect as a “man-hating bull dyke.” I don’t take it from other women. I won’t take it from you.
What would change my mind, and prove (in spite of my years of struggling with sexism that informs my politics) that we can co-exist in a gender free exchange without bias and discrimination? It’s simple: I want to hear a man say “Hey there roller derby girl, you play a burgeoning sport that’s wicked awesome. I admire what women have done to bring roller derby back to life and I just want to be a part of it. Let me support your mission and vision, whatever that may be, and maybe, after awhile, you will come to trust my participation, though you have every reason to believe that I am trying to take this from you.”
And in turn, you can trust that I, as a female athlete, have been subject to every manner of hurtful slander and discouragement–from coaches, teammates, men in the stands–in pursuing the only sport I’ve known that pointedly celebrates my being a female athlete, without reservation.
Your first step to participating in roller derby should be to understand why women might have issues with trust and be wary of sharing what is for us an empowering, transformative space. Letting men influence the trajectory of a truly female sport completely undermines its mission: to empower women to be autonomous athletes without gender expectations.
Skate or die.