Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

‘Bout Time! Renegotiating the Body in Roller Derby

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Sex Roles Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In this study, we examined the relation of participation in an alternative sport (i.e., Roller Derby) in the U.S. to women’s body image, gender role and self-esteem. Roller Derby (n = 64) and non-Roller Derby (n = 129) women participated; the majority of the women (59.4 to 77.7 %) were from Texas though participants also were drawn from 14 other states across the U.S. All the women completed quantitative measures of body esteem, self-esteem, and gender characteristics; the athletes also provided qualitative responses to questions about their Roller Derby persona, self-esteem, dress, and motivation. In both groups, self-esteem was related to endorsing more instrumental characteristics as well as with greater satisfaction with sexual attractiveness, weight, and physical condition. The Roller Derby women’s endorsement of instrumental, as opposed to expressive, characteristics was related significantly to all three dimensions of body esteem. Roller Derby women endorsed more instrumental characteristics and were more satisfied with their weight and physical condition than the non-Roller Derby women; both groups reported generally high and similar levels of self-esteem and did not differ significantly on their satisfaction with their sexual attractiveness. Roller Derby challenges traditional hegemonic notions of masculinity/femininity and negates the idea of the female body as passive sex object. As a sport, Roller Derby may provide an alternate system of body evaluation based on functionality, rather than appearance. This alternative perspective may empower women who traditionally are seen as overweight and unfeminine in today’s society, thereby instilling a more positive body image and instrumental view of themselves as athletes.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Altman, D. G. (1991). Practical statistics for medical research. London: Chapman and Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Augustus-Horvath, C. L., & Tylka, T. L. (2011). The acceptance model of intuitive eating: A comparison of women in emerging adulthood, early adulthood, and middle adulthood. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 58, 110–125. doi:10.1037/a0022129.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Barrett, A. E., & White, H. R. (2002). Trajectories of gender role orientations in adolescence and early adulthood: a prospective study of the mental health effects of masculinity and femininity. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 43, 451–468. doi:10.2307/3090237.

  • Cahn, S. K. (1994). Coming on strong: Gender and sexuality in twentieth-century women’s sport. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carlson, J. (2010). The female significant in all-women's amateur roller derby. Sociology of Sport Journal, 27, 428–440.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cash, T. F. (2002). Cognitive behavioral perspectives on body image. In T. F. Cash & L. Smolak (Eds.), Body image: A handbook of science, practice, and prevention (pp. 39–47). New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coakley, J. (1990). Sport in society: Issues and controversies (4th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Times Mirror/Mosby.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cole, D. A., Maxwell, S. E., Martin, J. M., Peeke, L. G., Seroczynski, A. D., Tram, J. A., & Maschman, T. (2001). The development of multiple domains of child and adolescent self-concept: A cohort sequential longitudinal design. Child Development, 72, 1723–1746. doi:1467-8624.00375/1467-8624.00375.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Corbin, J., & Strauss, A. (1990). Grounded theory research: Procedures, canons, and evaluative criteria. Qualitative Sociology, 13, 3–21. doi:10.1007/BF00988593.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Donahoe, C. (2010). Roller derby regains popularity. Neon Tommy: Annenberg Digital News. Retrieved from http://www.neontommy.com.

  • Eagly, A. H., & Wood, W. (2012). Social role theory. In P. A. M. Van Lange, A. W. Kruglansji, & E. T. Higgins (Eds.), Handbook of theories of social psychology (pp. 458–477). London, UK: Sage.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Ferguson, C. J. (2013). In the eye of the beholder: Thin-ideal media affects some, but not most, viewers in a meta-analytic review of body dissatisfaction in women and men. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 2, 30–37. doi:10.1037/a0030766.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Finley, N. J. (2010). Skating femininity: Gender maneuvering in women’s roller derby. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 39, 359–387. doi:10.1177/0891241610364230.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Forbes, G., Doroscewicz, K., Card, K., & Adams-Curtis, L. (2004). Association of the thin body ideal, ambivalent sexism, and self-esteem with body acceptance and the preferred body size of college women in Poland and the United States. Sex Roles, 50, 331–345. doi:10.1023/B:SERS.0000018889.14714.20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Franzoi, S. L. (1994). Further evidence of the reliability and validity of the body esteem scale. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 50, 237–239. doi:10.1002/1097-4679(199403)50:23.0.CO;2-P.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Franzoi, S. L., & Herzog, M. E. (1986). The body-esteem scale: A convergent and discriminant validity study. Journal of Personality Assessment, 50, 24–31. doi:10.1207/s15327752jpa5001_4.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Franzoi, S. L., & Shields, S. A. (1984). The body esteem scale: Multidiminsional structure and sex differences in a college population. Journal of Personality Assessment, 48, 173–178. doi:10.1207/s15327752jpa4802_12.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fredrickson, B. L., & Roberts, T.-A. (1997). Objectification theory: Toward understanding women’s lived experiences and mental health risks. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 21, 173–206. doi:10.1111/j.1471-6402.1997.tb00108.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ginsberg, R., & Gray, J. (2006). The differential depiction of female athletes in judged and non-judged sport magazines. Body Image, 3, 365–373. doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2006.05.003.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Grabe, S., Ward, L. M., & Hyde, J. S. (2008). The role of the media in body image concerns among women: A meta-analysis of experimental and correlational studies. Psychological Bulletin, 134, 460–476. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.134.3.460.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gray-Little, B., Williams, V. S. L., & Hancock, T. D. (1997). An item response theory analysis of the Rosenberg self-esteem scale. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 23, 443–451. doi:10.1177/0146167297235001.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greenleaf, C., Boyer, E. M., & Petrie, T. A. (2009). High school sport participation and subsequent psychological well-being and physical activity: The mediating influences of body image, physical competence, and instrumentality. Sex Roles, 61, 714–726. doi:10.1007/s11199-009-9671-z.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harrison, K., & Fredrickson, B. L. (2003). Women’s sport media, self-objectification, and mental health in Black and White adolescent females. Journal of Communication, 53, 216–232. doi:10.1111/j.1460-2466.2003.tb02587.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harter, S. (1990). Self and identity development. In S. S. Feldman & G. R. Elliott (Eds.), At the threshold: The developing adolescent (pp. 352–387). Cambridge, MA, US: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hawkins, N., Richards, S., Granley, H. M., & Stein, D. M. (2004). The impact of exposure to the thin-ideal media image on women. Eating Disorders, 12, 35–51. doi:10.1080/10640260490267751.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Helmreich, R. L., Spence, J. T., & Wilhelm, J. A. (1981). A psychometric analysis of the personal attributes questionnaire. Sex Roles, 7, 1097–1108. doi:10.1007/BF00287587.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • History of Title IX. (2014). Title IX Info. Retrieved from http://www.titleix.info/History/History-Overview.aspx.

  • Holstrom, A. (2004). The effects of the media on body image: A meta-analysis. Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, 48, 196–217. doi:10.1207/s15506878jobem4802_3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, C. E., & Petrie, T. A. (1995). The relationship of gender discrepancy to eating disorder attitudes and behaviors. Sex Roles, 33, 405–416. doi:10.1007/BF01954576.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Joulwan, M. (2007). Rollergirl: Totally true tales from the track. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.

    Google Scholar 

  • Krane, V., Choi, P., Baird, S., Aimar, C., & Kauer, K. (2004). Living the paradox: Female athletes negotiate femininity and masculinity. Sex Roles, 50, 315–329. doi:10.1023/B:SERS.0000018888.48437.4f.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krausch, M. L. (2000). Feminism(s) in practice: The sport, business, and politics of roller derby. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American sociological association annual meeting, San Francisco, CA.

  • Landis, J. R., & Koch, G. G. (1977). The measurement of observer agreement for categorical data. Biometrics, 33, 159–174. doi:10.2307/2529310.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mabe, C. (2007). Roller derby: The history and all-girl revival of the greatest sport on wheels. Denver, CO: Speck Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mabry, C. (2010). Brutal beauty: tales of the rose city rollers [Documentary]. USA: American Toaster Productions.

  • Marsh, H., & Shavelson, R. (1985). Self-concept: Multifaceted, hierarchical structure. Educational Psychologist, 20, 107–123. doi:10.1207/s15326985ep2003_1.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McConnell, A. R. (2011). The multiple-self-aspects framework: Self-concept representation and its implications. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 15, 3–27. doi:10.1177/1088868310371101.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Miller, J., & Levy, G. (1996). Gender role conflict, gender-typed characteristics, self-concepts, and sport socialization in female athletes and nonathletes. Sex Roles, 35, 111–122. doi:10.1007/BF01548178.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moor, A. (2009). Full of power: The relation between women’s growing social power and the thin female beauty ideal. Radical Psychology A Journal of Psychology, Politics, & Radicalism, 8, 9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moradi, B. (2010). Addressing gender and cultural diversity in body image: Objectification theory as a framework for integrating theories and grounding research. Sex Roles, 63, 138–148. doi:10.1007/s11199-010-9824-0.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moradi, B., & Huang, Y.-P. (2008). Objectification theory and psychology of women: A decade of advances and future directions. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 32, 377–398. doi:10.1007/s11199-010-9824-0.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murray, M.G. (2012). The unladylike ladies of roller derby? How spectators, players and derby wives do and redo gender and heteronormativity in all-female roller derby. (Doctoral dissertation, University of York). Retrieved from http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/2327/.

  • Parnavelas, E. (2012). The roller derby athlete: A skater’s guide to fitness, training, strategy and nutrition. London, UK: Bloomsbury.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pavlidis, A. (2012). From riot grrrls to roller derby? Exploring the relations between gender, music and sport. Leisure Studies, 31, 165–176. doi:10.1080/02614367.2011.623304.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pearson, R. (2010). What makes a roller derby name? Examiner.com. Retrieved from http://www.examiner.com/article/what-makes-a-roller-derby-name.

  • Petrie, T. A. (1996). Differences between male and female college lean sport athletes, nonlean sport athletes, and nonathletes on behavioral and psychological indices of eating disorders. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 8, 218–230. doi:10.1080/10413209608406478.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Petrie, T. A., & Greenleaf, C. (2012). Eating disorders in sport. In S. Murphy (Ed.), Handbook of sport and performance psychology (1st ed., pp. 635–659). New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prentice, D. A., & Carranza, E. (2002). What women and men should be, shouldn’t be, are allowed to be, and don’t have to be: The contents of prescriptive gender stereotypes. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 26, 269–281. doi:10.1111/1471-6402.t01-1-00066.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reel, J., Petrie, T., SooHoo, S., & Anderson, C. (2013). Weight pressures in sport: Examining the factor structure and incremental validity of the weight pressures in sport – females. Eating Behaviors, 14, 137–144. doi:10.1010/j.eatbeh.2013.01.003.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Robinson, J. P., & Shaver, P. R. (1973). Measures of social psychological attitudes. Michigan: Academic. 

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosenberg, M. (1965). Society and the adolescent self-image. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

  • Schlomer, G. L., Bauman, S., & Card, N. A. (2010). Best practices for missing data management in counseling psychology. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 57, 1–10. doi:10.1037/a0018082.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sewall, M. (2010). 'Smackademics' join the ranks of roller-derby women. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 56, A5.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spence, J. T., & Helmreich, R. L. (1978). Masculinity and femininity: Their psychological dimensions, correlates, and antecedents. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spence, J. T., Helmreich, R. L., & Stapp, J. (1974). The personal attributes questionnaire: A measure of sex role stereotypes and masculinity-femininity. JSAS Catalog of Selected Documents in Psychology, 4, 43.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stake, J. E., & Eisele, H. (2011). Gender and personality. In J. C. Chrisler & D. R. McCreary (Eds.), Handbook of gender research in psychology (pp. 19–40). New York, NY: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Steinfeldt, J. A., Zakrakjsek, R., Carter, H., & Steinfeldt, M. C. (2011). Conformity to gender norms among female student athletes: Implications for body image. Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 12, 401–416. doi:10.1037/a0023634.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steinfeldt, J. A., Zakrajsek, R. A., Bodey, K. J., Middendorf, K. G., & Martin, S. B. (2013). Role of uniforms in the body image of female college volleyball players. The Counseling Psychologist, 41, 791–819. doi:10.1177/0011000012457218.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stites, J. (2008). Roller derby queens: Short skirts, fishnets, and full contact. Inside the lesbian underground of the Los Angeles Derby Dolls. Advocate, 1010, 44–51.

    Google Scholar 

  • Storms, C. E. (2008). “There’s no sorry in roller derby”: A feminist examination of identity of women in the full contact sport of roller derby. The New York Sociologist, 3, 68–87.

    Google Scholar 

  • Striegel-Moore, R. H., & Bulik, C. M. (2007). Risk factors for eating disorders. American Psychologist, 62, 181–198. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.62.3.181.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L. S. (2013). Using multivariate statistics (6th ed.). New York: Harper & Row.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, R., & Sherman, R. (2010). Eating disorders in sport. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tiggemann, M., & Stevens, C. (1999). Weight concern across life-span: Relationship to self-esteem and feminist identity. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 26, 103–6. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1098-108X(199907)26:13.3.CO;2-S.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • USA Roller Sports (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.teamusa.org/USA-Roller-Sports/Roller-Derby.aspx.

  • Varnes, J. R., Stellefson, M. L., Janelle, C. M., Dorman, S. M., Dodd, V., & Miller, M. D. (2013). A systematic review of studies comparing body image concerns among female athletes and non-athletes, 1997–2012. Body Image, 10, 421–432. doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2013.06.001.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wade, T. J. (2000). Evolutionary theory and self-perception: Sex difference in body esteem predictors of self-perceived physical and sexual attractiveness and self-esteem. International Journal of Psychology, 35, 36–45. doi:10.1080/002075900399501.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (2012). Roller derby demographics: Results from the third annual comprehensive data collection on skaters and fans. Retrieved from http://wftda.com/files/roller-derby-demographics-2012.pdf.

Download references

Compliance with Ethical Standards

This research study has been reviewed and approved by the University of North Texas Institutional Review Board (IRB). Informed consent was obtained from all human subjects included in the study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Merchandising, College of Merchandising, Hospitality and Tourism, University of North Texas, 1155 Union Circle, #311100, Denton, TX, 76203-5017, USA

    Jessica Strübel

  2. Department of Psychology, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, 76203, USA

    Trent A. Petrie

Authors
  1. Jessica Strübel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Trent A. Petrie
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jessica Strübel.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Strübel, J., Petrie, T.A. ‘Bout Time! Renegotiating the Body in Roller Derby. Sex Roles 74, 347–360 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-015-0490-0

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-015-0490-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation