Playing Rough - Roller Derby Girls

Classic Roller Derby

As you can see, classic Roller Derby was a brutal game, played by fit ladies and gentlemen. Though both sexes would pretty much wear the same outfits, at the time (1948 for these images), these were considered revealing, for women.



I personally find that today, these same outfits on the men are rather gender challenging.



Roller Derby would create it’s own celebrities, and where there are celebrities- there are pinups:

Rollergirls - Reviving the Roller Derby

In 2006, the Austin, Texas Roller Derby league was featured in 13 episodes of the reality show, Rollergirls. The league was founded in 2001 and included 5 teams; Cherry Bombs, Hellcats, Holy Rollers, Putas Del Fuego and Rhinestone Cowgirls. As you can tell from these names, this is without a doubt a Rockabilly crowd. True to every retro revival, the roller girl look ranges from the “professional sportswoman” facade to the campy neo pinup. Subtle football stripes are joined by tattoos, piercing and flamboyant hair colors.

Rolling All Over the World

A search on YouTube will find you Roller Derby team videos from all over the world. Australia, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom are all places where you can find sassy women bashing into each other in the name of self empowerment. To your left- the Brisbane league.

Rollergirls Hit the Big Screen

Drew Barrymore makes her directorial debut with “Whip It!”, starring an all-star cast. Based on the novel, Derby Girl, by Shauna Cross, Whip It! challenges the yey ole’ gender roles of how a young woman should act, what she ought to want for herself and what she ought to wear.



But Roller Derby has been part of pinup tradition, much earlier than Whip It!. In 1972, Raquel Welch starred in Kansas City Bomber and- a bit like Showgirls with sports gear- took cat fighting to a nasty extreme.

Rollergirl Pinups

After the late 1920’s-late 1940’s, there was a bit of a lapse. Roller skates came back in the 1970’s, so we can find some beautiful 70’s vintage pinup shots:



With “Boogie Nights” Heather Graham became a serious Rollergirl fetish.



But probably most common are Roller Derby inspired Rollergirl, sporting the tough neo pinup look:



Roll Safely,

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Tags: Roller Derby Girls, Roller Derby, revival, campy, Playing Rough, Heather Graham, Kansas City Bomber, Boogie Nights, 1970's, Raquel Welch, neo pinup, cat fighting, Drew Barrymore, gender challenging, Rollergirls, lifestyle, reality show, Grassroots third wave feminism