(Extra Credit 1) Musings on Roller Derby

Sex sells. It’s pretty much a concrete fact at this point. It’s in film, on television, and even here at Old Dominion University. While ODU may not be sponsoring the event directly (maybe they are, I don’t know), it is still advertising it with flyers. The picture below shows one such flyer I found in the BAL building.



Obviously the picture caught my eye and prompted me to write this blog. What is it about this type of image that attracts peoples attention?
One look at the sensual pose and lack of clothes should answer the question. But let's think about this. Does it imply that Roller Derby is actually really boring, to the point that it needs to have scantily-clad girls to attract an audience? I've only seen clips of Roller Derby (or "Roller Jam") on TV before, but it seems like a fairly exciting sport. Its fast-pace makes it seem more appealing than other popular spectator-sports like golf. So why did the makers of this poster (as well as those who decided that the competitors would wear such skimpy uniforms) feel the need to take it step further by making the sport all about sex? What happened to "if it ain't broke, don't fix it?" I guess it boils down to: Roller Derby sells, but sexy Roller Derby sells better. It's just one of those ugly truths that we, as a consumerist society, have to accept.

Another take on this poster and the sport as a whole is that they may even be marketing violence towards women! This may sound like a stretch, but we've already established that the hunched-over girl is a selling point. Just look at the picture. What happens when we add bruises and bandages to the mix? This sport has elbowing, shoving, and sometimes legitimate fighting. I don't think it would attract much of a female audience (how sexist of me!), so the audience would be primarily men. With all that, is Roller Derby really just a practical and legal outlet for misogynists? The scary thing is, yes, maybe it is.