Fashioned Bodies in Roller Derby League Logos: Critical Analysis of Race, Gender, Body Size and Position, Clothing, and Aesthetics

Abstract

Revival of roller derby in the early 2000s garnered significant interest in the sport, and an extensive network of leagues began to form. By 2018, approximately 1,500 leagues were operating in North America, each with a unique logo. In this study, we focus on the league logos as a potent form of embodied fashion representation. Using content analysis, we examined all of the logos for U.S. Women’s Flat Track Derby Association–member leagues and have interpreted our findings through a critical cultural analysis. Revival of roller derby in the aughts has repositioned the sport as inclusive of diverse bodies; however, the logos tell a different story. League logos perpetuate hyperfeminized, thin-centric, white bodies—that is, the norms that derby athletes are performatively challenging through participation in the sport.