Two gangs of Generation Z girls who don’t mean to be the fifth wheel of the carriage! On the one hand, Derby Girl, available on France.tv Slash, follow a click of badass, the Cannibals Unicorns, a roller derby team, a mainly female contact sport practiced perched on roller skates. The other, Betty, whose season 2 is currently broadcast in US + 24 on OCS, features a group of skaters, determined to free themselves from the sexism of skateparks and the standards imposed on women. Two odes to freedom and feminism. What if women’s empowerment was built on the hats of wheels?
Roller derby, “it’s a game of chess on rollerblades by making pads”, summarizes Nikola Lange, creator of Derby Girl. In this series, Lola Bouvier, fallen star of figure skating, decides to boost her disproportionate ego to become “the greatest roller derby champion of all time”. This daddy’s girl, who grew up molded in glittery leotards, goes out to her partners, led by badass Acid Cyprine, find out she doesn’t have to match her gender norms and take over trust in her. “The idea was to put a princess in a super gross thing of stripping with girls who talk about everything without complex”, comments the screenwriter.
Roller derby to find a “safe space”
“The position of roller derby is quite unique in the sense that truly, since its creation in the United States in the 1920s, women have appropriated the discipline in a quasi-political and demanding will”, estimates the screenwriter.
Roller derby is thus one of the rare disciplines where it is specified “masculine” when it is practiced by men. “I had fairly strong feminist values that I found in roller derby, but I did not come to this sport for that”, testifies Maureen Rodaro, aka Wacky Wheels, who plays in the Lutèce destroyers.
“Roller derby is a safe space,” says Nikola Lange. “For some people, the derby is the area where they can really be themselves, express themselves without fear of judgment,” abounds the player, who specifies that even the registration forms for this discipline are “inclusive and pay attention to pronouns. “
Roller derby to “regain possession of your body”
“When I was little, I was rather sporty and enduring. In adolescence, I was told repeatedly that I was zero in sport, ”says Maureen Rodaro. Derogatory comments that make him abandon the exercise for a few years. “Inclusiveness is already found at the level of the profiles. I saw, a bit by chance, roller derby matches, she says. There were women of all sizes, very thin like me, thicker, taller, smaller women who managed to hit each other, to run on a track on skates. “A revelation for the young woman:” I said to myself: ‘if they can do it, why can’t I?’ “
She joined a team and began training with the menu “1/3 muscle strengthening, 1/3 skating agility and 1/3 group techniques”. “The derby allows us to regain possession of our body and suddenly, to realize that we are not physically inferior, we are more in control of our abilities,” she emphasizes.
This new insurance allows him to feel more secure in the public space. “I was a little pissed off by people on the street. The derby allowed me to be sure of myself enough to react, cope and be less afraid. I know I’m capable of knocking down someone bigger than me, that’s reassuring! I didn’t think I could be able to do that, ”she explains.
Skateboarding, “against diktats and stereotypes”
Movie spin-off Skate Kitchen by Crystal Moselle, Betty, it is also the pejorative nickname given to young girls who even approach a skateboard park, a territory still too often considered as reserved for male initiates. “There are always many more men who practice skateboarding than women”, regrets Manon Lanza, author of Skateboarding as seen by an enthusiast (Michel Lafon) and co-founder of Allons Rider, a site dedicated to women’s boardsports “because girls in board sports are not just a pair of glossy buttocks”.
“We have been considered so much like humans having to play with dolls, love pink, and stay in our dresses, that maybe in our heads, it’s a little more difficult today to practice things that we don’t. didn’t think ”, analyzes the skater.
As in the series Betty, “There are a lot of crews of girls who are created in skateboarding”, she rejoices. “Women feel the need to be together because if they come alone, it’s more difficult to find their place,” explains the rider.
Like roller derby, these caring communities carry a true spirit of sorority. “Being a woman in skateboarding is still difficult. We tend to think that a girl who rides cannot perform well. It’s annoying. We are expected at the turn when we arrive in a skatepark where there is really level, ”she explains.
For some riders, skateboarding “has a bit of a rebellious side” which makes it possible to “go against diktats and stereotypes”. “I find it too good to see all these girls coming together to skate, to counter stereotypes and say to each other, we’re here, and we have the right to do what makes us vibrate and we don’t care what the others will think, ”she jubilates.
Skateboarding, to feel “alive” and “free”
As in Betty, skateboarding, especially when it is practiced between women, is liberating and emancipating. Practicing this sport is a good way to escape the famous mental load. “Skateboarding is a bit like meditation. Meditation is not thinking about anything, but being in the present moment. Board sports like surfing or skateboarding really force you to be focused on what you are doing, so as not to make mistakes, get injured or fall, ”says Manon Lanza.
Suddenly, “When you have your feet on a skateboard, you forget everything, you don’t think about anything else, and I feel alive, I feel free, I feel like I’m floating a bit. This feeling is super addictive, ”confides the rider.
Better self-image, confidence, surpassing, well-being, sorority and a feeling of freedom… There is no doubt that roller derby and skateboarding are vectors of female emancipation!