Co-ed derby is real. It exists. It happens quite a lot, really. With the advent of the MRDA and more leagues popping up in smaller market areas or scraping to get enough kids to have fun for the season, we are seeing more and more junior leagues opening their doors to the boys who are becoming increasingly interested in roller derby. It's not a bad thing, really. The boys love to skate just as much as the girls do. The problem comes in when we start talking about games and playing against leagues.
Some of those leagues are all girls. That's all well and good. It's a good thing. The empowerment of women was and is a cornerstone of the modern roller derby endeavor. Women finding their strength and power in a sport of their own is an awesome thing which I was able to witness first hand with my kid and the kids of many others. Those leagues choosing not to skate against boys for the reason of female empowerment and choosing to skate only against girls in the further-ment of that goal? I can respect that.
But there is another argument. A darker argument. One which, I feel, crosses the line into blatant sexism. The argument that boys should not be skating against girls because they are stronger and more aggressive. It stems from some very old arguments and, I think, is one of the worst places these discussions can go. It goes a little like this...
So a co-ed team plays against an all girls team. The boys on the co-ed team are some very awesome skaters and play aggressively. Not to the level of "douchy", to be sure, but definitely aggressive. They have put a lot of work into their skating and they are one of the strong elements helping their team win that game. Those boys are then pointed out as a problem in the game play. It is said that if they weren't there, that the team would be "very different" and might not win. Not because they are good skaters, but because they are male.
This? This feeds into the patriarchal thoughts that men are somehow better than women. It strips down the ability of every girl playing against them and says that they lost because they are female; because they are weaker and less aggressive. It takes all of the hard work and dedication these young women have put into being the best derby players they can be and tells them that they will never be as good as the boys, because boys? Boys are just stronger than they are. And you know what? It's just not true.
Yes, males and females have anatomical and some hormonal differences which require a different style of skating in order to most effectively use their bodies in the sport, but those differences do NOT make either binary better than the other. Men have a higher center of balance which is directly offset by the lower center of balance of women. It changes the way they each skate, but with proper training can be equalized quickly... and is.
As far as aggression? Several studies have found that male and female teens engage in aggressive behavior almost equally, especially when a combination of social and physical aggression is looked at. Young men and women are equally likely to lash out socially and physically. This is also born out on the track where there are both aggressive girls and boys. The boys don't tend to be more aggressive than their fellow skaters, they are simply being looked at more closely.
Because of the bias of perception this "putting them under the microscope" brings, they are seen to be skating more aggressively, or feel coerced to tone down their skating so they are NOT perceived as aggressive. I would argue that actually is a disservice to them, their team, and their opponents since the young men are forced to not bring their entire ability to the track.
That does not happen to the young women. It's actually well rooted in patriarchal thinking, and is part of the problem which the feminist movement seeks to fight. In fact, I would also argue that the concentration on the males on their team actually belittles their own contributions. It brings the argument, "They aren't good enough without the boys". That's patently wrong!
So bring your arguments for a separate co-ed division based on female empowerment and girls skating against girls with that goal in mind. I accept that. I actually support it. But do NOT try to tell me that my daughter, and the daughters of every other parent in the junior derby world, are somehow lesser than the young men skating. It's sexist, and it's just plain wrong.
ETA (from my daughter, KO) - To be fair it also strips down the male skater in question, saying he hasn't worked to get his skill, he hasn't put in effort, he's just somehow "better" which also bugs the hell out of me. People have no right to strip down anothers skill level or something they enjoy based on something as small as gender
ETA - Some reading. These are some of the sources I looked at in writing this article. There were some people asking for it.
http://mcclellandinstitute.arizona.edu/.../ResearchLink1...http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=zTV_rbq_oFMC...
http://yas.sagepub.com/content/34/4/497.short
http://www.amazon.com/Playing-With-Boys.../dp/B0062GKD76
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