Skating Toward Something Big

Lisa Crystal Carver

The New York Times made fun of this reality show -- A&E's new "Rollergirls," with its second episode airing tonight at 10 -- because it's just girls doing roller derby, a ridiculous sport with made-up names and crack whore outfits, and then bonding by drinking or TP-ing the other team's houses.

Don't be a hater, NYT. There are so many male rites of passage: fishing, hunting, fighting, football, drinking to the point of stomach-pumping, joining the army, getting taken to a hooker; all activities physical, frequently dangerous, and introduced by an older male relative (or a whole pack of male peers).

Girls, on the other hand, get shopping -- and learning how to take other people's crap (under the guise of "being nice"). Roller derby is a rare opportunity for girls to show that they can give it as well.

[snip]

If I sound bitter, it's not about my vagina. It's because I want the world to look like "Rollergirls," not like The New York Times.