Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Bruce Reyes-Chow

Home
Progressive Christian
My Daughters, Trixie Pixie and The SheVil Dead

My Daughters, Trixie Pixie and The SheVil Dead

Last updated on: August 9, 2012 at 4:34 pm by Bruce Reyes-Chow

My Daughters, Trixie Pixie and The SheVil Dead 2012-08-09T16:34:00-07:00 Bruce Reyes-Chow

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Middle and Youngest meet The SheVil Dead’s Trixie Pixie

This weekend I dragged my family to a Roller Derby Bout. Now this was not just any bout, this was the Bay Area Derby Girls championship between the San Francisco SheVil Dead and the Richmond Wrecking Belles. I had always wanted to go to one of these, so with a rare free weekend, off we went.

It was awesome.

It was awesome for all of the reasons that you might imagine: the athleticism and bad-assery of the skaters, the love and energy of the fans and the general vibe of this historic American subculture.

Again. Awesome.

What I most loved about the evening – besides this – were my daughters’ reactions throughout the evening. While the Wrecking Belles eventually won by four points, our family proudly screamed and clapped for our hometown team throughout the bout. As we tried to grasp the rules, follow the action on the rink and dodge the feisty Belles fans shouts of “She cut, she cut!” our family fully joined in with a huge crowd of derby lovers!

Not only were my daughters, who are slight of build, excited to see another group of women who were athletic, tough and exhibiting integrity in competition, they were no more excited than when Trixie Pixie lined up as the SheVil Dead jammer. Trixie Pixie was quick, tough and “skated big” throughout the night. Each time she lined up, our girls screamed, “Go Trixie Pixie! Go Trixie Pixie!” because in her, they saw what they could be – and are – though small of stature, they could play oh so big.

While I do not want to over-assess the impact of this event, – my daughters are indeed formed by the strong women who are in their day-to-day lives – these public expressions are also important images for my girls to see. In Trixie Pixie and the rest of the skaters they saw adult women who embodied the many things that we try to teach them about being a strong and secure person in the world. There are so many messages in the world, both subtle and blatant, that tell them that as females, they are somehow “less than” males, that these public crowd-drawing moments of female strength of body, mind and spirit are important for them to experience.

And yes, we will be going back next season . . . and maybe we’ll even know the rules. Go SheVil Dead!

If you want to know more about the championship and a little more about the rules, here is a great recap from Richmond Confidential. You can also follow the Bay Area Derby girls on twitter: @bayareaderbygrl.

flat track roller derby

richmond confidential

richmond wrecking belles

roller derby

san francisco shevil dead

shevil dead

skating

wrecking belles

Previous Post

August 5, 2012

Three Reasons You Should Attend Wild Goose West

Next Post

August 12, 2012 Bummed by the End of SFGate's "City Brights" Blog

Browse Our Archives

Select a Month January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 March 2013 January 2013 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 August 2010 November 2009 September 1995

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who was the youngest friend who rebuked Job and the other friends?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Zophar Bildad Eliphaz Elihu