What caused this new fad of ironic female roller derby teams?

Cafe Society
1

Here in Chicago, there’s an ironic all-women Roller Derby team called the Windy City Rollers. As far as I can tell, it’s a hipster thing, an ironic, retro throwback to the 1970’s roller derby fad; it’s the Old Style and PBR-drinking irony fans that wear the shirts and put the bumper stickers on their cars. I get the basic appeal; hipsters like ironic bullshit, and RollerDerby is ironic bullshit with a capital B.

But I just heard that a similar group has sprung up in my hometown in Virginia, and whenever anything makes it that far, it means that it’s in the ass-end of its faddishness. The fact that My Hometown, Virginia has an ironic female roller derby team means that this must be widespread.

Why? Where did this come from? What is the origin of it, and what has caused it to spread?

2

The important question is “How can it be stopped?”

3

Check out Wikipedia’s entry on Roller Derby for its history and reasons for its revival.

4

Yes, we must stop these ridiculously hot women in slutty costumes from beating the hell out of one another.

(I saw a bout in Austin, and it was a blast.)

5

I really impressed my daughter when I told her I’d seen Joanie Weston and Ann Calvello skate. She looked at me with newfound respect.