ABSTRACT
This chapter continues by discussing another element of roller derby that many of the women say they benefitted from: the derby persona, at times referred to as their alter ego. It accurately describes how derby names work while realistically depicting the spectrum of the author's participants: some experience a true alter ego on one end of the spectrum, while others adamantly posit that their derby name is nothing more than a fun name on the other. In the middle of this spectrum lie most of the participants, women whose personas – not alter egos – confer certain benefits, such as amplifying existing parts of their personality or facilitating the emergence of others. Finally, a few women mentioned the privacy the derby persona affords them in both: their personal life with fans and their professional life with coworkers and employers.
