Yesterday USA Today posted an article titled: “Having a roller-derby name is ‘kind of like being a superhero” complete with a cool photo gallery. The article is about Drew Barrymore’s upcoming roller-derby film “Whip It” starring Ellen Page.
My roller derby name definitely gave me super-powers even though I never did play on a team.
After about 3 months of skating with the Fresh Meat of L.A. Derby Dolls I challenged myself I come up with a roller derby name. I wanted something I could be proud of, something I felt good about and something that encapsulated who I wanted to be. I chose the name Gal VanIZed.
It wasn’t as sexy and violent as everyone else’s derby name but it gave me an inner strength that was lacking in my life.
The name was inspired in part by the song Galvanize by the Chemical Brothers (link goes to iTunes). I sectioned it off into two words so I could have a first and last name: Gal VanIZed.
I loved that my first name meant “woman, girl, female” because I wanted to re-claim my femininity. I liked the word Galvanize because it means “strong, reinforced.”
The more I thought of myself as Gal VanIZed and listened to the words of Galvanize by the Chemical Brothers, the more powerful I felt. Being Galvanized is about not holding back and not caring what other people think. Doing derby and being Galvanized gave me the super-power of inner freedom.
So, for me, even though I was never on a roller derby team, I would have to agree that my roller derby name makes me feel like a super-hero, therefore, I have decided to keep it permanently.
If you’d like to give roller derby a try, there’s a new league forming in Long Beach. E-mail longbeachrollerderby {at} gmail.com for details. If you live closer to Los Angeles and want to check out the L.A. Derby Dolls, try freshmeat [at] derbydolls.com
If roller derby is a little bit out of your league but you want to get Galvanized, get your own Galvanized t-shirt. It’s a way to say, “Yeah, I’m feminine, and I’m strong and I wouldn’t have it any other way”
To read the lyrics and listen to the song Galvanize, go here.
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