Acknowledgments  vii

Introduction. Skate to Write, Write to Skate  1

I. Seeing and Getting: Notes on Fieldwork  

Introduction. Being in Deep  17

1. Seeing and Getting  20

2. Sandbagging, or Grown-Ups Do This?  26

3. Score  32

II. Skating Is Like Sex, Except When It Isn't  

Introduction. Pleasure Points  43

4. Skating Is Like Sex, Except When It Isn't  46

5. The End of Me, or My Brief Life in Hockey  52

6. When God Gets Involved  60

III. Hooks  

Introduction. Redoing the Laces  71

7. White Skates Become You  73

8. Form-Fitting: The Bra in Three Stories  79

9. My Grandmother's Shoes  85

10. Black Skates, or the Stake in Wanting  89

IV. Ladies  

Introduction. Athletic, Artistic, or Just Plain Perverse  97

11. Skank or Ballerina: Codes of the Crotch Shot  103

12. Cracking the Normative  111

13. Oh, Right, Policing Femininity: Nine Inch Nails at Adult Nationals  117

14. Booty Block: Raced Femininity  128

V. Masculine Wiles  

Introduction. Masculinity with Teeth  139

15. "I Stand beside Him with an Axe!": Hockey Guys Together  144

16. Quads Make the Man, or What's too Gay for Men's Figure Skating  153

17. The Girl who Fooled by Butchdar  160

VI. Having the Wherewithal  

Introduction. Up from the Botton  169

18. Buy-In: Some Notes on Cost  174

19. So You Think You can Train, or Why Can Joshua Dance?  180

20. Gifts of Nature, Freaks of Culture  186

VII. Blade Scars/Biopsy Scars: Rethinking Risk and Choice  

Introduction. Blade Scars/Biopsy Scars  199

21. Parsing Perilicious  204

22. Telling the Mrs.  210

23. What Sticks Out  215

24. Losing her Manhood  219

VIII. The Politics of Pleasure  

25. Pleasure on Its Face  227

26. Politics at Hand  235

27. Getting the Goods  242

Conclusion. If I Ruled the Rink, or Make the Rink by Skating  249

Notes  263

Bibliography  285

Index  297

“Written in clear and accessible prose, Rand clearly outlines her purpose of the field research she participates in. The stories are exciting and enjoyable to read in themselves and Rand’s accompanying critical analysis sheds light on a corner of gender and sport ripe for further exploration. . . . This well-rounded text is a fantastic read for anyone interested in gender and sports.”—The Write Reader

“I really enjoyed Erica Rand's study of gender, politics, and the pleasure of skating; she has a love for the sport and a critical eye to what is going on at and under the surface. . . . Figure skating is an area where sport, gender, sex, politics, money, and race come together in a fascinating way. Erica Rand's writing combines the personal details of her life and experiences as a skater with research into different aspects of sport and gender theory. . . . The book is accessible to skating enthusiasts and well worth reading. If you're looking for ways to pass the time before the 2012-13 skating season starts, definitely consider picking up this book.” —Caroline Land, Crowding the Book Truck

“A book of essays by self-described ‘queer femme’ Rand, a figure-skating college professor who competed in the Gay Games in 2006, in which she examines the exclusionary practices in the sport (heterosexual storylines and rigidly gendered costumes, for example) but also takes time to celebrate the joy of sliding about the ice.”—Diva

“[Rand’s] personal love for skating shines through the essays collected in Red Nails, Black Skates, leading to an incisive yet upbeat analysis of both the sport's shortcomings and the depths of its potential.”—Dani Alexis Ryskamp, Shelf Awareness

"I recently sacrificed hours of sleep to read Red Nails, Black Skates: Gender, Cash and Pleasure On and Off the Ice by Erica Rand. The short essays in the book present the witty, emotional and often hilarious insights of a professor who took up competitive adult skating fuelled by a love of skating and a desire to think about the gender and social norms that seem so natural to the sport.”—Tina Chen, Winnipeg Free Press

“As a figure skater herself, [Rand] explores the gender policing that plagues her beloved sport, presenting her personal journey in a breezy blend of anecdotes that also hit on tough topics like queer identity, race, class, sex,
and money. . . . For an academic, Rand's writing is surprisingly light thanks
to her humor and honesty, the latter being one of the book's great strengths.”—Mai Nguyen, Bitch

“Rather than being overly academic, Red Nails is smart and witty and warmly personal, a fascinating read for anyone interested in LGBT sports and queer lives.“—Diane Anderson-Minshall, The Advocate

“Rand goes well beyond the figure-skating vernacular. Writing as a ‘queer femme,’ she takes readers into the gendered communities, intimate nature, and political world of skating--describing family, friendships, equipment, pleasures, and fears. The writing style and subheadings capture readers' attention, the book is well written, and the author integrates theoretical frameworks into the story. This fine treatment of gender and sport will serve a broad audience and a variety of disciplines. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty, professionals, general readers.”—K. H. Weiller, Choice

“Written in clear and accessible prose, Rand clearly outlines her purpose of the field research she participates in. The stories are exciting and enjoyable to read in themselves and Rand’s accompanying critical analysis sheds light on a corner of gender and sport ripe for further exploration. . . . This well-rounded text is a fantastic read for anyone interested in gender and sports.”—The Write Reader

“I really enjoyed Erica Rand's study of gender, politics, and the pleasure of skating; she has a love for the sport and a critical eye to what is going on at and under the surface. . . . Figure skating is an area where sport, gender, sex, politics, money, and race come together in a fascinating way. Erica Rand's writing combines the personal details of her life and experiences as a skater with research into different aspects of sport and gender theory. . . . The book is accessible to skating enthusiasts and well worth reading. If you're looking for ways to pass the time before the 2012-13 skating season starts, definitely consider picking up this book.” —Caroline Land, Crowding the Book Truck

“A book of essays by self-described ‘queer femme’ Rand, a figure-skating college professor who competed in the Gay Games in 2006, in which she examines the exclusionary practices in the sport (heterosexual storylines and rigidly gendered costumes, for example) but also takes time to celebrate the joy of sliding about the ice.”—Diva

“[Rand’s] personal love for skating shines through the essays collected in Red Nails, Black Skates, leading to an incisive yet upbeat analysis of both the sport's shortcomings and the depths of its potential.”—Dani Alexis Ryskamp, Shelf Awareness

"I recently sacrificed hours of sleep to read Red Nails, Black Skates: Gender, Cash and Pleasure On and Off the Ice by Erica Rand. The short essays in the book present the witty, emotional and often hilarious insights of a professor who took up competitive adult skating fuelled by a love of skating and a desire to think about the gender and social norms that seem so natural to the sport.”—Tina Chen, Winnipeg Free Press

“As a figure skater herself, [Rand] explores the gender policing that plagues her beloved sport, presenting her personal journey in a breezy blend of anecdotes that also hit on tough topics like queer identity, race, class, sex,
and money. . . . For an academic, Rand's writing is surprisingly light thanks
to her humor and honesty, the latter being one of the book's great strengths.”—Mai Nguyen, Bitch

“Rather than being overly academic, Red Nails is smart and witty and warmly personal, a fascinating read for anyone interested in LGBT sports and queer lives.“—Diane Anderson-Minshall, The Advocate

“Rand goes well beyond the figure-skating vernacular. Writing as a ‘queer femme,’ she takes readers into the gendered communities, intimate nature, and political world of skating--describing family, friendships, equipment, pleasures, and fears. The writing style and subheadings capture readers' attention, the book is well written, and the author integrates theoretical frameworks into the story. This fine treatment of gender and sport will serve a broad audience and a variety of disciplines. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty, professionals, general readers.”—K. H. Weiller, Choice

"Red Nails, Black Skates is a fabulous read, a smart and often hilarious account of one queer critic's journey deep into the heart of figure skating. The intricate interplay of gender, race, and class in skating culture makes it a perfect site for tackling the ways that antigay and sexist paradigms re-enforce one another, as well as anxieties about race and class. In this brilliantly written book, Erica Rand takes feminist sports studies to a new level, without sacrificing her own stories about the pleasures of figure skating and the lessons that she has learned as a skater."—Jennifer Doyle, author of Sex Objects: Art and the Dialectics of Desire and the feminist soccer blog From a Left Wing

"Erica Rand brings us into the fascinating world of skating on ice. Her personal journey is riveting. In sharing it, she offers insight into the complexities of spending a lifetime immersed in her sport and tells many stories about figure skating that have not been told until now. A brilliant piece of work and a must-read."—Helen Carroll, Sports Project Director, National Center for Lesbian Rights

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