ABOUT THIS BOOK

In her forties, Erica Rand bought a pair of figure skates to vary her workout routine. Within a few years, the college professor was immersed in adult figure skating. Here, in short, incisive essays, she describes the pleasures to be found in the rink, as well as the exclusionary practices that make those pleasures less accessible to some than to others. Throughout the book, Rand situates herself as a queer femme, describing her mixed feelings about participating in a sport with heterosexual story lines and rigid standards for gender-appropriate costumes and moves. She chronicles her experiences competing in the Gay Games and at the annual U.S. Adult National Figure Skating Championship, or "Adult Nationals"; Aided by her comparative study of roller derby and women's hockey, including a brief attempt to play hockey herself, she addresses matters such as skate color conventions, judging systems, racial and sexual norms, transgender issues in sports, and the economics of athletic participation and risk taking. Mixing sharp critique with genuine appreciation and delight, Rand suggests ways to make figure skating more inclusive, while portraying the unlikely friendships facilitated by sports and the sheer elation of gliding on ice.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Erica Rand is Professor of Art and Visual Culture and of Women and Gender Studies at Bates College. She is the author of The Ellis Island Snow Globe and Barbie’s Queer Accessories, both also published by Duke University Press.

REVIEWS

“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

"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

“[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

“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

“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

“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

"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

“This is a captivating book that is, simultaneously, all about, and not just about, figure skating. . . . Read this book if you contemplate pleasure and/or seek an understanding of pleasure. The ultimate pleasure in this project, for the reader, may lie in her mapping the interactions among bodies that both complicate and simplify being happy within your own skin.”

-- Angeletta KM Gourdin Feminist Formations

“Red Nails, Black Skates is a good read, bringing together critique of the sociopolitics of figure skating with numerous everyday facets of Rand’s life. … Feminized sports are often dismissed by dominant culture, making her contribution to critical sport and gender studies ever more important. Rand’s book is pleasurable, not only for its engaging narratives about the intricacies of the skating world, but also for critical analysis of sport and athletic life.”

-- Claire Carter GLQ

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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