A good opportunity to discuss how sexist the whole cheerleading

[question everything]

institution is.

Societies, and especially high schools, are hierarchal. We look for individuals to admire and others to mock. We are graded on a curve. Not everyone can get an "A." Someone has to get a "C" even when excelling on the test. And in high school, it is the jock who earns the admiration. He is the "king of the prom."

And as long as only boys play high school and college football, it is up to the girls to just... cheer. And to wear skimpy clothes and to attract attention to their bodies, but mainly to be an auxiliary item to the boys.

In ancient times, men were the hunters and the warriors while women stayed behind taking care of children. Physical power set the places for men and women.

And high school and college sport has not changed much. Boys are the fighters girls cheer.

How sad.

[Redbear]

1. Bring it on. n/t

[CJCRANE]

2. I thought Shrub was a cheerleader.

That must mean it's macho surely..?

:shrug:

[jobycom]

3. Meh. Most people in my high school ignored the jocks and the cheerleaders.

Too busy smoking pot and cheating on exams and making out in the band hall. Not me, just everyone else.

[WilmywoodNCparalegal]

4. When I arrived in the US and

began high school, my first thought was that cheerleading was a very sexist program, under the guise of 'athletics,' designed to titillate men, yet covered up with a veneer of 'self-esteem' and 'empowerment' for the girls involved.

[Ron Green]

5. When I was teaching in middle school,

there was a big flap going on about girls' clothing, especially skirt length. The decision was finally made about the tips of the fingers, or some such standard, which seemed reasonable enough. A few days after this ruling, there was a school-wide pep rally in which the cheerleaders, the chosen few, tumbled and jumped and kicked, showing more thighs, butt cheeks and pantie crotches than I had seen in a long time. I always wondered why the standard was different for these little starlets.

[Parche]

6. cheerleaders

So you would like to see more guys cheerleading?

[question everything]

27. Sure. Cheering girls team. Why not?

and dressed like those Chippendale guys..

[Parche]

30. Cheers

Ok I will take both!!!!!!!!

[ccpup]

7. Interesting take on that.

But perhaps it's sexist of you to consider cheerleading as only a way for girls to flaunt their bodies? Take some time someday and watch a college (or even high school) cheerleading competition and tell me it's not a sport. From the constant tumbling and jumps to the basket tosses -- a girl being thrown high in the air to twirl and spin and somersault before being caught before hitting the ground -- to the stunt involving one girl high up in the air with the other girl -- the base -- holding her above her head, it's more a sport than people like you (apparently) give it credit for.

In fact, a recent article in the NY Times revealed that injuries from stunts in cheerleading far surpassed every other girl's sport combined. And the men that cheerlead on college squads are certainly more muscular and fit than their male football/basketball playing counterparts.

I understand the nature of your Post, but you've got your facts wrong. Look into it. You might be more surprised than you think.

[Kikosexy2]

8. I remember...

the years in high school...late 70s...the homophobia that shrouded boys being part of the cheerleading squad aka yell-leaders...it was considered a no-no for boys...but I defied that by being the school mascot and was out there cheering my fellow classmates on the football team, basketball team, etc. Surprisingly, my fellow seniors guys & gals supported me. It was the underclassmens who really just didn't understand. But today, schools have come a long way...now I see boys in the drill team squad or dance troupes, flag/color guards...again back in the 70s this would have been a no-no for boys...

[question everything]

26. Interesting story. And... did you cheer a girls team? (nt)

[Kikosexy2]

34. No, the boy's ..

Varsity team..

[MonkeyFunk]

9. Nah

Cheerleading is a sport pretty much in and of itself. Men and women do it.

[philosophie_en_rose]

10. Cheerleading is a sport.

It's hard and athletic. It's also just as dangerous as football to be tossed and caught. Guys can be cheerleaders, too. Just as girls can play football.

The cheerleaders from my high school (of which I was not one) and college were not bimbos. They were athletes who worked hard and succeeded more than our football team ever did. They went to their own competitions to compete. When they volunteered to cheer at games, they were stars on their own.

I think it mischaracterizes a serious sport to imply that every cheerleader is oppressed or a George W. Bush (who was apparently also a cheerleader). In reality, it is a combination of dance and gymnastics.


In addition --> cheerleading outfits are no more revealing than uniforms in gymnastics or swimming. Every sport requires clothing to facilitate movement.

[question everything]

31. OK, but why, then, it is always the girls cheering the boys?

and their sport takes place at the convenience of the team (like half time?)

And I doubt that their uniforms are to facilitate movements - mid rif exposure, plunging neckline... read some of the comments on this thread as, I admit, I do not watch either.

[Clark2008]

11. I'm having a little girl in a little over a month.

I've already told hubby I will be discouraging her from trying out for cheerleading by telling her that I want her to be cheered for, not the one doing the cheering.

;)

[Marrah_G]

12. Cheerleading is a sport now

Sort of an extension of gymnastics. They work very hard and compete against other schools. In many places (but not all) it has evolved from the socialite prissy past-time that it once was.

[northzax]

13. what about the poor band geeks?

no love for them?

the days of the head cheerleader dating the quarterback are antiquated. good cheer squads far outpace this ideal in athleticism and performance.

[JHB]

14. So get your daughters on the Math Team and Chess Club...

...no cheerleaders for them in American schools, belive me.

[Sammy Pepys]

15. What on Earth are you talking about?

Female athletes handily outnumbered the cheerleaders in both my high school and college, and were never an auxiliary item to mens sports. We had female basketball, softball, swimming/diving, field hockey, gymnastics and soccer teams. I'm sure my college had even more female sports in addition to those. My sister was a student athlete at an ivy league school.

The girls never just "cheered" at any school I went to.

[loudsue]

32. That was before the republicans killed Title Nine since the chimpster took over.

Now, girls sports are NOT getting the funding they once did, and the schools that decide to not sponsor a girl's team are no longer legally bound to do so.

Just more sexism and education cutting, compliments of the republicans.

:kick::kick::kick:

[patrice]

16. Not to mention sexually schizoid!!

Another situation in which children of all ages see lots of "beaver shots" and many bump and grind movements that obviously immitate sexual intercourse and parents, who also demand that they abstain from sex before marriage, cheer and applaud.

True Story: I taught at a Catholic high school some time ago and one year the cheerleading squad protested the new cheerleading coach, because they were uncomfortable doing the sexy moves she had choreographed AND THE VICE-PRINCIPAL, A NUN, DISCIPLINED THEM saying they were to do as they were told - no kidding, no exaggeration, this actually happened. I couldn't believe it; the only thing I could figure was the nun thought obediance to authority (i.e. the coach) was more important than what the girls felt about what they were doing.

[SarahB]

17. I think it depends on where you are.

My daughter goes to a large multicultural, northeastern high school. Girls who plays sports themselves are much more popular than the cheerleaders. As for cheerleading, it is a sport that requires a lot of athletic talent, but some of the stereotypes behind it make me cringe.

[HuffleClaw]

18. cheerleading is in no way a 'sport' imo

objectifying of teen girls yes. sport, not remotely.

[MadHound]

19. Ummm, I suppose you've forgotten about Title IX?

You know, that little federal ruling that mandates that there equal athletic opportunity for young men and women both. Sure, it isn't, and hasn't always worked perfectly, but the stereotypical view that you're presenting is a relic of pre TIX days. Now there are sports for both men and women. Basketball, soccer, baseball, softball, hockey, even women who are participating in football, both in high school and college.

In addition, it sounds as though you haven't really watched cheerleading lately. What cheerleaders(both the men and women) do today is indeed a sport, an athletic event. It isn't shaking pom-poms and leading cheers anymore. It is flips, tumbles, dance routines, mid air athletics, all requiring strength, dexterity and timing, like any other sport. In fact in terms of injuries, cheerleaders on the sidelines are getting hurt more often than the players on the field.

Oh, and as far as fighting goes, why not take a look at Ali's daughter, and the whole world of women's boxing. There's some serious fighting.

Sorry, but while matters haven't achieved perfection yet, they have improved greatly over the scenario that you present.

[aquart]

20. You might want to learn a wee bit about ancient times.

Started with the earliest humans: we didn't eat the mighty mammoths on a day to day basis. We ate little bunnies caught with a net. A net. ANYONE of any strength can catch a bunny in a net.

By your very statement you seem to be saying that hunters and warriors were worth something and childcare wasn't and isn't. Cheer up. The Amazons were real. We've dug up their graves.

But I cannot forgive your dismissive attitude toward the role of women. "Taking care of the children." Uh huh. Keeping them alive till adulthood. And preparing food. Medicine. Keeping the huts, tents, caves, and castles free of pests and pestilence. You are so utterly spoiled that you haven't a clue what grueling vital work that was. But the major inventions of the past five hundred years have been in the area of women's work. Because what women did was life and death for not just their families, but their whole community. The only reason that we can leave our homes and go out and work is that our families will no longer die because we aren't at home.

Stop perpetuating the myths you claim to deplore.

[mmonk]

21. What about male cheerleaders? Wasn't bush one?

[JoDog]

22. They are athletes, but

what about the outfits? Are micro skirts and midriff baring tops required for tumbling? By encouraging these girls as athletes while continuing to encouraging them to dress provacatively, we are endorsing a mixed message--it's OK to be strong and active, but only if you are sexy at the same time.

We see this in movies and TV all the time. The strong, ass-kicking or smart female must always be what is considered sexy or beautiful by mainstream tastes. Otherwise the character does not fit the mold of what society can stomach. She can be assertive, but only if we can demean her by calling her "a pretty little thing" at the same. And even if the actress isn't gorgeous, all the male characters are written to refer to and treat her character as if she is.

Now, I can see how a shorter skirt can be better than a longer one while tumbling and doing throws, but what about the tops? I don't get the skimpy tops.

[SharonAnn]

25. In my Catholic HS, cheerleaders wore short, pleated culottes. No crotch shots.

[truebrit71]

23. Cheerleading is stupid and asinine IMHO.

As an Englishman I have NEVER understood it...

[damntexdem]

24. Oh, there are male cheerleaders, too. But they're not the ones guys go to watch.

But also consider the classist aspects of who gets selected as cheerleaders.

[lies and propaganda]

28. i didnt look at your profile, but im assuming you arent very young...

Since I graduated a few years back and waatching both my younger sisters currently in HS, boys are MAJOR members of their teams.
Even was I waas going to school in the nineties in NW Louisiana, we still had male cheerleaders.

Shrub inspired a generation!

[Rosemary2205]

29. I was NEVER taught that girls can only cheer -- Ever.

My parents, my community, my public school, everyone around me, taught me all my life that a woman can and should do anything she pleases -- from motherhood, to any sport, to any career. If no woman has gone there before and I want to go then it's up to me to blaze the trail. I was taught that if someone else wants to put a limit on what I can achieve then THEY are in the wrong and it's up to me to prove it.

IMHO if your local high school is all about boy's sports then something is wrong. High school and college should be a great soup of experiences and opportunities so that kids can begin to carve out their place in this world. It's amazing how at 20, 30 or even 40 yr reunions how people turn out. The great successes in life can seldom be determined by who was the "star" in high school.

[cgrindley]

33. There are lots of male cheerleaders on each squad

I knew quite a few at college in Kansas. They were also on the gymnastics teams. Astonishing bodies. Huge huge strength. Weird V-shaped upper bodies with teenie weenie little legs. They were okay people.

It's quite an athletic activity. I don't have problems with it.