Why Cheer Dance?
I have noticed an increase in the number of girls getting involved in cheerleading or "Cheer" classes. I am really surprised by this. Because I thought that we as a society were trying not to gender-stereotype, sexualize, or inappropriately display young girls. I've listened to how upset some people, a lot of people, most people are when advertisers throw out questionably dressed 14 or 15 year olds girls in full page advertisements. Yet, it appears that we are OK if we put our 11 or 12 year old (or even younger) daughter in a short skirt, tight sweater, and booty short and have them jump, prance, throw, catch, wiggle, thrust, shake, and split in front of general audiences. Most of their displays are not even at sporting events, but a family events like outdoor festivals, local fairs, and mall openings. Mothers stand and watch their daughters with pride, because they are doing something only a small group of their peers could do when they were in high school. Fathers are eyeing up young boys who are gravitating to these girls during their performance break. Others have different motivations for watching. And I suspect some are less then honourable.
I believe cheerleading has lost its meaning. It used to be a group of very motivated students using some dance moves and chants to get the crowd cheering for their home team. Yes, many of the cheerleaders were girls, popular girls, who could get any young man to howl for any team they were in front of. But now a days, "cheer" seem to be more about micro skirts, sexy moves, pyramids, flips and catches than motivation and team spirit. Even the popular television show, "Glee" portrays cheerleaders as "uber" sexy, gyrating, sexually confused, promiscuous, singer/dancers. They are rarely shown as the group of motivated students whose Friday and Saturdays are filled with routines and chants that inspire school spirit and unity. What's up with that? Do we really want our young teens to use the "Glee Cheer squad" or the Dallas Cowgirls as role models? Now someone will tell me that there are professional cheerleaders, who used their "cheer" abilities as a stepping stone to become successful doctors and lawyers. That is most likely quite true. Good for them. But on the way to their new professions they portray themselves as sexual stereotypes. And they probably inspired quite a few young girls to take on the "cheer" role who unfortunately didn't met with the same "rosy" outcome. But they wiggle in front of a predominately male crowd with their fluffy pomp-pomps, matching slit up pleated skirt with colourful booty shorts, comfortable Nikes, and cutesy hair bow and propagate this really inappropriate portrayal of young women.
If we want to rally our school or favourite sport club, we should get rid of the typical cheerleaders. You watch any football, hockey or basketball team and the person who usually works up the crowd is not the perfectly shaped squirming female, but the over-weight, face painted, head shaved, hooligan that drunkenly undulates and hoarsely chants phrases that actually rally the fans and often gets them their 15 minutes of television fame. Take note for the next Grey Cup or Super Bowl. They don't advertise their half-time show by promoting their rack of leggy beauties, but by what rock star will be performing. No, the leggy beauties are there to provide enough time for everyone to get their very expensive beer and make it back to their seats to watch, this year's star wiggle in her very inappropriate outfit.
Am I advocating, going back to 50's, disneyesque style of cheerleading? Definitely not. That is the stereotype that has morphed into the concoction we have today. I think the way that cell phones, internet, and social media have been going over the last few years, the answer to team spirit is in that mode rather than the sluttiness that is being flaunted today. We have enough problems keeping our youth away from sex, drugs and inappropriate behaviour without teaching unwanted stereotypes.