The Real Cheerleading
When someone mentions cheerleading what do you think of? Do you think of the girl next door who holds pom poms while ‘hurraying’ for the try-hard high school football team? Do you think of the women you see through the TV screen in scandalous outfits dancing around at halftime? When you think cheerleading what do you think of, but more importantly, why?
Cheerleading is one of the most interesting sports because stereotypically it symbolizes the maximum capacity women are able to take up in the sports world; cheering for men in revealing outfits that, what do you know, please the other men watching. Women flaunting their bodies while the men do the hard work. Yet, cheerleading is rich in history and contrary to many beliefs is an extremely hard sport requiring exceptional talent and physical strength.
The story behind cheerleading begins in 1898, when the University of Minnesota’s football team was facing hardships during their season. To help cure the epidemic of loss - of both games and school spirit - student, Johnny Campbell, decided to lead the student section in some cheers. When the football team won the game, a new hobby, which later would be turned into a competitive sport, emerged. The irony behind the stereotypical version of cheerleading shown today is the fact that when cheerleading began it was only open to male participants. Even cheerleading, yes utilizing voices to cheer on athletes, was seen as too masculine for women. However, as co-ed schools began to be increasingly popular, female participation in cheerleading was more prevalent and eventually grew into the version of cheerleading we see today.
The largest misconception behind the world of cheer is the fact that it is not considered a sport, but rather a beauty or popularity contest amongst high school teenagers. Although there is no true definition for what activities are considered ‘sports’, the Women's Sport Foundation has created a list of some elements, all of which cheerleading, or cheer (cheer is more commonly used when referring to the competitive form whereas cheerleading is utilized more when discussing a high school cheer squad, but they are interchangable), fall under. Some elements include that a sport must be a physical activity which involves propelling a mass through space or overcoming the resistance of mass, include competing against an opponent, be governed by rules, have a primary purpose that the competition is a comparison of skill, etc. Cheerleading combines many aspects of other sports such as dance, gymnastics, acrobatics and requires much physical strength for specific tasks like stunts and cheer jumps. Many do not know that cheerleading is actually a competitive sport with competitions and to earn a spot on one of the teams that prance around during half time is actually extremely difficult.
The new Netflix documentary series Cheer highlights the successful cheerleading team at Navarro College and their journey to the national college competition. The documentary series not only demonstrates the real experiences of cheerleaders but also provides an enticing look into the day to day life of student athletes. Although the series does not only focus on female cheerleaders, there are times in certain episodes where the stereotypical ideas of cheerleading are discussed along with other misconceptions about the sport.
So maybe society got it all twisted. Maybe the version of cheer that is present in movies and media is not what cheer actually is. But at the end of the day it is so important to break the notion that cheerleading is simply a group of girls ‘hurraying’ in pretty outfits for all of the males playing their sports. It is a strenuous activity requiring dedication, physical strength, talent, and more. So, to all the little girls out there who see cheer in the media as submissive and inferior to other sports, just know that you are not limited to cheering on males while they play, but in fact you can play too. Maybe you can even take up cheer, one of the most powerful, strength requiring, and taxing sports out there.
Sources
Being a Cheerleader - Is Cheerleading a Sport?
https://www.blhsnews.com/opinion/2018/10/08/cheerleading-is-a-sport/
*In no way is Female Athlete Movement sponsored by Netflix or any workers from the documentary series Cheer. *