cheerleaders

[The Flying Tench]

A question for American members. Can you explain the cheerleader phenomenon to my wife and me. As I understand it the boys do the real sport, and the girls do a kind of slightly old-fashioned but moderately attractive warm-up. In the UK I'm sure the girls would object and want to do the real sport stuff. Cheerleading would be branded as kow-towing to sexist men.

 

But in the US aren't women very much into sport? So do they do cheerleading AND sport? And do black people do cheerleading? And what do feminists say about it? ie is it a universal phenomenon, or restricted to certain areas, and maybe declining?

[gozzer]

A question for American members. Can you explain the cheerleader phenomenon to my wife and me. As I understand it the boys do the real sport, and the girls do a kind of slightly old-fashioned but moderately attractive warm-up. In the UK I'm sure the girls would object and want to do the real sport stuff. Cheerleading would be branded as kow-towing to sexist men.

 

But in the US aren't women very much into sport? So do they do cheerleading AND sport? And do black people do cheerleading? And what do feminists say about it? ie is it a universal phenomenon, or restricted to certain areas, and maybe declining?

 

My daughters at uni' in Herts, and a couple of her mates are into cheerleading(is that a word?), in a big way. They travel all over the country competing. So it's not just in the US now. And I believe some boys do it as well, especially the lifting and throwing.

 

John

[Newt]

We have women's teams for most of the sports. The more physically rough ones - lacross, football, and several others are male only.

 

At the college level there are quite a few males on the cheerleading squads. At both high school and college there are regional and national cheerleading comps - more like group gymnastics in short skirts though.

 

Professional sports and we are back to pretty women in scanty costumes dancing on the sidelines.

 

Absolutely cheerleaders of all races and usually pretty well in proportion to the racial mix of the school.

 

As to the 'why' part - I think some young ladies enjoy the short skirts and dancing in front of crowds at ball games more than competing. They have mostly gone away from the original idea which was people who knew the words to all the cheers leading the fans in a coordinated effort.

 

Ra, ra, re, kick them in the knee. Ra, ra, ras, kick them in the other knee.

[severus]

Newt about said it all. Now they have something called "Competitive Cheer" in the high schools in which squads of girls perform whole routines at tournaments, and are judged for their performances. And they take it quite seriously. Do you have that down your way, Newt?

[Newt]

Severus - I think the comps are pretty much nation wide.

[The Flying Tench]

So cheerleading can take place during any team sport, presumably? Could that include, say, a women's hockey match?

 

Incidently, one slight cultural difference. In the UK lacrosse is generally a women's only game!

[poledark]

Anyone got any good video footage ? I like nice girls in short skirts :)

 

 

Den

[Newt]

So cheerleading can take place during any team sport, presumably? Could that include, say, a women's hockey match?

 

Incidently, one slight cultural difference. In the UK lacrosse is generally a women's only game!

 

Pretty much any team sport with enough room for the cheerleaders to perform could have them. Hocky rinks (ice hockey I assume) lacks the room on the sidelines and while they could run on court during breaks (as the do during basketball games), it would be a bit slick I suspect.

 

Not sure if the style of lacrosse is the same. Ours is very much like ice hockey but with the sticks swung in the air and those really hard balls traveling at speed with some pretty hard body checks and the occasional lost tooth or three. At least that is what I see in the few televised professional matches I've seen and I've never lived where it was played at high school/college levels.