I will be the first to admit that I’ve felt resentment towards cheerleaders in the past. Who do they think they are, prancing around in their nearly nonexistent uniforms? Do they know they are being objectified? That they’re objectifying themselves? Or that they're promoting the objectification of women around the world?!
But recently, I forced myself to take a step back, especially after hearing what a classmate, and cheerleader had to say. It was then I realized that not only was this girl incredibly intelligent and insightful, but I had two other friends and roommates who were cheerleaders as well. They study just as diligently as I do, and definitely have the adequate amount of self-esteem.
After discussing with my cheerleader friends, I learned that not only is a tiny uniform necessary to get out on that field but skills and practice as well. The job of a cheerleader is to bring joy and excitement to a crowd; they are “symbols of spirit.” It’s more complicated than one (including myself) might think. Each dance is specifically choreographed to attract the crowd’s attention, and there are even separate competitions between different teams.
Now you might be thinking, I knew all this. So what? And, when taking a step back, I definitely knew all of this as well. But that didn’t stop me from possessing my negative view towards cheerleaders. That is why it was incredibly interesting to hear that these girls know how people perceive them. They have to accept the fact that once they don their fake tans, uniforms, and perfect makeup, they relinquish their rights to be people. They are robots, which must smile at all times. They hear our jeering, our derogatory comments, and they ignore them because they must. Cheerleaders don’t welcome the degradation, but they must accept it. They aren’t even recognized as athletes, most of the time.
But this is not something they originally signed up for. They joined their teams as little girls thinking they were getting into something fun; something they would have to work hard for, but would give them so many rewards. So how does something you pride yourself on, because of all of your hard work, become so ugly and tainted?
It was then I asked myself, where is this objectification coming from, if not the cheerleaders themselves? So I did a little research into the origin of the physically fit to bang, rather than physically fit, cheerleader. The answer? Us. The bosses, the players, the audience.
Originally, cheerleading uniforms began to decrease in fabric to allow for athletic movement. Only beginning in the 1970s did the uniforms start to be considered improper by some. Now, the average length of skirts at both high school and all-star leagues ranges from about ten to thirteen inches and is shrinking every year. At this point, no one can truly argue that the fabric reduction is still for the purpose of functionality.
So I wondered: Who designs these uniforms? To be honest, I would have hit the jackpot if it were some old misogynistic creep clothing young attractive women for a living, but no luck there. The designer is Terra Saunders, a former NFL Dallas Cowboy cheerleader, and she coined the term “Breastaurant Uniforms.”
Saunders first designed these breastaurants in 2009 for the owner of Twin Peaks Restaurants, a chain of sports bars in Dallas. He wanted her to design a “sexy lumberjack” uniform for his waitresses to wear. Because that’s what watching sports and eating food is all about right? Part of the experience. Today, she has designed breastaurants for Hooters, Double D Ranch, Whisky River, and Bone Daddy’s House of Smoke. Saunders has said that in the future she hopes to design uniforms for “mom and pop stores, car washes, and airlines.” (Are you kidding me?! Soon we’ll be living in "A Clockwork Orange," where live women will just be standing barely clothed on every corner for our sexual arousal!)
Saunders says, “The secret is creating a uniform that others will recognize right away. When you see a Dallas Cowboy cheerleader, it invokes a feeling inside of you. We want to accomplish that at a restaurant.”
Um, sorry honey, but that “feeling” is sexual arousal, and immediately follows the inherent objectification of the cheerleader and/or waitress. That “feeling” is the desire to have your way with a woman you don’t even know, a woman who is conveniently serving you. Women who cannot avoid your demeaning gaze. Openly ogling women like these is an “unspoken, but completely sanctioned, activity by all parties involved: owners, managers, servers, and patrons.”
Dave Deckard makes a very poignant point in his article titled, "The Objectification of Women in Professional Sports”, saying “As long as the pom-poms and kicks fly we regard them [cheerleaders] as ‘more than’ in a certain, limited way. As soon as the game’s over they’re ‘less than’. ‘I can't take her home to Mom, she does that kind of thing.’”
Later in his article, Deckard hits on another point: “Take an unfiltered look at a sports stadium and you'll see a reasonably full spectrum of women. Switch to the camera view (which is all most of us have) and you'll not notice the mother of three, the golden-aged usher, or anybody else in the middle- or lower reaches of the pop culture bell curve. If you do see them, they're either in the background or a foul ball just hit them in the head. In the foreground, front and center, you'll find the hotties, chicks the play-by-play guy is commenting to the producer about off-air, cheerleaders, and the triune archetype of wives, girlfriends, and "arena rats". The camera discriminates as it chooses, its criteria both meaningful and unsubtle.”
This is all on account of the fact that this is what, apparently, the viewers want. It’s all to entertain the men in the audience, which is ridiculous because women and gay men love sports just as much as straight men. And, straight men might just want to watch their favorite team win a game over a close-up of a stranger’s breasts. Cheerleading has evolved from an athletic and competitive platform to now what is called the “Dallas Cowgirl Model” of cheerleading, which is simply women in lingerie dancing sexily in front of large crowds.
Thankfully, not all NFL teams have supported this objectification of women. John Mara, co-owner of the New York Giants, explained why his team does not have cheerleaders, “Philosophically we have always had issues with sending scantily clad women out on the field to entertain our fans… Each team has got to make its own decision on that… Some teams are comfortable with not only having cheerleaders but selling cheerleader swimsuit calendars or in a couple cases lingerie calendars. It’s not something you’re going to see the Giants do. Not while I’m around, anyway.”
Thank you, John Mara. Not that you couldn’t have cheerleaders dressed in a way that does not sexualize their bodies, but I appreciate the sentiment.
Think about the young women who simply want to work hard to perfect the skills cheerleading traditionally acquired. The ones who want to have a great time and spread cheer to those around them. How have we as a society let those goals be degraded? Why are we letting this happen?
My father always told me, “Don’t cheer on the sidelines, be the player people are cheering for.” And I love him for it because he was sparing me from the sort of mortifying objectification to which cheerleaders are subject. But why can’t we cheer for the cheerleaders too? Why have we made them not-people?
