In the hit TV show, Friday Nights Lights, the cheerleaders are made up of only girls that cheer for the Dillon Panthers Football team and then go on dates with the football players.

In a sport (some people question whether it really is a sport at all) that is often associated with girls in short skirts and pom-poms, where do men fit in?

Actually, men were the founders of cheerleading. In the 1890s, the first pep club was organized at Princeton University by men. Women didn’t get introduced to cheerleading until the 1920s, when gymnastics were slowly introduced to the sport. Only in the 1950s did cheerleading become more female dominated.  97% of all cheerleaders are female - but in college approximately 50% of the cheerleaders are male.

Although cheerleading was founded by men, male cheerleaders constantly face discrimination today.

Do men who cheerlead in college suffer from reverse sexism? Are men made fun of for participating in what is considered a female sport?

Interestingly enough, male cheerleaders have to be in serious athletic shape to throw the female cheerleaders in the air, and catch them - sometimes with one hand and standing on one leg - without flinching.

And before you make fun of them (not that you would), think of this. They are the ones that get to handle, twirl and spin the female cheerleaders. Not too shabby, if you ask me.

Photograph by kalebdf (flickr)

Yesterday I wrote about whether a women’s college basketball team in South Carolina should necessarily hire a woman or if they should hire a man if he is the better coach.

In other words, does affirmative action have a place in college sports? Should a woman be chosen over a man so that women have better representation in the field? Or should women’s college sports teams simply do what’s best for the team - even if that means hiring someone from the opposite sex?

Well, I think affirmative action is still an important issue in college sports.

In 1972, a federal law called Title IX was passed to ensure equal opportunity for men and women in college athletics. But according to a  2005 gender and racial report card for college sports, “more than three decades after the passage of Title IX, women coaching women’s teams still do not represent the majority of coaches in the women’s game.”

“In addition, this year’s numbers show a decrease in women coaching women’s sports in several different sports. Women continue to lose ground when coaching their own gender, as women head coaches in Division I basketball dropped to 64.3 percent from the 67.5 percent that was reported in the last report card. Head coaches of Division I Track/Cross Country, which combines the head coaches of Cross Country, Indoor Track and Outdoor Track, saw a decrease in female head coaches from 21.7 percent down to 20.6 percent.”

So it looks like just because gender equality is a law, that doesn’t mean it’s practiced. I just have one concern. One that I haven’t figured out an answer to yet. What about the college girls on the team? Does affirmative action benefit them or possibly put them at a disadvantage by not hiring the best person for the job?

And one more thing, actually. I wonder if this debate would even come up in the instance of finding a coach for a men’s college basketball team.

As South Carolina looks for a new women’s basketball coach, debates heating up about whether they should hire a man or a woman to coach the team.

It’s an age old battle of the sexes in a modern day context. Some argue that the university should hire the best ‘man’…ahem..or woman for the job, regardless of gender. Others think that a woman should coach a women’s team and that women should be privileged even if they aren’t the best candidate.

According to an article on the State.com “Connecticut’s Geno Auriemma, the most successful male coach in the history of women’s basketball, says his gender is discriminated against in hiring because it is not “politically correct” these days for athletics directors to hire males.”

But “Tennessee’s Pat Summitt, the most successful female coach in the history of women’s basketball, says men cannot accept the kind of discriminatory practices women have dealt with for decades in college athletics.”

So what should be done? Are athletic college teams a place for affirmative action? Should a man be hired if he is better for the job or should a woman be hired for a woman’s team even if she isn’t the best ‘man’ for the job?

Check back tomorrow and I will give you my two cents.

Photograph: Barun Singh