Cheer-LEADING: Where Do Men Fit into the Pyramid?
Friday, May 2nd, 2008
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)
