Stereotypes Of A Cheerleader

Cheerleading started as a male endeavor in 1898, when a University of Minnesota football fan led the crowd in verse in support of their team. It was not until World War II, when men shipped out to war, that women took over. Then cheerleaders came to represent the American ideal of femininity: wholesome apple pie with washboard stomachs, perfect teeth, and flawless complexions. Stereotypes cast them as blond, petite, and impossibly perky. “From its humble beginning cheerleading has blossomed into a competitive athletic activity with a serious image problem” (Forman 52). But today’s post-feminist youth have put a new, diverse face on cheerleading. Cheerleading in America is no longer a matter of waving pom-poms, a cute smile and being overly

The media has created a stereotype for cheerleaders. The way that cheerleaders have been portrayed in the media has made cheerleading one of the most disrespected and underrated sports in the industry. The media has made cheerleaders out to be the unintelligent, mean girls, that no one likes. It has portrayed cheerleading itself to not even look the slightest bit like a sport. Most movies make it look like cheerleading is just jumping around and yelling at other sporting events. A good description of this stereotype is explained in an article from TVTropes as “From evil to slutty to dumb, any cheerleader in North American media can be expected to be portrayed as shallow and superficial, because popularity is her first and only concern.”. As a cheerleader, this is extremely frustrating. The growing cheerleading industry has been working hard to show the world what cheerleading really is about. Bring It On: In It to Win It is an interesting movie that actually portrays some of the real aspects of cheerleading.

What is a Cheerleader? A cheerleader is a confident, positive, and a helpful individual when it comes to community service. Being a cheerleader has taught me leadership qualities and that has not only helped me in the sport but also in school, work, and my self-esteem. They typical STEREOTYPE of a cheerleader is that they are mean, unfriendly, and stupid. When it came to my senior year I was given the name if Captain of the cheer team. I have set a level of BUREAUCRACY within the team and set rules and goals for the team to achieve and follow. At this time in my life I was help to a higher STATUS and given more responsibility. These girls started out as a SECONDARY GROUP when we first started out on the team together, but after years of being with one another everyday three hours a day- we quickly became like family. This transition from SECONDARY GROUP to a PRIMARY GROUP was the best thing to happen to me, I had a team of sisters. Our COALITION had a common goal, which was to bring excitement to our fans at footballs games, and bring championships home to our school at competitions. (TCO 4, 6, 8)

When most people think of cheerleading, they think of the spirit squads that attempt to pump up the local crowd at high school basketball and football games. People are not aware of what these athletes are doing when they are not in front of these crowds. Strangers to cheerleaders who do not follow the sport extensively do not know the exact involvement of the athletes in this sport, at all ages. Cheerleading requires athleticism like all other sports as you must be in shape and at a great fitness level to be involved in most circumstances. Cheerleaders have to know what they’re doing at all times; while knowing what everyone else on the team is doing as well, which involves a high level of mental preparation. Cheerleading, high school or

You have been training all summer. You have been in the weight room almost every day and wake up so sore you can barely walk. You give encouraging words to your teammates and pump them up right before a game. You are tough and fearless when you take the field. You strive to do your best and want to win. How would you feel if every time you took that field your peers didn’t believe in you and did not respect your sport? Cheerleaders go to the gym and work just as hard as other athletes do, and are not receiving any credit. This makes us frustrated and let down. There are many aspects of cheer that people are unaware of. Being a cheerleader, you have to be able to tumble, stunt, be competitive, have teamwork, and most of all dedication. Cheerleading is a sport because it is physically demanding, requires teamwork, and is very competitive.

From an outsiders perspective one may see brainless and beautiful robots, which scream and perform neat tricks. This is not the case from the inside; cheerleading is so much more than that. Many people are under the impression that cheerleading is not a sport. I am the voice of reasoning that will let you in, and I will show you that cheerleading, in fact, is a sport. Cheerleading requires much physical demand from the body just as any other sport would. Cheerleading, in general, is a team effort. There are many sides to cheerleading, which make it a versatile sport. When it comes to cheerleading there’s more to it than what meets the eye.

Cheerleading is more than cheering on the sidelines at a football game or bringing the crowd to their feet. Cheerleaders do not have to run around three bases or skate their way to a puck, but they do, however, lift their teammates, jump, dance, tumble, and perform. There was a point in my life where I would eat, sleep, and breathe cheerleading. It is debated whether cheerleading would be considered a sport. Nevertheless, cheerleading has been a passion of mine for most of my childhood, and these experiences made me the person I am today. Before cheerleading, I was incredibly shy, be bullied in school, and did not have many friends.

A cheerleader is a person who is a member of a group who shout out special songs or chants to encourage sports teams. (“Cheerleading”. World of SportsScience. Ed.K Lee Lerner and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner. Vol 1. Detroit: Gale,2007.139-141 Gale Virtual Reference Library. 9 Nov. 2016). Cheerleading began in the late 1800s at the University of Princeton, in New Jersey. (“History of Cheerleading.” iSport Online.Cheerleading.iSport 9 Nov. 2016 cheerleading.isport.com/cheerleading-guides/history-of-cheerleading). Cheerleading was in fact created by men at this time. The men who started cheering were called “yell leaders.” Women did not start cheering until 1923, and since then women have dominated cheerleading. Cheerleading started to evolve

So when you’re not busy, what do you like to do in your free time?

find them, and they were drunk and upset about them hanging out with their girlfriends.

Adams, Natalie G., and Pamela J. Bettis. Cheerleader an American Icon. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003. 2 April 2014

The table seen above presents the results of an independently conducted survey of 46 students, teachers, cheerleaders, and other adults from Sylacauga, Alabama. These results show their answers to the question, “What qualities do you think of when you think of the ideal or perfect cheerleader?” These findings hold valuable information about the high standards for cheerleaders in this country. According to these results, the ideal cheerleader represents all that is good in a

Did you catch that? Sport. Proven to be one of the top five most dangerous, and people still have the nerve to say cheerleading is not a sport and that cheerleaders are not athletes. Those statements make me so disappointed. And all the stereotypes people have made surrounding cheerleading don’t help. It has given my sport a bad wrap and caused my sport to go disrespected. I am not a popular, prissy, mean girl who has a quarterback as a boyfriend and goes to parties every weekend. I blend into the crowded school while making good grades and being dedicated to my cheer team. All those stereotypes. Yeah they’re wrong. I believe doing all this hard work that cheerleading requires is difficult especially when others don’t respect me enough to call what I am doing a sport. Cheerleading is more than what people think it is. It involves talent, skill, and fitness. It involves heart, dedication, and passion. We compete as a team. We either win or lose. But no matter what, I believe cheerleading is a

When thinking of the word cheerleader one typically imagines a pretty, white, blond girl with pom-poms. No one ever imagines a male identifying person in such a way. If male cheerleaders do exist they are automatically considered a “fag” whether they are homosexual or not. Pascoe defines “fag” as “the opposite of masculine, whether or not the word is deployed with sexualized or non-sexualized meanings:” In our society cheerleading is considered a female sport and men who become cheerleaders automatically lose their masculinity and hence are deemed “fags”. In this essay, I demonstrate that anything that does not assert ones masculinity makes that man a fag regardless of their sexuality.

Sociable - I am a very sociable person, and like to be around friends alot of the time. I am easy to get along with, and believe that people enjoy my company. I like to go out and socialise and play football on weekends with friends.