The Dangers Of Being A Cheerleader Essay

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.

Cheerleading is a sport that many people don’t support in a way that they support the popular sports in most schools, like football and basketball. Cheering can open many doors and create an ample amount of job opportunities. By cheering you can also receive full ride athletic scholarships from many schools. A cute skirt and pompoms is not the only thing you have to work for when it comes to cheering. Just as any other sport you have to have a certain grade point average to try out for your cheerleading team and also you are held accountable for maintaining your grade point average with also being held accountable for remembering cheers, games day dates and events that you will have to attend with your team. Cheer teaches you many things other than being able to tumble and shout! As a cheerleader, you learn to encourage anyone that needs that boost of encouragement, we learn how to work together with other people. Your cheer team members will become your family!

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

Throughout the article various tone changes occur. During the introduction, there is a negative attitude that is apparent. The author is reflecting on Erykah Ward’s, a former gymnast, initial reactions to becoming a cheerleader. Ward’s responses were derogatory and stereotypical; she even stated at the end of the introduction, “I’ll want to kill them all” at the idea of becoming a cheerleader. She uses common stereotypes against cheerleaders such as “jumping around” and “uneducated.” All of the sudden, the article’s tone changes to a positive voice. The author is now praising cheerleading and cheerleaders for what they must endure. A couple sentences of ago the author was attacking cheerleading, but now he is saying, “competitive cheerleading is no joke.” This new admiring tone remains throughout the rest of the article and seems to get more passionate the further in detail he goes. Overall, the article has an informal voice. Campo- Flores is using

Unlike any another high school sport cheerleading is a year round sport not including how much we practice during the summer. Every time we throw up a stunt, pyramid, or tumbling sequence we are risking everything. We are risking Strains and sprains account for more than half of all cheerleading injuries. Of these, ankle sprains are the most common, and that is followed by strains or sprains of the neck, lower back, knee and wrist. Also Back injuries: when we are throwing up Stunts and basket tosses like lifting other cheerleaders above our head, tumbling and dismounting while twisting and rotating can all place significant stress on the lower back, which can lead to back pain. A more serious injury that can occur over time is a stress fracture to the vertebra, one of the bones that make up the spinal column of our body. If the stress fracture occurs on both sides of the vertebrae, the bone can become weakened and

The sport of cheerleading has been around for a long time; since 1884 in fact! In the beginning, cheer was a sport dominated by college men. Since, women have taken over, and in 1967 the first ranked college cheer competition was held. Both school and competitive cheerleading offer many rewarding opportunities. Though they are a part of the same sport, the two types of squads are actually quite diverse. School cheer is undeniably a worthwhile and respectable sport, but competitive teams often provide a more challenging approach, and are more suited to experienced cheerleaders.

“Modern cheerleading has evolved into a sport that is more akin to mixed martial arts, where legs and arms are constantly flailing and at any moment a participant is risking a violent shot to the head” (Cheerleading- the Forgotten Sport).

My other reason is in cheerleading we go to competition and compete with teams.A website that helps me in this situation that had many quotes was off of www.teenink.com/nonfliction/sports/article/15172/cheerleading-isasport. A quote from the web states "competitive cheerleading includes lots of physical activity and movement.This means cheerleaders compete against teams and people like any other sport.Physical

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.

Just like in sports such as football, cheerleaders are constantly at risk of getting injured (Fernandez, Eric). When cheerleaders stunt their is a big risk of the flyer being dropped, if the flyer is dropped she could break something, get a concussion or even become paralyzed. Patty, a seventeen year old, was paralyzed after sustaining a brain injury while cheering for her high school football team. She hit her chest and her heart stopped (Dorning, Anne-Marie). The risk of injury in cheering is very serious, it can happen in high school or competitive

The Time magazine is a credible source for this article that aims right at people who are outside of the cheerleading community. This article is all about the athleticism in the sport and the technique of cheerleading. The article gives a lot of statistics about the growth of injuries in cheerleading. One of the famous cheerleading teams was mentioned in this article and they were the World Cup Shooting Stars, which is an organization in New Jersey. The article talks about high school cheerleading today and how many colleges accept cheer as a sport and how you can get a scholarship. In the article the author talks about hoe schools canceled their

Many have seen her. Many know her. But who is the American cheerleader? Is she a blond haired, blue eyed sex symbol? Is she a drug-addicted girl with no brains and even fewer moral values? Maybe she is just your average, pretty, girl-next-door with a loud voice and lots of spirit. What is clearly true is that cheerleading and cheerleaders have evolved greatly over a century-long history. What started as one bold college student has turned into an activity with over 3 million participants (Brady 1); one that is backed by a $150 million industry (Williams 2). Modern cheerleading has come a long way from its historic roots, but large differences still exist between the iconic cheerleader, the stereotypical cheerleader, and the truth.

From stadiums, to running, to jumping, to stunting: cheerleading is a breathtaking sport. Some would say cheerleading is not a sport; but because of all the flipping, stunting and injuries, cheerleading is considered a sport. “Since the 1990s, cheerleading injuries have doubled, with several of the injuries being catastrophic in nature and with some even resulting in death.” (Armenta 157).

Although cheerleaders look pretty with hair and makeup when performing, this is part of their uniforms. Behind those pretty smiles are hours of exhaustion, sweat, blood and tears. Just as people playing other sports injure themselves during practice and performance so do cheerleaders. Just as other sports teams, cheerleading teams work together to achieve goals. All sports serve as a form of entertainment to others. Cheerleading is no different. There are rules that Cheerleaders have to follow when performing, as there is with any

Cheerleading is one of the most dangerous sports in the game. Besides throwing people in the air and launching themselves into tumbling passes, cheerleaders take hits like a champ and fall down to jump right back up. Being a cheerleader myself, I attribute this perseverance to one of the many lessons learned from being involved in the sport. Cheerleading is not only a way to better oneself physically but also as a person. Through cheerleading, people learn the importance of teamwork, dedication, and responsibility.