By Kathryn Berlá, Ed.D.
A few news items from early this year caught my eye and have gotten me thinking. The first was an article from The New York Times about complaints in public school systems over the fact that the girls' basketball teams did not have cheerleader support as the boys' team did. The second was an article in the Courier-Journal about rising concern in public schools over inappropriate dance moves being demonstrated by students at school dances. The third item was a story about a local university cheerleader being dismissed from her squad — as well as from school — after pornographic pictures of her surfaced on the Internet
Initially, I wasn't certain why these stories seemed connected. Obviously they all have to do with sex, but there was more to it than that. Then I realized that what they also had in common was that they all seemed related to what I see as double standards. Taken as a group, these stories make an interesting statement on some of our societal attitudes toward sex.
An article in a January edition of The New York Times described a wave of policy changes in high school athletic departments and school districts across the country. In response to increasing numbers of complaints from some parents about the lack of cheerleading support at girls' games, districts in New York, Maryland, California, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania have determined that providing cheerleaders for boys' events and not girls' violates the interpretation of Title IX, which prohibits gender discrimination in any area, from academics to athletics, for all schools and colleges that receive federal money. There is currently much legal debate over whether this cheerleading controversy really belongs under the auspices of Title IX. Some assert that cheerleading is its own sport and that the idea that the sole function of cheerleading is that “the girls are there to support the boys” is outdated. Indeed, top cheerleading squads require tremendous athletic and acrobatic skill. But is athleticism the only thing young girls are thinking about when they aspire to join a squad?
When an upstate New York high school informed the 30 girls who signed up that they would begin appearing at the girls' games as well as the boys', over half of the cheerleaders dropped out. The article read in part, “The eight remaining cheerleaders now awkwardly adjust their routines for whichever team is playing here on the home court — ‘Hands Up You Guys' becomes ‘Hands Up You Girls'.”
Statements from the cheerleaders themselves indicate that there are vestiges of gender roles and opposite-sex relations in their own minds. “‘It feels funny when we do it,' said Amanda Cummings, 15, the cheerleading co-captain, who forgot the name of a female basketball player mid-cheer last month.” Another cheerleader complained that her workload had doubled. Traditionally, cheerleaders decorate the lockers of the basketball players and bring them treats on game day. Having to decorate the female players' lockers as well was taking the fun out of her “sport.”
Katelin Maxson, 17, a senior who is the cheerleading captain said, “We joined sports to have fun, but they're basically taking the fun away and giving us more work,” she said. “The interest is down so much, and it's going to keep dropping, until there's no cheerleading anymore.” I guess there is something about these girls cheering for other girls that detracts from the romance of wearing the uniform.
There is no doubt that cheerleading and dancing are athletic endeavors and the women at the top levels of high school and college squads are certainly in prime physical form. But unlike the players they are there to support, there is an unmistakable element of sex within this sport. Are cheerleading and dance about athleticism? Yes. Are they about school spiritedness? Of course. Are they about sex appeal? Absolutely. Is there anything wrong with that? Not in and of itself, but the danger is in the rest of us denying or pretend not to notice that these elements are there.
The second item was the article in the Courier-Journal with the subtitle “ 'Freaking' at school dances doesn't sit well with educators. ” Basically, students at local middle and high schools are shocking dance chaperones with their MTV moves. The article describes “freaking” thusly: “Common at school dances, it originated on TV music videos: Women bent over at the waist, hips swaying and hair tossed in ecstasy, their partners doing pelvic thrusts from behind. Variations include two girls in a sultry embrace, hips gyrating in sync, a girl sandwiched between two boys doing pelvic thrusts.” One principal complained, “Nothing seemed to calm them down… It's difficult when you have 800 students to tap every one on the shoulder when they're dancing inappropriately, and we saw it everywhere on the dance floor. It looked like they were having sex, only with their clothes on, and sometimes the clothes were pretty revealing. To me, a public school should not allow that to happen."
The use of dance for purposes of shocking self expression is nothing new. In the last century adults have bemoaned the decline of young people's morals on the dance floor, from the 1920s to Elvis's pelvic thrusts to the proliferation of stripper-like routines in the high school gymnasium. Dance has been a reflection and interpretation of larger cultural shifts and of the cultural zeitgeist since the dawn of time. Often, this expression has been met with indignation and horror from older generations. And yet, again, what are the mixed messages that we are sending?
Anyone who has attended an NCAA basketball game will see that the halftime entertainment is comprised of suggestively-costumed, shapely young women engaging in dance routines that are designed to provoke and titillate. Their dance moves include gestures of humping the floor, bending at the waist and jiggling their buttocks, and a variety of shimmies and pelvic thrusts. So, these dance moves are OK in Freedom Hall but not at the high school homecoming dance?
The third item raises more complicated issues. Evidently a University of Louisville cheerleader had some data stolen from her computer, probably by someone who knew her and knew what they were looking for. She had been keeping pornographic pictures of herself, and those photos ended up on the Internet. When it was brought to the school's attention, she was kicked off of the squad and dismissed from school. Surely such a public representation of herself violated some clause in the athletic department's code of conduct, but she didn't do anything illegal by being in the photos and she most likely didn't make them public herself. It seems like double punishment if indeed the pictures were stolen from her. It is interesting that when college athletes actually get arrested for committing crimes, like shooting people with paintball guns, they are often simply suspended from a few games. We rarely hear about them being dismissed from school altogether. Even if this girl posted those photos herself, she is not guilty of a crime, but only of demonstrating very poor judgment.
We on the other hand, are engaged in more than a little bit of hypocrisy. A common sporting event camera shot is, from below, a cheerleader with one leg lofted over her head, the shot framed in such a way that it could pass for a commercial for laser hair removal. Yet we try to pretend that we are not interested in looking up these girls' skirts, which, over the decades, have shrunk in inverse proportion with the lengthening of the basketball players' shorts. We clap and cheer for scantily clad undulations at the ball game halftimes but then profess outrage when young, hormone laden developing humans take those cues a step further. We pretend like there are no gender differences in sports. We like our cheerleaders to be sexy, but not sexual. We reward certain types of sexually provocative behavior, but draw the line at others. We revere porn stars and pin-up girls and mourn them when they die of drug overdoses. And then we wonder why some young people get off track and act out on the messages they are receiving loud and clear about the pornification of our culture.
Shame on them? Shame on us.
