Is Nfl Cheerleading As Controversial As It Seems?

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May 28, 2013
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Refinery29 published Is NFL Cheerleading As Controversial As It Seems?, discussing NFL cheerleading including the recent wage lawsuits. It’s no wonder, then, that a culture rooted in burlesque garners little attention as a professional sport. Cheerleaders are seen as glamorous peripherals to America’s favorite game. As William C. Rhoden writes in The New York Times, […]
 
"It doesn’t have to be that way, though. Out of 32 teams, six are without cheerleaders at all. Though some argue those teams don't have squads because they're located in colder climates, or because a town is so obsessed with the game it can’t bother to be distracted by the sidelines. But, for some, like the New York Giants, it’s an issue of how the cheerleaders are portrayed. “Philosophically we have always had issues with sending scantily clad women out on the field to entertain our fans,” John Mara, the Giants co-owner, told The New York Times. “It’s just not part of our philosophy.”

The Buffalo Jills disbanded on April 24, making the Bills the seventh team without a cheering squad. Though, there’s no telling if this is permanent or just while legal issues are ironed out."

Seems like the NFL teams are solving the problem themselves rather than in court. Hopefully this doesn't happen to the squads that are more of the real cheer-leading side aka Green Bay, Indianapolis, Baltimore, etc
 
When the women are being exploited and mistreated, I have a HUGE problem. However, NFL dancing in itself is not a problem to me. These are grown adults that are making the conscious decision to tryout and train for these teams. I just wish it weren't called 'cheerleading', because it's not.
 
When the women are being exploited and mistreated, I have a HUGE problem. However, NFL dancing in itself is not a problem to me. These are grown adults that are making the conscious decision to tryout and train for these teams. I just wish it weren't called 'cheerleading', because it's not.
Agreed!
The excessive appearances and poor treatment is no bueno. But no one forced them into doing this job, so when they complain I'm just in awe of the silliness of their statements about low pay and high hours of involvement.
 
When the women are being exploited and mistreated, I have a HUGE problem. However, NFL dancing in itself is not a problem to me. These are grown adults that are making the conscious decision to tryout and train for these teams. I just wish it weren't called 'cheerleading', because it's not.

The thing I don't understand though is when people use this argument for this job, but not any other - "well no one is forcing you to take that job picking apples for $0.50/hr. You made a conscious decision to take the job." Minimum wage exists for a reason - regardless of how frivolous the job.

We all know it's basically a hobby, but these women (and men) still deserve to be paid fairly. I read some of the other articles and football programs are making money off these women through things like calendar sales and appearances. The cheerleaders only get to see a fraction of the proceeds. It's borderline exploitative.
 
The thing I don't understand though is when people use this argument for this job, but not any other - "well no one is forcing you to take that job picking apples for $0.50/hr. You made a conscious decision to take the job." Minimum wage exists for a reason - regardless of how frivolous the job.

We all know it's basically a hobby, but these women (and men) still deserve to be paid fairly. I read some of the other articles and football programs are making money off these women through things like calendar sales and appearances. The cheerleaders only get to see a fraction of the proceeds. It's borderline exploitative.

I agree that these pro team cheerleaders/dancers deserve to be paid better. A lot of those squads have very competitive tryouts, and require technique and skills that take years of expensive training to develop - add to that the pressure to be in top physical shape and look your best at all times - I think they deserve at least the going rate for a professional dancer when they are performing/practicing, and they should get a portion of any appearance and merchandising money that features them.
 
I agree that these pro team cheerleaders/dancers deserve to be paid better. A lot of those squads have very competitive tryouts, and require technique and skills that take years of expensive training to develop - add to that the pressure to be in top physical shape and look your best at all times - I think they deserve at least the going rate for a professional dancer when they are performing/practicing, and they should get a portion of any appearance and merchandising money that features them.
They should definitely get a portion of whatever they are hocking at events. But no one is forcing this part time job/paid hobby on them. They chose to. If it was a big deal, they wouldn't try out and many others would do the same. Lack of participants would point the organization to increase pay if they truly want a good team on their sidelines.
 
They should definitely get a portion of whatever they are hocking at events. But no one is forcing this part time job/paid hobby on them. They chose to. If it was a big deal, they wouldn't try out and many others would do the same. Lack of participants would point the organization to increase pay if they truly want a good team on their sidelines.

Of course they chose to do it, but it's still a job and they should still make minimum wage. They're really not asking for all that much.

From our side, we're like "hey we do all that crap for free. Any money is good." But you need to look at it from a labor law perspective. Hobby or not, part time side gig or not, what their employer is asking them to do isn't fair for what they're being paid.

Unless you're arguing that minimum wage should exist at all, the fact that they chose to do it or that it's a glorified hobby has no bearing on it. Would you tell some poor farm worker whose employee is paying them below minimum wage "too bad, you chose this job?"
 
When the women are being exploited and mistreated, I have a HUGE problem. However, NFL dancing in itself is not a problem to me. These are grown adults that are making the conscious decision to tryout and train for these teams. I just wish it weren't called 'cheerleading', because it's not.


One could make the argument that all star isn't truly cheerleading either because no cheering is done.

I do wish the NFL would pay them more and have them put some more clothes on!
 
They should definitely get a portion of whatever they are hocking at events. But no one is forcing this part time job/paid hobby on them. They chose to. If it was a big deal, they wouldn't try out and many others would do the same. Lack of participants would point the organization to increase pay if they truly want a good team on their sidelines.

What if they were doing more than just dancing and looking beautiful at these games? Would you feel otherwise if they were tumbling and stunting?

Most entertainers do not make a lot of money, doing something that you enjoy as much as many of them enjoy dancing, acting, singing, etc. is often it's own reward, but I think performing in front of 50,000 people weekly, on a team that is well known enough to be able to sell a calendar, etc., does rate a higher level of compensation than what I hear these girls get.
 
Agreed!
The excessive appearances and poor treatment is no bueno. But no one forced them into doing this job, so when they complain I'm just in awe of the silliness of their statements about low pay and high hours of involvement.
What I meant was that the teams should not be disband just because some people don't like that they exist. Lots of women dream of being on these teams, it's childish and selfish for people to want to get rid of them just because they don't like them. Some people think that these women do this for validation or because they have low self esteem and are desperate for male attention (perhaps those people wouldn't say that if the women were not young and beautiful but I'm not going to go there). These women do this because it's what they love, not because they lack self confidence. @Ashley I guess this clears things up for you as well. I didn't realize that Scotty had misinterpreted my statement, I just reread the thread and realized that.
 
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Wow - so people think an NFL cheerleader does it because they have low self esteem and are desperate for male attention? What about a college cheerleader or a college dance team member - what makes them different? The costume? That the NFL cheerleaders are more hot looking?
 
Wow - so people think an NFL cheerleader does it because they have low self esteem and are desperate for male attention? What about a college cheerleader or a college dance team member - what makes them different? The costume? That the NFL cheerleaders are more hot looking?
Some people actually think that. Wonder what they would say if the girls were much older and/or not so fit. Would it suddenly be empowering? It's like with women doing pageants. There's nothing wrong with grown women competing in pageants, but if they are young and pretty, some people will have a problem.

I think the same stereotypes hold for collegiate dancers and cheerleaders (especially cheerleaders).
 
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