All-Star Secret Diary Of An American Cheerleader

[SarahS]

I don't idolize based on mainstream media, otherwise I'd be expected to idolize Kristen Stewart (talentless), Miley Cyrus (talentless and a rampaging teenage bomb about to explode), Demi Lovato (let's just not go there), Justin Bieber (ew), etc.

This group of girls was picked based on talent, period. Show me a talented girl/guy of any race/ethnicity (I noticed they went all-girl for this, but my pool of choices for boys is more diverse), and if they're talented I'll watch them. BE TALENTED and I will find you. Asha, that center dancer from Panthers '06, Carly Manning, Cameron, Brandon Wu, Louis from ICE, Holden, Bucky, Tye Hill, that boy from CE who does a kick double (they are my favorite, hence HE is my favorite), Back tuck to Split boy on Cheetahs (his face every time he does it is fierceness personified), 'What's the T?' hair-whip girl from Panthers, that other girl with the fierce bob on Panthers. Injecting diversity for diversity's sake will only bring the negativity of 'what is SHE/HE doing there? (S)he's not as talented as XYZ.' This could be a whole race-gender-class discussion that I could honestly write a paper on..

I don't think anyone was arguing to "inject diversity for diversity's sake" - that's a straw man here. You admit that there are athletes of diverse backgrounds that you would watch because they're fierce, right? Couldn't the show's producers have included them? That's all I'm arguing.

 

[Chayse Alexandria]

I have a feeling that this show is going to be like Make it Or Break it.

Do you all think that Make it or Break it shows a positive or negative side of competitive gymnastics?

I think it shows the positive and negative sides. I've watched all 3 seasons, and some of the circumstances are realistic and some aren't. We'll just have to wait and see what the show turns out to be like.

 

[WorkToWin]

I personally never ever notice when things are diverse or not diverse. I never noticed Ellenwood was mostly black until it was mentioned on this thread. I don't notice when teams are all white either. The only reason I noticed Twisters is diverse because it has been mentioned multiple times before. It's not that I'm racist, or don't care about other races. I personally don't notice color. When I am watching a talented team or athlete, their ethnicity will be the very last thing I notice. Percentage wise, the majority of cheerleaders are probably white. Why? Because the other races are the MINORITY. (minority means the smaller part). It's not an insult, it's just the way it is.

It makes me sad to hear "She wants to see cheerleaders like her", "girls like her aren't represented". I thought America was past the point where we considered different colors as different types of people. A teenage cheerleader is on a TV show, therefore someone like her is represented. It doesn't matter if the color is the same, WE are all the same. Basically what I'm struggling to get at... race is only a big deal because we make it a big deal. They picked extremely talented and well known cheerleaders. They are like your daughters regardless of race.

If anything in here comes off as offensive, please know in advance I did not mean anything rude about anyone in this.

 

[kristenthegreat]

I don't think anyone was arguing to "inject diversity for diversity's sake" - that's a straw man here. You admit that there are athletes of diverse backgrounds that you would watch because they're fierce, right? Couldn't the show's producers have included them? That's all I'm arguing.

I think they're fierce. But half the ones I mentioned are boys (and again, they're clearly going for an all-girl look), and I don't get to choose who they pick. Of the ones I list, at least 2 don't cheer anymore (Asha I believe doesn't and center for '06), and the other ones aren't cheerlebrities. Strong dancers, unfortunately, do NOT often a cheerlebrity make. If I made the picks, I'd probably have, honestly, picked the girls who are listed already. If there are other talented girls out there, SHOW them to me.

 

[lakerfantlc]

Im going to remain cautiously optimistic about the show....very cautious...it is more true than not that most shows that try to survive with a good clean wholesome storyline do not sell and get dropped. If it isn’t wholesome and clean cut...then it is not in it to make anyone look good...that would be sad...so we wait...:)

 

[Num1Stunta]

I personally never ever notice when things are diverse or not diverse. I never noticed Ellenwood was mostly black until it was mentioned on this thread. I don't notice when teams are all white either. The only reason I noticed Twisters is diverse because it has been mentioned multiple times before. It's not that I'm racist, or don't care about other races. I personally don't notice color. When I am watching a talented team or athlete, their ethnicity will be the very last thing I notice. Percentage wise, the majority of cheerleaders are probably white. Why? Because the other races are the MINORITY. (minority means the smaller part). It's not an insult, it's just the way it is.

It makes me sad to hear "She wants to see cheerleaders like her", "girls like her aren't represented". I thought America was past the point where we considered different colors as different types of people. A teenage cheerleader is on a TV show, therefore someone like her is represented. It doesn't matter if the color is the same, WE are all the same. Basically what I'm struggling to get at... race is only a big deal because we make it a big deal. They picked extremely talented and well known cheerleaders. They are like your daughters regardless of race.

If anything in here comes off as offensive, please know in advance I did not mean anything rude about anyone in this.

Unfortunately, the world isn't all rainbows and butterflies, as you are saying. As a gay person, I feel that it is important for there to be positive gay images for young gay people to look at. Media is a reflection of ourselves, and minority youth- gay, black, Hispanic, etc largely identify themselves with these media images. There ARE differences between us all, and that acts as something which bonds communities based on ethnicity. I think it's all too easy as a white person to look at things as "oh we're all the same"... Trust me, I do hear where you're coming from with that, but most minorities don't feel like that... At least not in my experience. When you look at statistics in many areas, you see that we're not as evolved as we'd like to think.

Sorry to go off topic here, I will add that my initial statements were intended to point out a need for the real diversity of our sport to be accurately portrayed. We're not all blonde and white, and all of the talent isn't concentrated in blonde white girls either.

 

[SarahS]

Unfortunately, the world isn't all rainbows and butterflies, as you are saying. As a gay person, I feel that it is important for there to be positive gay images for young gay people to look at. Media is a reflection of ourselves, and minority youth- gay, black, Hispanic, etc largely identify themselves with these media images. There ARE differences between us all, and that acts as something which bonds communities based on ethnicity. I think it's all too easy as a white person to look at things as "oh we're all the same"... Trust me, I do hear where you're coming from with that, but most minorities don't feel like that... At least not in my experience. When you look at statistics in many areas, you see that we're not as evolved as we'd like to think.

Sorry to go off topic here, I will add that my initial statements were intended to point out a need for the real diversity of our sport to be accurately portrayed. We're not all blonde and white, and all of the talent isn't concentrated in blonde white girls either.

Shimmy times a billion. People are allowed to be "color blind" when the world around them reflects their color, and they've never had to deal with discrimination based on their race/ethnicity/sexual orientation. The world is diverse, the allstar cheer talent pool is diverse. It would be nice if that was reflected in mainstream portrayals of the sport.

 

[WorkToWin]

Unfortunately, the world isn't all rainbows and butterflies, as you are saying. As a gay person, I feel that it is important for there to be positive gay images for young gay people to look at. Media is a reflection of ourselves, and minority youth- gay, black, Hispanic, etc largely identify themselves with these media images. There ARE differences between us all, and that acts as something which bonds communities based on ethnicity. I think it's all too easy as a white person to look at things as "oh we're all the same"... Trust me, I do hear where you're coming from with that, but most minorities don't feel like that... At least not in my experience. When you look at statistics in many areas, you see that we're not as evolved as we'd like to think.

Sorry to go off topic here, I will add that my initial statements were intended to point out a need for the real diversity of our sport to be accurately portrayed. We're not all blonde and white, and all of the talent isn't concentrated in blonde white girls either.

While I disagree that there needs to be a difference, I have to say you do an excellent job of arguing your point respectfully and well. I know society is still semi segregated. I am straight and white, so maybe my perspective would be different if I was in a minority. My family and friends are extremely accepting of everyone. My school is probably one of the best schools around for accepting everyone. And maybe more minorities will be included in the future of this show. If they are... great! But I still stand by what I said. I think people make too big of a deal out of race. We are all people! I know you will probably say it's different because I am not a minority, but if they chose all Hispanic, Asian, or black cheerleaders for this I would not care one bit.

 

[The Sixth]

You're right - you're certainly not going to get a shimmy from me.

Why is it that when race is brought up, so is "political correctness" and "affirmative action"? I don't think people were highlighting the lack of diversity because they were trying to be politically correct or to try and force through some kind of "affirmative action" - they were saying that, hey, this show doesn't reflect the reality of all star cheer throughout the country, and for many people, this doesn't reflect the reality of themselves or their children. You're right - the majority of the well-known "cheerlebrities" fit a certain stereotype... but who creates these cheerlebrities? The same media that we're criticizing for lack of diversity. This show had an opportunity to include a diverse cast of outstanding cheerleaders and possibly create new cheerlebrities that cheerleaders of diverse ethnicities and backgrounds could look to and see themselves reflected in. I don't see anything wrong with that, and I think that this is what people were talking about when diversity was brought up.

Personally, I'm reading this as one big contradiction. On the one hand you're stating that racism and political correctness/affirmative action are mutually exclusive. Yet you then go on to state ppl brought up the issue of racial diversity because the choice of athletes wasn't representative of what they feel the cheer world is about; which is the whole root of affirmative action! You're basically saying these ppl are NOT bringing up diversity because they feel like more minorities should be represented, while the rest of your argument states their complaint is the show is not representing the diversity of cheer culture!

Nobody is going to argue the great diversity of the cheer world. But unless somebody is going to substantiate the ratio between whites and minorities in numbers, I will stick with what I observe which is that it appears to be predominantly white. Same with cheer being predominantly female. Probably if they satisfied everybody's desire to have a more diverse set of girls, then people would turn around and complain because no boys were included!

As for the media...sorry those ppl just need to learn to think for themselves. They can shove whoever the hot thing is down my throat. It's still up to me to decide whether I want to put them on a pedestal too.

 

[The Sixth]

Couldn't the show's producers have included them? That's all I'm arguing.

Sure they *could* have. But why should they feel like they have to? Which isn't to say they did. They might have just said, give me a list of a handful of popular cheerleaders. And it was done. The bottom line is it's a show. It's entertainment, not a social movement. We could be here all day picking apart every stereotype that has ever been in a movie or show. There is just no point to it. Ppl just need to step back and see it for what it is, rather than keep searching for some deeper meaning.

 

[cheerisloving]

You're right - you're certainly not going to get a shimmy from me.

Why is it that when race is brought up, so is "political correctness" and "affirmative action"? I don't think people were highlighting the lack of diversity because they were trying to be politically correct or to try and force through some kind of "affirmative action" - they were saying that, hey, this show doesn't reflect the reality of all star cheer throughout the country, and for many people, this doesn't reflect the reality of themselves or their children. You're right - the majority of the well-known "cheerlebrities" fit a certain stereotype... but who creates these cheerlebrities? The same media that we're criticizing for lack of diversity. This show had an opportunity to include a diverse cast of outstanding cheerleaders and possibly create new cheerlebrities that cheerleaders of diverse ethnicities and backgrounds could look to and see themselves reflected in. I don't see anything wrong with that, and I think that this is what people were talking about when diversity was brought up.

I guess for me, I don't look at race often because my whole life I've been around so many races (three of my closets friends are different ethnic backgrounds). Most of my favorite singers are not black, but then again I don't look up to them they way I would an athlete. As a teenager to see a girl my age who is super talented makes me feel like I can do it, and that it's not about the super tan blonde stereotype that's created for cheerleaders by outsiders or you don't have to be from the inner city to be a black cheerleader . The lack of minorities doesn't bother me because I'm use to it, but I will always like to see someone who looks like me so it can see more realistic to me. And honestly I can agree that they shouldn't add untalented athletes to just make it good for everyone, but there are a lot of underrated minorities in this sport.

 

[SarahS]

Sure they *could* have. But why should they feel like they have to? Which isn't to say they did. They might have just said, give me a list of a handful of popular cheerleaders. And it was done. The bottom line is it's a show. It's entertainment, not a social movement. We could be here all day picking apart every stereotype that has ever been in a movie or show. There is just no point to it. Ppl just need to step back and see it for what it is, rather than keep searching for some deeper meaning.

If we're allowed to criticize a show for its uniforms, we're allowed to criticize for its diversity (or lack thereof). To me, ignoring issues regarding diversity is equivalent to promoting the status quo, which, if the status quo is something that I disagree with, is something I'm not willing to do. You're certainly allowed to hold your position, as am I. :)

 

[carolinagirl823]

Okay so these specific girls were picked by the fans. The show tweeted a request for people to name their favorite cheerlebrities specifically for this opportunity. They did not just go out and pick them because they are pretty little blonde girls. They went with the fan vote.

 

[redshark]

I really don't think that race should be such a big issue with this show, it is after all a show made for entertainment and in the end, the production company made it to entertain viewera, not try to be a perfect representation of the entire all-star community of America. Any attempt at representing every all-star wouldn't work for everyone, for example, this cast of guest-stars (remember, they aren't the actual cast) would represent my old gym of 650 athletes really well, since we had no boys in the whole program and only about 1 non-white girl per team (something I didn't even notice til my last year even though it was me haha), just as a widely diverse, co-ed cast would not (though it would reflect someone else's gym/all-star experience). It just so happened that those were the people interested in cheer in our area. But back to the point of it being a show, unless the producers thought that being diverse would make a television channel more likely to pick it up (as I've heard they were hoping for) then there's really no reason for them to have specifically tried to make it more diverse, as there would be no reason for them to specifically keep the cast primarily white. They have no responsibility to completely and accurately reflect the whole all-star community (which would be nice but soooo hard) just because they want to make a show about the sport.

 

[The Sixth]

If we're allowed to criticize a show for its uniforms, we're allowed to criticize for its diversity (or lack thereof). To me, ignoring issues regarding diversity is equivalent to promoting the status quo, which, if the status quo is something that I disagree with, is something I'm not willing to do. You're certainly allowed to hold your position, as am I. :)

I don't disagree with taking a stance. Just not in this case. I think the ppl who take issue with it are just nitpicking to nitpick. It's like when ppl suck all the fun out of a movie citing every possible technical inaccuracy they can, or wants to point out every little thing in a movie that can't happen in real life.

There are no high schools competing with coed level 6 stunting, but Bring It On was still a funny and entertaining movie!