All-Star Should This Be Allowed As Part Of The Cheer/gymnastics Community?

[Official OWECheer]

I thought we were talking about doing or not doing certain things because society says we shouldn't. I used examples of singing, dancing, and cheerleading, not just pole dancing. My objection to not participating in something that is contextually appropriate is much broader than the sexual aspect of it. And I do think, taking the child aspect out of this, there is a gender issue here. If a boy or man did this routine, would everyone's concerns be the same? Would there be concerns at all?


Should boys not join the cheerleading squad because it is a girls activity or because their classmates or friends might harass them?

Should my CP stop doing cheerleading because someone might associate negative stereotypes with her or because she will be associated with other highly sexualized sports cheerleaders?

Would I let my CP take an acro class that focuses on using a pole if she asked? Absolutely! Will I be parading her around the media circuit as the new "face" of pole dancing? Absolutely not. But if it is something she wants to do, then I will allow her to participate. I have already had to explain to her some of the negative connotations associated with cheerleading because of a mean little girl in her class and have taught her how to stand up for herself if/when she encounters that situation again.

ETA: And I would let my child participate in a competition involving said pole activity if I deemed it the appropriate setting. I should mention that I see very strict limits on what I would deem appropriate for this activity. I think in a gym for practice or competition is appropriate. I am not okay with the competition show platform for this. I am not sure how I would feel about any televised event (for children), but I feel this way for many reality/competition shows that involve children, regardless of the context.

I have a much stronger argument for my reasoning behind this (I had to edit much of my other post,too), but I feel like it will lead this discussion into something that would be more appropriate on the 18+ or parent board.

Very good points. In other words, I agree.

 

[catlady]

I thought we were talking about doing or not doing certain things because society says we shouldn't. I used examples of singing, dancing, and cheerleading, not just pole dancing. My objection to not participating in something that is contextually appropriate is much broader than the sexual aspect of it. And I do think, taking the child aspect out of this, there is a gender issue here. If a boy or man did this routine, would everyone's concerns be the same? Would there be concerns at all?


Should boys not join the cheerleading squad because it is a girls activity or because their classmates or friends might harass them?

Should my CP stop doing cheerleading because someone might associate negative stereotypes with her or because she will be associated with other highly sexualized sports cheerleaders?

Would I let my CP take an acro class that focuses on using a pole if she asked? Absolutely! Will I be parading her around the media circuit as the new "face" of pole dancing? Absolutely not. But if it is something she wants to do, then I will allow her to participate. I have already had to explain to her some of the negative connotations associated with cheerleading because of a mean little girl in her class and have taught her how to stand up for herself if/when she encounters that situation again.

ETA: And I would let my child participate in a competition involving said pole activity if I deemed it the appropriate setting. I should mention that I see very strict limits on what I would deem appropriate for this activity. I think in a gym for practice or competition is appropriate. I am not okay with the competition show platform for this. I am not sure how I would feel about any televised event (for children), but I feel this way for many reality/competition shows that involve children, regardless of the context.

I have a much stronger argument for my reasoning behind this (I had to edit much of my other post,too), but I feel like it will lead this discussion into something that would be more appropriate on the 18+ or parent board.

The OP asked us, "What do we think? and Would we allow our kids to do this?" I answered those questions but, if you want me to answer all of the above, here I go...

1) If a boy did this routine, would MY concerns be the same? Yes, young boys are exploited very much in the US.

2) Would there be any concerns at all? Yes.

3) Should boys not join a cheerleading squad because it is a girls activity or because their classmates or friends might harass them? Totally irrelevant to the topic. Your question is about gender typing and not about if we find it inappropriate because it is sexualized.

4) Should my CP stop doing cheerleading because someone might associate negative stereotypes with her or because she will be associated with other highly sexualized sports cheerleaders? If AS continues down the path of becoming more like NFL cheerleading with skimpier outfits and sexualized dancing "yes" my child will be removed. I can not answer as to what you will do.

You don't have to parade your child anywhere anymore, phones take care of that for you. Ideally, I would like to agree with you, realistically, I can't. The US has a huge human trafficking issue and my friend works with rescued women and children. Unfortunately, the first thing I thought of when I saw this was, this would be some diabolical individuals dream child.

ETA some of the content might be disturbing to young children.

 

[randomactsofcheer]

The OP asked us, "What do we think? and Would we allow our kids to do this?" I answered those questions but, if you want me to answer all of the above, here I go...

1) If a boy did this routine, would MY concerns be the same? Yes, young boys are exploited very much in the US.

2) Would there be any concerns at all? Yes.

3) Should boys not join a cheerleading squad because it is a girls activity or because their classmates or friends might harass them? Totally irrelevant to the topic. Your question is about gender typing and not about if we find it inappropriate because it is sexualized.

4) Should my CP stop doing cheerleading because someone might associate negative stereotypes with her or because she will be associated with other highly sexualized sports cheerleaders? If AS continues down the path of becoming more like NFL cheerleading with skimpier outfits and sexualized dancing "yes" my child will be removed. I can not answer as to what you will do.

You don't have to parade your child anywhere anymore, phones take care of that for you. Ideally, I would like to agree with you, realistically, I can't. The US has a huge child sex slavery issue and my friend works with rescued women and children. If you heard the stories of how these kids were taken into it and what they were required to do, you would probably rethink your stance. These kids are cheerleaders, ballet dancers, football players, little leaguers that 90% of the time still live under their parents roof. These kids pictures are found online, shown and bid on, these kids are often invited to a "new friends" house, raped by adults and then blackmailed that they will post the pictures, videos or just kill their family members. Unfortunately, the first thing I thought of when I saw this was, this would be some diabolical individuals dream child.

This is the exact discussion I was trying to avoid on this board. It is hard to go into detail about my side of things without going into my personal experiences that I don't feel are appropriate on an all ages board.

As you said, all kinds of kids are exploited: ballerinas, football players, cheerleaders, little leaguers, etc. It doesn't matter the activity they participate in. I am not going to stop my child from participating in an activity that, for the unperverted mind, is completely appropriate for my child.

 

[schpo]

Question: Should This Be Allowed As Part Of The Cheer/gymnastics Community?

My answer: This has nothing to do with cheer. But to include it in the "gymnastics community"? Sure.

I'm really not understanding the pearl-clutching over, "but it's a POLE!" If that girl were doing aerial silks, rhythmic gymnastics, baton twirling...basically anything that combines gymnastics with a prop, no-one would bat an eye.

 

[SL&AM]

I had to look up the history of "women and pants" but, I'm not really seeing the correlation between an article of clothing that was once viewed as a gender specific and a young child participating in an activity that is viewed as sexual in our society.

I understand the best way to combat a stigma is to change it but, I don't believe children should be the pawns used to drive a point home. When the poles come out of adult clubs and bedrooms in the US, I will feel comfortable to allow a child to participate.

Why does it need to be one or the other? Are we so conditioned to see a pole and immediately think sex that we can't tell the difference between sexy time and an acro routine? God I hope we never, ever get to that point in society...

 

[randomactsofcheer]

Why does it need to be one or the other? Are we so conditioned to see a pole and immediately think sex that we can't tell the difference between sexy time and an acro routine? God I hope we never, ever get to that point in society...

I completely 100% agree. There are children that are put in truly inappropriate situations. This activity isn't one of them.

 

[DropAndRun]

That did not seem sexual to me. What I wouldn't want my child doing as much as anything else is hanging without any safety measures upside down from high up on a pole. For the same reason I dont want her joining the circus, this is a no for me.

 

[KPep]

When handcuffs come out of bedrooms, I'll be comfortable getting arrested.

If we are to sexualize something, let's do it with everything!