- Top Features:
- War Room
- Glenn Greenwald
- Broadsheet
- Joan Walsh
- Camille Paglia
- Since You Asked
- Follow Salon:
Read other letters about this article
I love football (meaning soccer, though I love American football too). I've actually been bonding with my partner, hanging out and watching matches. I'm winning all the bets because he likes to root for the underdog and I like a proven winner. (Hell, I'm a Yankees fan.)
However, I was really disappointed to see some pre-game footage of "dancers" or "cheerleaders" or "glorified strippers" or whatever you choose to call them. I'd really hoped they were merely a tacky American phenomenon! What I'm getting at is, the reason it isn't sexist to call the footballers "eye-candy" or the like, is because the guys are the SUBJECT! They're the ones playing the game, desplaying talent and prowess; they're the reason for the whole thing! Their looks are secondary. It's the women on the sidelines: plastic playthings in cheesy, skimpy outfits, flipping their hair and shaking booty, all the while grinning like morons. They're the OBJECTS.
I should add, I have a lot of respect for the actual CHEERLEADERS at the high school and collegiate levels (often co-ed teams) who are basically gymnasts and great athletes. I'm talking about the Hooters wannabes you'll find in push-up bras and chaps at the start of NBA and NFL games, who have the nerve to call themselves "role-models" because they perform a required two-hours-per-season of "charity work" (as they call it--anyone not totally full of themself would say "volunteering") which usually consists of signing autographs.
I apologize for the vitriol, but I'm calling it like I see it, and you know it's true. "Professional cheerleaders" are a sad, sad, sad, example of gender roles in our culture.
