Stuck on the Sidelines: Why Competitive Cheerleading Will Never Receive the Respect It Deserves
By: Kate Bevins
Over 125 years cheerleading has evolved to a point completely unrecognizable from its original state. What began as a sideline activity to cheer on other sports has become a highly competitive and exciting sport, with complex stunts, flips, and jumps making up a two-and-a-half-minute judged routine. The National Library of Medicine reports that “cheerleading [accounts] for 65% of all catastrophic injuries occurring in female athletes”. yet the stigma surrounding cheerleading results in a lack of respect from the general sports community, with critics claiming it does not deserve to be on the same level as competitive sports. This lack of appreciation stems from a variety of different factors, including objectification, overall sexism, and the history of the sport.
One major aspect of cheerleading that has resulted in its lack of respect is its treatment by the NFL. Despite competitive cheerleading’s differences from sideline cheerleading, the demeaning nature of NFL cheerleading still plays a role in shaping people’s views towards cheerleading. Cheerleaders in the NFL have a history of being hypersexualized and objectified, whether through their dancing, their looks, or their often scandalous uniforms. Sexual misconduct and abuse are incredibly prevalent issues for NFL cheerleaders. In 2022, ESPN reported a $2.4 million settlement due to sexual misconduct by the senior team executive. Along with these concerning patterns within the industry, NFL cheerleaders have fought for the wages they deserve for decades. In the late 1970s, cheerleaders were not paid, and, almost 30 years later, things have only improved slightly. The Guardian states a former Oakland Raiders cheerleader sued the NFL for wage theft and gender discrimination after being paid “a lump sum of $1,250 at the end of the 2013-2014 season,” shockingly revealing that “an NFL mascot could earn up to $65,000 in a year.” This emphasizes the struggles of cheerleaders to even be valued and taken seriously by their own organization. The 2024 America’s Sweethearts documentary brought to light that cheerleaders are still fighting for a livable wage and many remain afraid to speak up. The NFL has such a huge impact on American culture, so the way they treat their cheerleaders is directly correlated with how cheerleaders are perceived by the public.
This lack of respect extends beyond the NFL. Cheerleading requires immense physical prowess, with athletes training hours on end to achieve the effortless look that they come across with, yet without formal recognition as a sport, their feats and injuries remain overlooked. This seems to be in part because cheerleading is a female-dominated sport. As of 2021, a Zippia report finds that "84.3% of cheerleaders are women and 15.7% of cheerleaders are men.” Women have historically struggled to gain recognition in competitive sports that have both male and female leagues, so this inherent bias carries into female-dominated sports like cheerleading. In 2021, the Olympic Committee officially recognized the International Cheer Union as a sport, making it eligible to petition to be included in the Olympic Games, a huge milestone for the industry. However, other important organizations continue to overlook the sport. According to The Medium, the NCAA's requirements for being a sport are to be “formally recognized by the university, paid for by the athletic department, and adhere to strict NCAA rules regarding things like academic integrity and competitive equity.” The NCAA continues to not recognize Cheer as a sport, despite meeting all the requirements. These discrepancies are what make it so difficult for respect to be garnered by the public, with a majority of people not viewing cheerleading on the same level as other sports.
Some critics claim that cheerleading should not be recognized as a legitimate sport due to its perceived purpose of cheering on other sports teams. They contend that cheerleading is centered around entertainment and showcase, therefore not necessarily deserving of being considered a sport. However, the American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine reported a study showing “nearly 50% of athletes had one component of either energy deficiency, amenorrhea, or osteoporosis.” Cheerleading has such a high rate of injuries, with that alone proving the sheer high-level difficulty of the sport. These findings prove the toll of cheerleading on physical health, making it deserving of official recognition, which in turn could help prevent injuries with the establishment of regulations and preventative measures. Despite cheerleading's roots of entertainment and performance, competitive cheerleaders perform a routine featuring tumbling, stunts, jumps, and dance, which is judged based on athletic precision, difficulty, and execution. These routines take immense skills to accomplish effectively, creating the complexity and difficulty that make up modern cheerleading.
Society's perception of cheerleaders goes deeper than just the sport itself. It says something about society as a whole and its treatment of female athletes, and shows there is a long way to go in cheerleading to get the overall respect and recognition it deserves.
Sources:
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8785319/
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/feb/09/nfl-cheerleaders-super-bowl-justice