The Secondary School Cheerleader and Ritualized Sexual Exploitation

Abstract

The cheerleader is a common sight at American scholastic sports events. Her apparent purpose is to generate enthusiasm among the spectators to spur her school's team on to victory. However, while many handbooks and manuals exist on the mechanics of cheerleading, how the cheerleader is presented to peers and adults and whether she performs any latent function beyond her manifest one has rarely been examined. Cheerleading would not exist if educators did not approve of its supposed mission; thus it may be assumed that educators feel some benefit exists, be it to themselves, the girls, the school, or the community at large. This article addresses the cheerleader's role and effect in the secondary school, and whether enthusiasm for the school and its athletics is the sole purpose of cheerleading. When organized cheerleading began at the University of Minnesota in the 1890s, its practice was restricted to males. It was not until some forty years later that the question of allowing female cheerleaders was seriously discussed (Gach 1938). Today, cheerleading has evolved into primarily a practice for girls and women. This discussion is therefore not concerned with males, or with the few cheerleaders in elementary schools. Because little formal analysis has been performed, information must be gleaned largely from popular sources and interviews. Cheerleading is widely regarded as a glamorous, exciting activity through which a girl may become a highly acclaimed school socialite. The cheerleader wears her uniform in the classroom, flaunting her success in a way that no other girl may-the leading female in the school play does not wear her costume off