All-Star Hairgate 2015 - Mom Upset Daughter Is Off The Team Because She Wont Straighten Hair For Competitions

[coach12]

I think it said her father is half Mexican. Or her mother is half Mexican. The daughter is 1/4 Mexican. Not that I think her ethnicity has anything to do with this.

Randomactsofcheer breakdown of events:

Mother becomes irate when the gym suggests a compromise instead of immediately saying "Yes" to her special snowflake having the most specialist, super power hair at competitions.

Mother becomes belligerent when asked to leave. The police are called. Mother leaves before police arrive but the damage is done. Daughter is removed from the team.

Mother seeks revenge by reporting her "story" to the media that her daughter was kicked off the team for having curly hair. Mother says she will look for another gym for daughter.

Story gets picked up by national news. Headlines of more reputable news sources are now "Girls is kicked off cheer team for refusing to straighten her hair." Mother tries to find daughter new cheer gym but no one will return her phone calls.

Mother realizes that putting the spotlight on her daughter at this angle may have not been the best idea. Now she is reporting that it wasn't just her daughter, that two other girls had the same problem. And now the race/ethnicity angle is brought in. Mother also begins to tell reporters that her daughter may never go back to cheer and that she is now looking into finding classes for her at local gymnastics gyms so she can still tumble.

Next will be the mother crying on camera because no gyms will accept her daughter for who she is.

The end.

i would say you covered this perfectly

 

[HeatUniqueJ]

I just read through the comments on one of the Websites and next thing i see is someone bringing up Hitler in the context of uniformity of the Team and them being supposed to look the same. What in the world are some people thinking , i am speechless.

 

[Official OWECheer]

I just read through the comments on one of the Websites and next thing i see is someone bringing up Hitler in the context of uniformity of the Team and them being supposed to look the same. What in the world are some people thinking , i am speechless.

misunderstanding of cheer + negative (anti-cheer) media conditioning over several decades + hypersensitivity = the idiots you see commenting.

Shout out to the cheer and non cheer parents that understand why everyone was supposed to wear the same hairstyle.

Tired of these Fallawcious allegations.

 

[getsum]

I just read through the comments on one of the Websites and next thing i see is someone bringing up Hitler in the context of uniformity of the Team and them being supposed to look the same. What in the world are some people thinking , i am speechless.

this is normal:

Godwin's Law - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Tator tots]

Hey USASF! Time for a new rule??? Cheer CAPS! So fierce!

 

[Official OWECheer]

Hey USASF! Time for a new rule??? Cheer CAPS! So fierce!

Varsity-made, of course.

 

[SL&AM]

I just read through the comments on one of the Websites and next thing i see is someone bringing up Hitler in the context of uniformity of the Team and them being supposed to look the same. What in the world are some people thinking , i am speechless.

On behalf of Americans, please accept my dearest apologies. Unfortunately a certain part of our population slept during their World History class and don't have a flarping clue what they're talking about. We're not all ignorant, I promise!

 

[SL&AM]

"Jenny said that she's going to look for a new cheer team for Makayla, perhaps one that allows a little more bend – to their hair styles and their rules."

Oh Susie, Susie, Susie...adulthood is gonna suck for you sweetheart! When you hit 18...

 

[Keep_Believing]

On my facebook page it shows as the number one top trending search. :/

 

[SL&AM]

On my facebook page it shows as the number one top trending search. :/

May be regional, it's not in my top 3. I've got Target closures, Jack the Ripper and University of Missouri.

 

[Keep_Believing]

May be regional, it's not in my top 3. I've got Target closures, Jack the Ripper and University of Missouri.

Thanks for the info. That makes me feel a little better.

 

[Cheer0825]

Okay so I used to just skim the boards you know to stay relevant on competition videos, new uniforms, etc. but I created an account because I saw this an it really related to me as an athlete.

So I'm an older cheerleader about 1 year from aging out and I go to a larger gym. I have extremely curly (or really kinky) hair that's kind of Afro-ish. My old gym (which was smaller with like 5/6 teams) used to require me to straighten my hair in order to compete.Since we competed so often straightening my hair that often was just not an option for us. The first year we turned to relaxers in order to get my hair straight and it always turned out dry, thin,and overall just really damaged. Going to school like that really shook my confidence- freshman year of all years! So we set out to find an alternative hairstyle but we always had to stay within the requirements of the gym. We turned to braid but Had to get them really small to get it high enough for the ponytail required by the gym. Also I style I hated, but my natural hairstyle was "not good enough" (or at least that's how it felt to me then). That really just ruined competition for me. I always felt like I was a just a bad imitation of all my other teammates with their blond stick straight hair that was jacked all the way up to Jesus. I never felt confident on competition days and spent the whole day waiting to get on stage just to get off and take my hair down. Of course you can say it's just hair but it's always been such a big part of my life and it took me a really long time to come to terms with the fact that I looked different than everyone else and maybe just maybe that was a good thing.
So when I moved to my new gym and they tried to accommodate me and made "exceptions" for me it really meant a lot. They gave me head band to wear that matched the bows of everyone else on the team and basically to me that I was different and that that was something to be celebrated. It meant that I could finally go on stage as myself not a poor imitation of others.

And I think that's my favorite part of cheerleading, a bunch of girls who are all different coming together and bringing all their strength to make something really awesome. The only things that needs to be exactly the same in a cheer routine are jump/tumble timing technique and motions.

Especially since girls my age are so self conscious and are constantly being told what we should look like- you won't believe how many times I heard girls who are healthy weights call themselves fat. I'll personally never look like the perfect cheerleader it's just not possible for me so I would like to think that a gym wouldn't penalize me for that.

Honesty I probably would have left too (obviously wouldn't have done the whole media circus that's a little crazy) if I had not been informed ahead of time that I would have to straighten my hair-I wouldn't want to spend one of my few short years as a cheerleader feeling so uncomfortable and self conscious.

Don't know if any of that relates to what happened here as others have said there was probably more going on, but just thought I'd throw in my two cents as an athlete whose been through something similar.

TL;DR: cheerleaders are athletes who shouldn't be told they have to change their appearance to do what the love. It's not a pageant it's a competition.

 

[yooolizzi]

I still don't get the issue with straightening hair. I have curly hair, yet I will straighten, curl, tease, braid, poof or do whatever I'm asked when I'm in uniform.



It's hair. You'll live if it's straight.

 

[Official OWECheer]

Okay so I used to just skim the boards you know to stay relevant on competition videos, new uniforms, etc. but I created an account because I saw this an it really related to me as an athlete.

So I'm an older cheerleader about 1 year from aging out and I go to a larger gym. I have extremely curly (or really kinky) hair that's kind of Afro-ish. My old gym (which was smaller with like 5/6 teams) used to require me to straighten my hair in order to compete.Since we competed so often straightening my hair that often was just not an option for us. The first year we turned to relaxers in order to get my hair straight and it always turned out dry, thin,and overall just really damaged. Going to school like that really shoke my confidence- freshman year of all years! So we set out to find an alternative hairstyle but we always had to stay within the requirements of the gym. We turned to braid but Had to get them really small to get it high enough for the ponytail required by the gym. Also I style I hated by natural hairstyle was "not good enough" (or at least that's how it felt to me then). That really just ruined competition for me. I always felt like I was a just a bad imitation of all my other teammates with their blond stick straight hair that was jacked all the way up to Jesus. I never felt confident on competition days and spent the whole day waiting to get on stage just to get off and take my hair down. Of course you can say it's just hair but it's always been such a big part of my life and it took me a really long time to come to terms with the fact that I looked different than everyone else and maybe just maybe that was a good thing.
So when I moved to my new gym and they tried to accommodate me and made "exceptions" for me it really meant a lot. They gave me head band to wear that matched the bows of everyone else on the team and basically to me that I was different and that that was something to be celebrated. It meant that I could finally go on stage as myself not a poor imitation of others.

And I think that's my favorite part of cheerleading, a bunch of girls who are all different coming together and bringing all their strength to make something really awesome. The only things that needs to be exactly the same in a cheer routine are jump/tumble timing technique and motions.

Especially since girls may age are so self conscious and are constantly being told what we should look like- you won't believe how many times I heard girls who are healthy weights call themselves fat. I'll personally never look like the perfect cheerleader it's just not possible for me so I would like to think that a gym wouldn't penalize me for that.

Honesty I probably would have left too (obviously wouldn't have done the whole media circus that's a little crazy) if I had not been informed ahead of time that I would have to straighten my hair-I would want to spend one of my few short years as a cheerleader feeling so uncomfortable and self conscious.

Don't know if any of that relates to what happened here as others have said there was probably more going on, but just thought I'd throw in my two cents as an athlete whose been through something similar.

TL;DR: cheerleaders are athletes who shouldn't be told they have to change their appearance to do what the love. It's not a pageant it's a competition.

You are entitled to your opinion. However, this is a performance sport. Uniformity is necessary on some level. If you don't think that hair should be a part of that equation, that's okay, just find another gym (which you did)-- but don't cry to every news station in your vicinity just because you don't like the rules. You handled your situation way better than this mom did.

Some parents don't want their kid in certain makeup or a crop top. If their program requires it, they leave and find a program that fits their tastes instead of going on a media blitz.

 

[SL&AM]

Thanks for the info. That makes me feel a little better. This is what I see:

• Trending
  • 
• Woodlands Elite Cheer: Mother Says Daughter Was Asked to Leave Texas Cheer Squad Due to Curly Hair
• 
• Crayola: Company Launches Set of Coloring Book Kits for Adults
• 
  
  Danville, California: Rescued Calf Named Goliath Befriends Great Dane and Sits on Couch, Family Says

I've got none of that even in my top 10.