- May 11, 2010
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If I showed two videos to my family to try to get them into cheer, one of a fierce guy vogueing in a dance, and one of a bunch of guys basing and tumbling, I can guarantee what video would get them interested. Maybe that makes them slightly terrible people, but I know they're not alone. Watching guys being essentially 'too gay' (which I assume is what they mean by 'theatrical'- overtly gay to the point of extreme femininity), can actually be intimidating to someone for whom the dancing/performing aspect isn't their thing. I know what they were TRYING to get at during the Doral meeting was having a place for BOTH the straight gents AND the gay ones, although I don't know how that means that gay guys can't be buff and tough? Maybe they thought (I'd LOVE to know who they polled for this grand idea): that by having theatricality be minimized, they could increase the participation of males by getting the guys, who they believed were being 'intimidated' by the super flamboyant nature of what routines have become, BACK into cheer.
AGAIN: I love seeing what everyone of all ages, races, genders and preferences bring to this fantastical sport. This was wrong, poorly thought out, and did NOTHING to achieve what I assume was their goal. I'm just trying to hazard a guess at where the HECK they were going with this..
I must say, I do agree with you and you worded that perfectly.
I have absolutely nothing against homosexuals, heck some of my best friends in cheer were homo- oder bisexual!
But:
Maybe it's because over here in Europe we're still a little bit behind things, but most guys in cheer over here are the ex-footballplayer type of guys that are rather not very inclinded to dancing at all for example. Non of them is homophopic but the just cannot imagine themselves doing any kind of shimmy shimmy strut strut. That makes some coed allstar teams' performances seem rather alienating to them.
What I'm trying to say without it coming across wrong is: This etiquette rule might have had in mind to encourage more guys into the sport that would otherwise be intimidated by the flamboyant nature of some allstar guys.
Phew, I've got a feeling like this could come across really wrong. I just can't really word what I'm trying to say. :S