- Dec 14, 2009
- 119
- 85
I had to write a junior research paper, I chose Cheerleaders facing stereotypes, tell me what you think.
Growing up in the world today you are bound to get judged without someone knowing who you really are. As a cheerleader you face this discrimination everyday and put into a group or a stereotype whether you like it or not. If you ask any cheerleader what the spend a lot of their time doing, most will tell you trying to beat the stereotypes and change the minds of many people. Some of the major stereotypes cheerleaders face are cheerleaders are not smart, cheerleading is only for girls and it is not a sport. When you tell someone your a cheerleader the first thing that pops into that persons head is wow this girl is probably dumb and will not getting anywhere in life. But as Ms.Valerie Ninemire states “ Most cheerleaders have to maintain at least a 3.0 grade point average or better to continue to train(Ninemire).” If this is the case then why do people continue to think we are not smart. Often when you hear a boy say he is a cheerleader the other person thinks to him or herself oh then you must be gay. This is the biggest stereotype males face when they enter this sport. They constantly have to deal with the looks or being told your gay. Ms. Valerie Ninemire states that “Many people don’t know that the first cheerleading team was started by men, and that one of our very own presidents was a male cheerleader(Ninemire).” The last stereotype that many cheerleaders face is that cheerleading is not a sport. In the dictionary states that a sport is defined as a physical activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitions. The dictionary also states that a sport is a physical activity which involves throwing a mass in the air and resisting gravity, and competes against an opponent. Cheerleading follows all the definitions in a dictionary and yet it is still not considered a sport.
Growing up in the world today you are bound to get judged without someone knowing who you really are. As a cheerleader you face this discrimination everyday and put into a group or a stereotype whether you like it or not. If you ask any cheerleader what the spend a lot of their time doing, most will tell you trying to beat the stereotypes and change the minds of many people. Some of the major stereotypes cheerleaders face are cheerleaders are not smart, cheerleading is only for girls and it is not a sport. When you tell someone your a cheerleader the first thing that pops into that persons head is wow this girl is probably dumb and will not getting anywhere in life. But as Ms.Valerie Ninemire states “ Most cheerleaders have to maintain at least a 3.0 grade point average or better to continue to train(Ninemire).” If this is the case then why do people continue to think we are not smart. Often when you hear a boy say he is a cheerleader the other person thinks to him or herself oh then you must be gay. This is the biggest stereotype males face when they enter this sport. They constantly have to deal with the looks or being told your gay. Ms. Valerie Ninemire states that “Many people don’t know that the first cheerleading team was started by men, and that one of our very own presidents was a male cheerleader(Ninemire).” The last stereotype that many cheerleaders face is that cheerleading is not a sport. In the dictionary states that a sport is defined as a physical activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitions. The dictionary also states that a sport is a physical activity which involves throwing a mass in the air and resisting gravity, and competes against an opponent. Cheerleading follows all the definitions in a dictionary and yet it is still not considered a sport.
