Okay is there anything positive to cheerleading that can't be found in sports that don't require little skirts

Question

I have a friend who is signing her 5 year old up for a "Cheer Camp" and she would like me to sign my daughter up for it too. I just am not a big fan of cheerleading, especially for little girls. As long as they wear those little outfits, I don't see them as a legitimate sport, and it seems to sexualize girls and women in a non-affirming way.
On the other hand, I have a lot of friends who don't have a problem with it..... I would just rather my daughters be into sports, academics, drama or band.....
What are your views on the topic?

And no, my girls don't wear bikinis.

Answer 1

I think you should raise your daughter the way you want. If you don't want to encourage cheerleading, then don't. I personally will not encourage cheerleading with my daughter. But when she's old enough to ask me to join, then I will sign her up and support her. It's the same thing with soccer, I hate soccer and will not encourage her to play. But again, if she asks, then I'll be the first in line to sign her up. YOU are the mom, and YOU make the decisions. Follow your gut. Good luck!

Answer 2

I was a cheerleader when I was a kid too. Trust me....it is very much of a sport. You should watch cheer competition sometime. There was this show on Lifetime a while back ago that was about a cheerleading team and what they had to go through. You would be very surprised. Please educate yourself on it before you sign your daughter up. I wouldn't say that it is a bad thing or a good thing. Just know that it does take a lot of time and money but the girls do have a great connection with each other and have a since of pride when they compete as a team. It is a sport.....they work harder than most boys do.

Not to offend you but don't let your Jr. High, High School memories of the schools cheerleaders and their reputation fool you......

Cheerleaders are not as bad as people make them out to be. They are probably a lot better than most kids... At least they are spending their time with a sport and not doing drugs or having sex.

Answer 3

Well as a child growing as a teen, it is considered a sport, ( I have no idea why) simply because they go to what you call regionals for like gymanstics, but there's nothing to compare it to so people assume it's just something the popular girls do or something of that nature. As they become older like sophmores, Jrs and seniors and college and even into adulthood they should let the pom poms go because then it's just turned from something innocent to something not so innocent because with cheering it draws a crowd and it makes some little nice girls turn into mean popular brats and with more drama then a soap opera because they form an attitude where they think I'm better then a band nerd or they just feel above others because they get more attention. Also note that if you start your daughter or neice or grandchild into cheerleading they can take it as a phase or a profession and if they take it as a profession (to the NFL or NBA) they'll get paid 75 dollars max per game which is nearly 80 percent less then a 15 year old can make working at a grocery store all football season. So, I'm not saying your little girl will become a brat I'm just simply saying that if you feel cheering isn't right you have every right to let her do it just for elementry school like I plan on doing (just for the interaction with peers) and you also have every right to not let her do it at all and enroll her into something more constructive then jumping up and down shouting with a skirt on, like drama club, soccer, ect.

Answer 4

Not to seem argumentative but cheerleading is a real sport. I cheered for 10 years of my life and enjoyed every min of it. Yes the skirts are short but during camp they usually wear shorts. Skirts are only used during the actual routine or for cometition and games. The uniforms actually are kinda aerodynamical, you can't really jump as high or fly as high if being tossed in shorts or pants. There is a great deal of athleticism involved and I think it would be good for your daughter. The sport allows you to use all muscles in your body. Stunts are an aspect and are a little scary at times but for instance to be a flyer (a person at the top of a pyramid or stunt) you have to have a strong abdominal area. Cheerleading also has gymnastics in it which is a very competitive sport. I believe that cheerleading enforces education simply becuase if you don't have the grades you can't cheer. It also helps with self confidence because in order to do half of the things needed to cheer you have to believe in yourself. It builds the ability to work in groups also. There are several good things about cheerleading and I hope you will allow your daughter the opportunity to see if she likes it or if it works for her. Also to jump back to education, several schools give full scholarships for cheerleading. I think you should give it a chance and if she doesn't like it you don't have to make her continue.

good luck

Answer 5

I agree with you wholehartedly on this issue. Especially concerning the skirts. Problem is that in a lot of american sports the women wear short skirts (think tennis, figure skating, etc.). I don't understand why they can't just wear normal skirts. I understand that it allows for freeer movement and doesn't get in the way, but if that's the case, why then don't they just wear a two piece?

Also, your "other hand" seems to be based on what the 'others' think. Why should that make or break it for you? If you feel that you have a legitimate claim, and want to do something against the crowd, you shouldn't feel that it is wrong.

Why not check the local listings for something that your daughter can do for the summer that will make both you and your daughter proud.

Answer 6

Well you can think the outfits are sexiest or what ever but cheer leading teaches them all kinds of social skills, they are great athlites train hard do a ton of gymanistists, dance, and have great sprit, they learn to work as a group and who cares if they look hot doing it. Since your child is 5 this isn't something to worry about, if she is intrested in it give her a chance if not pass on it. Your friend will relize when you remind her that your kids don't have to do everything together. So girls and even guys are into the whole thing. If you got a girly girl give her a chance if she is more of a tom boy find something else for her. But rember for your whole life that you need to let your child live her life in a way and not make up everypart of her life other wise you will have big problems when she starts to gorw up.

Answer 7

Cheerleading is not really important as a sport.

I used to want to be a cheerleader, when I was about 12.

My mom was going to let me do it too, but I decided I didn't want to because the school uniform was too ugly, err, "conservative". I didn't want to look like a Christian Cheerleader, eww!

Now that I'm all grown up, I know I missed out on absolutely nothing. Except getting laid by the entire football team, getting STD's, getting pregnant, getting raped at high school parties... Drat! What was I thinking??

I don't think cheerleading is a legitimate sport. Try ballet, or tap, or gymnastics. The outfits are actually designed to EXERCISE in, no Sexercise here! I think maybe if the skirts were longer, or *gasp* maybe they wore BIKE SHORTS! or something similar, the popularity of cheerleading would go down. I know when I was 12 (5 year olds cheerleading? Do they even know what they're doing it for?), all the other little girls talked about was whose outfits were "hotter", whose team had the "sexier" moves, whose music was "more badass" etc.

It's not legitimate. If you don't like it, don't put her in it. Especially not at 5. Or 6, 10, 12... Maybe in highschool, but by then hopefully she'll see it for what it's worth (Popularity Contest 101).

Good luck.

Oh! And of course, if you provide Genuinely Interesting Alternatives to cheerleading, you'll probably be quite successful in getting her to choose something else.

As in:
Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Modern, or Lyrical Dance (etc)
Private music lessons, school band...
Drama, Theater, Acting, Poetry, Literature
Science, Experiments...

Schools have LOTS of little clubs and things for kids to get into, besides cheerleading and sports. And most of them don't suck!

Answer 8

Those little 5 year olds being cheerleaders is cute - and it's just that - "cute." And I think it has less to do with the child "wanting" to be a cheerleader more than mom wanting their ltitle girl to look cute in a little dress, ponytails, with pom poms.

My exgirlfriend had a little girl that was a absolute princess and she cheerleaded. But she saw the other girls playing soccer having more fun, so she wanted to play soccer instead.

Now she's having a blast playing soccer.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, if you want your child to be developed all around, let her try both.

As for cheerleaders in professional sports; come on, it's all about marketing; the cameras need something to flash on the screen right before and after commercial breaks; there's no real value to the sports in cheerleading, other than in college games, which cheerleading is taken FAR more seriously, also in high school games.

But for little kids, it's just one more outlet to be active and physical as opposed to letting the latest Disney movie on the TV babysit them.

Answer 9

My niece was in cheerleading last year (she was 6 then) and there skirts really were not that short....maybe an inch above the knee. I dont think they are that bad. I think that you should ask your daughter if she wants to do it and if she does then let her try it. What if you daughter wanted to be in gymnastics, they were less then cheerleaders...or almost any type of dance class, or even swimming (not even a bikin but a regular swim suit shows more then cheerleading uniforms) You should be happy if your daughter wants to be involved (a lot of kids dont want to be involved in anything but tv these days) and let her see if she likes it. I think just because you dont like it you shouldnt stop her from it. Im pregnant now (with a boy) and I really would like for him to play basketball or some type of sport....but if he doesnt like it and he would rather play the panio, Im not going to say no just because I dont like it.....support her in whatever she ends up likeing.......even if its not cheerleading.

Answer 10

As strange as it sounds, there are people who consider cheerleading a sport and it is competitive and there are serious injuries. College cheerleading also has male cheerleaders.

I would say that you can and should send your daughter to cheer camp, but make sure she also goes to soccer camp or swim camp or hockey camp. Let it be her choice. Let her take piano lessons, cooking and photography.

Your job as a parent is to give her the background that she needs to make an intelligent decision about what she likes and does not like. If she wants to do it, let her, but explore other things as well.