The young women at Bishop Maginn badly wanted to start a cheerleading team, so they have and I have agreed to support them by raising money formats and uniforms for the girls without funds.
The school is calling it the “Cheer Team,” not the “Cheerleading Squad,” perhaps as a nod to the fact that cheerleading is considered controversial by some women who believe it is a stereotype that needs to be shed.
As soon as I mentioned the team yesterday, I got a message from Nancy: “I keep hoping that women will manage to evolve beyond the desire to be cheerleaders, and I keep being sadly disappointed.”
I expect some other people will feel the same way.
I am not a woman, obviously, and I understand where Nancy is coming from.
But I can’t agree with her. I won’t judge these children in their desire to cheer their school on and also to find their own voices and sing their songs.
They will cheer for the school, and they will cheer up the school.
It isn’t my job to decide what these inner-city and refugee kids decide is best for them or what they need. I see already the excitement and enthusiasm surrounding this new venture.
The teachers at Bishop Maginn are surprised to see that some of the shyest and quietest young women in the school are the ones the most eager to be on the Cheer Squad. “This will be a great experience for them,” said one.
“I’m afraid to speak up in class sometimes,” one of the girls told me, “my English isn’t good yet, but I’ll have a big and loud voice on the team.” I get that. Many of these children have spent years in refugee camps and seen their homes and families destroyed.
They are often shy and uneasy as they try to acclimate to school and life in America. My own sense is that they need to do some healing before they take on our notions of feminist identity.
Coming to our country might be a powerful experience, but it is neither simple or easy for them.
They don’t come from a computer culture, and many of their families have ideas about women that are not widespread or popular in America. They have a lot of difficult waters to navigate.
They fight bigotry, trauma, hatred, poverty, language and culture barriers every day. I think getting up on a stage, doing some mild acrobatics, singing my song to the world would have been great for me.
I think they know what they need better than I know what they need.
Just looking at this photograph tells me what a good idea this is for Bishop Maginn, these girls intend to bring some joy and pride to the world around them. Bishop Maginn needs some cheering, as we all do.
So next week we’ll put up a new Bishop Maginn Amazon Cheer Squad Wish List. On it will be some exercise mats and maybe a couple of pom-poms.
I ordered a bunch of pom-poms and shipped them to the school.
I’m hoping for Monday or Tuesday for the Wish List.
If anyone doesn’t like to use Amazon or go online and wants to contribute to the cheer squad, you can also send a contribution to me via Paypal, [email protected], or by check, Jon Katz, Cheer Squad, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816. Thanks.
to whom it may concern , particularly those uninformed and judgmental individuals that are dismayed by these students’ desire to participate in “cheerleading”.. please note that it is an activity that shows pride and support for their school, is an athletic activity that moves their bodies whether it is dance style or gymnastic style, builds friendship, leadership skills, cooperation, creativity and respect for themselves and from others among the activity’s many pluses.. these youth are open to joy, self expression, laughter and fun together…. please note that cheerleading is not gender restrictive and never has been….open your eyes, people, open your hearts..
Gotta say I think Nancy has a point. Several of your readers, here and on Facebook, have pointed out that cheer is often open to both boys and girls, yet we don’t see any boys pictured or any mention of actively recruiting them. It’s difficult to do because boys fear the assumptions people will make about their sexuality for participating in cheer. That alone speaks to the fact that cheerleading, although often athletic, is a form of sexualized “sport” created and perpetuated primarily as an activity to put the female body on display. Your readers can sugar-coat it as sport, but the fact that cheerleading scholarships (unlike football, soccer, swimming, etc) are almost unheard of puts lie to that feel-good theory. Personally, I have no interest in telling your or any of your readers what they should support with their dollars, but at least be honest with yourselves that cheerleading, despite the fact that it’s exercise, is at its core about the idea that it’s appropriate to judge a woman’s value by her appearance.
Christian, thanks for your thoughtful note. I’d like to ask you a question though, as long as we are being honest with ourselves. What is football about, or Leonardo Di Caprio, or George Clooney? Could I be a movie star at my age and bald head? Do we think it’s appropriate to judge men by their appearance? Can an overweight or “ugly” man be a movie star or run for President? If you look at the photos of the Cheer Squad, they do not fit stereotypes. Some are short, others are heavy, most are not white or blonde, in fact, none of them are. The refugees and the inner-city children do not come from the elitist world you are writing about, or American cultural values that they are not aware of or interested in. They have bigger fish to fry than identity politics at the moment. These girls, almost all trauma and dislocation victims, are not concerned with their appearances, nor are they being judged or chosen on the basis of stereotypes or how they look. Don’t judge them by what you think, why not see what they do?
Gotta say I think you are way off base.
If you’re talking stereotypes, then the squad is breaking them, not typifying them. Few of these girls are heading for the Dallas Cowboys stadium or want to. They are seeking their voices, building their confidence, finding activities that are not bounded by language or American cultural experience, making friends in a new world. Let’s leave them to it, and your inference that we are not being honest about what we are doing here seems unfair. These kids can make their own choices, they do not need your politicized, rarified, somewhat knee-jerk view of what identity means or what cheerleading is.
Your suggestion that these girls are being judged for their appearance at Bishop Maginn is just false, and low.
More than anything, if you read about it or watch the new spate of powerful documentaries about cheerleading, you will find that cheerleaders are judged more for their athleticism than for anything. It’s a sport, and a difficult one, and you have to have a lot more than good lucks to be successful at it.
You are also incorrect about scholarships, there are quite a few available in the larger colleges. They are quite easy to find, just Google “cheerleading scholarships.”
Well said Jon!!!!
Very well said, indeed.
Cheerleading scholarships have been around for a while. My pseudo-daughter went to a noted college on a cheerleading scholarship in the 80’s, got a teaching degree with a math minor. She now teaches math to at-risk high school students in inner-city Houston. She is not blonde, nor conventionally pretty. She is full of life, incredibly creative, and remarkably fit. Further, she teaches other teachers how to teach teens who might not have had the best start. It sounds to me like Christian lacks exposure, not necessarily empathy.
What are the school colors? From the pic it looks like royal blue and gold
I have no idea…I think you’re right but I’ll check when I go in…