Cheerleading Essay

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Cheerleaders. The first thing that may pop into your head is either “hot blondes” or “ditsy blondes.” That is basically how popular culture portrays American cheerleaders--blonde, good-looking, peppy, and perhaps worst of all, dumb. The definition of a “cheerleader” can be taken many ways. When people first think “cheerleader,” they think of girls on the sidelines of football or basketball games, chanting silly rhymes and shaking their pom-poms to the crowd. I would consider sideline cheer more of a hobby than a sport--and I can get away with saying this since I am a sideline cheerleader myself. However, competitive cheer is more of a sport than sideline cheer. For many, it is easy to confuse sideline and competitive cheerleaders because from the outside, they potentially look identical, wearing similar cheer uniforms and using similar cheer voices. Competitive cheer is an activity that many do not categorize as a sport; but with the increasing athleticism of cheerleading, we are trying to break that "blonde hair and peppy," good-for-nothing stereotype. Imagine hair bows, short skirts, and constant yelling and smiling. It does not seem so tough, right? It does not seem too hard until you are forced to throw skills you have never even heard of, or can even pronounce. Nowadays, nearly all cheerleaders can just stand up and whip out a standing back-tuck. And that does not take skill? Let’s see you try. My biggest pet peeve is when people think cheerleaders are just accessories, and they have no athletic ability. Besides the fact that cheerleading is a sport, it is also an intense workout. We run, jump, stunt, and tumble on a daily basis, and that is just warm-up. Mentioned in a local newspaper article, “Cheerleaders get exercise from all the tumbling, flips, and tosses in their routines.” ("Pom-pom shake-up: a Judge Rules That Competitive Cheerleading

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