Dhvani Parikh
ENGL 103
Cheerleaders Essay Pt 1
10/12/2011
Stereotypes about cheerleaders
There was a football game on 10th October between Chicago Bears vs. Detroit Lions. If
anyone saw this game, they have noticed that every half an hour the spotlight was on hot
cheerleaders. Not only in this game but in any other football games, cheerleaders get a lot of
attention from everyone especially guys and particularly media. These attention create many
different stereotypes about cheerleaders. It is a human nature to judge people without even
knowing them. A person assumes so many different things about cheerleaders from their
physical appearance. When I asked myself “how do I feel about cheerleaders?” All I can think
were negative things about cheerleaders. I thought “cheerleaders are highly unintelligent”, “they
are rude to others”, “they hate following rules”, “they are snobs” and the list of stereotypes went
on and on. The four sub-topics I am going to focus on during this essay are: my knowledge about
this demographic, my assumptions about cheerleaders, 2-4 common stereotypes that I am aware
off and the reason behind choosing this specific demographic. My overall aim for this essay is to
define this demographic.
When I first came to United States, I didn’t know anything about cheerleaders but as I got
use to high school here, I realized that cheerleaders are group of athletic girls who have great
flexible bodies which every girl wants. Cheerleaders cheer to encourage their team and crowd. I
also noticed that they were the ones who had lots of new fashionable clothes, purses and shoes.
high school. Most of the time, they all stay after school to practice their stunts.
I saw cheerleaders for the first time in my high school football match. They were wearing
shorts cheerleading costumes and had lots of make up on. Judging from their short cheerleading
costumes I assumed that they wanted attention from everyone especially from guys. There
constant hanging out in lunch, breaks, and hallways and even in the mall made me assume that
they are not interested in making friends other then cheerleaders. I made these assumptions just
by their physical appearance and style.
There are many different stereotypes people make about cheerleaders but from all those,
the two main common stereotypes I am aware of are “cheerleaders have attitude problem” and
“cheerleaders are unfriendly.” These two common stereotypes are always shown through media.
For example in the shows like Glee, they show that the cheerleaders felt embarrass talking to
unpopular kids. They only hang out with popular kids. In the movies like Bring It On,
cheerleaders are shown as mean girls with big attitude problems. They also shows that
cheerleaders do pranks on students just to make others life miserable. These types of stereotypes
are shown through media all the time which gives support to our assumptions and make other
cheerleaders look bad.
The reason for choosing this specific demographic is because my best friend is a
cheerleader and I know that people make all types of judgments about her without even knowing
her. She is a very nice and friendly person. Personally, I feel bad if someone judges her by her
looks and style. Another reason for choosing this demographic is because I really feel that people
should stop making hurtful assumptions about cheerleaders without even knowing them first.
In conclusion, from my perspective I used my background knowledge about cheerleaders
and made stereotypical assumption just like everyone else. It is a human nature to judge people
by their appearance and make hurtful stereotypes which goes on and on for years. Media is one
of the main sources that make these stereotypes look real and believable. By using the sources
like television shows and movies, they showing others that cheerleaders are mean, rude and fake
girls who have big attitudes and only care about their selves and reputation. These types of stuff
create a mantle image about cheerleaders as dumb, snobby girls instead of an athlete who works
very hard to cheer and encourage their team and crowd. My overall aim for this essay is to
understand why I made these types of judgments about cheerleaders and what made me feel this
way about cheerleaders.
Social Definition Essay
When anyone says a word “cheerleader” the first few things that comes in our mind are
their fashionable clothes, great hair, and lots of make up on their pretty faces. This is what most
of the people pictures how cheerleaders are. However, the main thing that they forget is they are
hardworking, enthusiastic people who lead a crowd in formal cheers. Cheerleaders are known for
their great flexible stunts and more. However, they also have many stereotypes which are just
based on people’s assumptions. The main points that I want to focus on in this essay are:
different assumptions about cheerleaders from media, people’s thinking on cheerleaders and the
social definition of this group. My overall goal today is to find out the dominant assumptions and
definition of this specific group.
These days’ media is the one of the effective sources to send massages to people in any
corner of the world. A scene from a movie or show can make an effect on people’s mind and can
change their way of thinking. When I was watching movie Bring it On online, I noticed that the
movie showed many negative stereotypes about cheerleaders. For example, in one scene they
show that all cheerleaders in their short bikinis are collecting money through car-wash. They all
are looking very sexy just to attract more people for their car wash. In another scene, the
cheerleaders are making fun of other class-mates and saying very mean things to them. These
makes the audiences feel like all cheerleaders are mean and doesn’t care about anyone’s feeling.
By looking at these types of media clips, I think everyone automatically assumes that
cheerleaders are girls who has great bodies, are very popular and mean to other students. Another
movie that shows some stereotypes is Fab Five: The Texas Cheerleaders Scandal. In this movie
cheerleaders act like they own everything in that school. In one scene, one of the famous
cheerleaders gets phone call from her friend and she starts gossiping to her friend in middle of
the class. The teacher tells her to turn off the phone but she refuses it and just walks out of the
class without any permission. This kind of movies makes a mental image on people’s mind about
cheerleaders, saying that they are spoil brats who simply doesn’t follow the rules. These types of
media sources make all cheerleaders look bad.
To understand this demographic more deeply, I decided to interview two teenage girls
from Naperville North High School. Yasmin Arauz is a current cheerleader there where as Kita
Angel is just a regular high school girl. I asked both of them to define the demographic and as a
result I got totally opposite point of views on cheerleaders. From Yasmin’s point of view,
cheerleaders are athletes who work very hard to lead their crowd in formal cheers. She also said
that because they practice together after school and spends so much time together, they all are
like her second family. On the other hand, Kita Angle thinks that cheerleaders are just mean and
popular girls who like to show off and want everyone’s attention all the time. After getting to
know their personal perspective, I asked them, “What made you feel this certain way?” Yasmin
said she is a cheerleader and her life is totally different than any other regular students. She said
she and her cheerleader friends have to stay after school to practice and most of them also have
jobs after practice. After all this tiring work when they come home, they have homework and
studying to do instead of relaxing. She said it is difficult but totally worth it when you see the
crowd cheering for the team. On the other hand, Kita said “from looking at their fashionable
clothes, make up and perfect hair anyone can assume that they all are about showing off.” She
also said “I noticed them hanging out together all the time in hallways” and that is how she
assumed that they are not interested in making other friends. I also asked Yasmin and Kita about
their opinion on cheerleaders’’ stereotypes. Yasmin said it is very hurtful and mean when people
judges cheerleaders from their looks instead of getting to know them. Whereas Kita said all the
stereotypes about cheerleaders are true and all cheerleaders are just dumb girls with big attitude
problems.
By combining the information from media and individuals, I have notice that a small
scene from a movie can effect and change people’s view of thinking. Media shows these types of
negative stuff about cheerleaders again and again which helps these stereotypes look more
believable. Not only is that but the individuals are also a part of this. They assume things about
someone without really getting to know that person. Nowadays people judges cheerleaders from
their outer looks all the time and media encourages them.
In conclusion, just like Kita Angel when I was in high school I thought that cheerleaders
are divas because of their clothes and looks. I thought that they have attitude problem because
they always hang out with their cheerleading group. I saw in the movies that cheerleaders all
have attitude problems and like to make fun of others. So without even getting to know them, I
made assumptions and when I heard those stereotypes, I thought they were all true until I met my
friend Yasmin Arauz. Yasmin showed me the true meaning of cheerleading. She changed my
point of view and now I think that to understand these cheerleaders, you have to get to know
them first, not just judge them by their looks. Overall, my aim for this essay is to understand why
people make judgments on cheerleaders and what made them feel this certain way about them.
Based on my research I found out that, it is both media and individual’s fault that makes hurtful
assumptions. In conclusion all I want to tell my readers are that don’t make assumptions about
cheerleaders before getting to know them. They work very hard to cheer for their team and to
cheer for all of us. Next time if you see any movie that shows these stereotypes, don’t let it affect
or change your mind.