to not let daughter do cheerleading?

[undercoverfunster]

Am I BU? She's 8, school have a cheerleading club once a week. ( they don't actually cheer a team, just learn routines) Some of the 'cool' girls do it, so now she wants to. I think it's pointless, sexist and outdated. And the 'cool' girls are also the not-very-nice ones in her year, who make fun of her for being in the football team.

She''s a VERY active kid, plays football and tennis competitively, swims, runs, plays basketball. All of which she loves so doesn't need the exercise.

She has tried various 'girls' activities over the years ( to try to keep in with the 'cool' girls) but gets bored of them quickly ( dance, gymnastics, musical theatre, ballet, netball).

I just think cheerleading is shite! And sends the wrong message to girls - don't cheer for the team be IN the bloody team.
And I sure a heck don't want her quitting something useful to try it for 2 months and get bored...

Dunno don’t care but it’s not cheerleading is it?

I’m not sure what the point of delving down this rabbit hole is.

It has moved on significantly from its origins as many things do. Lobby someone (?) for a name change if you feel strongly.

Yabu.
DS does cheer, loves it. He's also on a sports team, loves that equally. It's not just for girls to cheer on boys teams, that's outdated and ridiculous.
Let her do it, she's 8 and her friends are and it's fun for her.

Cheerleading originated as people cheering on another sport.

I agree, why is it still called cheerleading then?

I think that is why alot of people think that cheerleading is strange.

Call it dance. Whatever

Let her to it. The girls get to work as a team, get fitter, stronger, do a mix of gymnastics and dance. My dd loved it.

It’s quite a different discipline to dance.

It’s much closer to sports acro or something like that.

@LaurieMarlow it is part dance. Yeah ot should be called group acro.

I think this is why acro dance classes have become popular, similar content to cheerleading but with a more palatable name for middle class parents! My DD does acro, quite a few girls in her class do cheerleading too. I'm fine with her joining if she wants to. Currently the local cheer squad practice times clash with ballet.

My dd's primary school do a cheerleading club and it's extremely popular - has been going for over 7 years and does now attract boys too. They learn routines with pom-poms and they do a competition at a local secondary school - all very exciting! It's very similar to dance / gymnastics and includes all those moves as well as lifts, which have to be carefully executed. It's one of my DD's favourite activities so I would let your Dd give it a try.

Also none of the children would even think that cheerleading is about cheering on boys - to them it's purely a dance /acro performance in its own right that they compete with and perform at school summer fairs etc.

Why can’t they do maypole dancing instead?! So much nicer and more traditional than dodgy cheerleading that’s what we did at primary- happy days!

Why can’t they do maypole dancing instead?! So much nicer and more traditional than dodgy cheerleading that’s what we did at primary- happy days!

Sure. Let’s do dancing that was traditionally a symbol of a fertility ritual instead of “dodgy cheerleading”.

I’d let her do it if she wants to. What’s the harm, she may even enjoy it and want to carry on.

It’s more about fitness, flexibility and gymnastics tricks than it is about cheering on a team. That’s a very out dated view.

Ribbons, blouses, checked skirts, risk of tangle, skipping in the sunshine performing at the summer fair WAY WAY better than sodding cheerleading- undeniable.

Far too long to read.... But, Cheer is sexist? Seriously, go and read something about it. Cheer is a great example of something definitely not being sexist. It was a completely male dominated activity and is now (broadly) female. A great example of how things don't have to be static, and can change.

It's also (from what I have heard) bloody hard work.

I think you need to get over yourself, and let your daughter have some fun.

My niece is a cheerleader and I would absolutely love to see you tell her it’s not a sport... she most definitely doesn’t spend hours a week ‘waving pom poms’. Cheer teams compete all over the UK so I assume you’re getting the notion that all they do is ‘cheer for other teams’ from popular culture?

Even if at your DD’s school it’s not done to a massively high level, what’s the harm in letting her try it if she enjoys it?

Yeah ot should be called group acro.
Except it isn't and it shouldn't. Acrobatics is currently a part of gymnastics with its own judging codes. If I remember correctly there's no tumbling element for acrobatic gymnastics. Competing in acrobatic gymnastics is overseen by British Gymnastics.

Cheer has stunts, more aligned with acrobatics, as well as tumbling and dance elements.

Again, two different sports.

We're now almost getting to the point of "cheer is awful and sexist, and if it really is the sporting discipline that many of you say it is then I think it should have another name because I've already decided I dislike cheer based on no first hand experience and it would be too much to acknowledge that I misunderstood what the discipline involves".

Look up teams like Unity, Oblivion and Ascension Eagles on YouTube and then have a rethink about your preconceptions of Cheer.
It's a team sport with discipline and hard work, it's soonto be included in the Olympics

Let her do it and get bored like she has with the other 'cool girl' activities: She's in the team too not just cheering so I don't get your point there. Dd does cheerleading club at school and as she's teeny she gets to do all the fun high stuff - as you say they aren't even doing it for a team, just learning the gymnastic type moves. The cool girls at her school are on the football teams though (not my dd as she hates ball sports) - not that i think that makes much of a difference

Tbh OP and I mean this kindly as we can all be guilty of it but I think it's you who is showing your sexism by disparaging a typically female sport. Just because your daughter is a great footballer doesn't mean she can't try 'girly' things too. I understand what you're saying that this isn't competitive cheer but so what? You contradict yourself by saying 'don't cheer the team, be on the team' but then saying that they don't actual cheer for other teams, they just learn their own routines. So they are team!

Let her give it a go, if she hates it, she hates it, but it should definitely be up to her.

Ribbons, blouses, checked skirts, risk of tangle, skipping in the sunshine performing at the summer fair WAY WAY better than sodding cheerleading- undeniable

So basically a stereotype of “femininity” is better than doing sport in a sports kit? And you think that’s “undeniable”?

Honestly though why is it hideous to wear a bow in the hair and a pink dress for one thing (cheer) and acceptable to wear a bow in the hair and a skirt for another (May dancing)? What is it ? Anti- American feeling ? Feeling that British things are superior and therefore acceptable ?

All I can say is ... watch Midsommar. I won’t be letting my dd do any maypole shit after watching that creepiness!

I am enjoying the poster against cheer because of ‘sexual connotations’ and ‘dodgy-ness’ advocating for maypole dancing instead.

You couldn’t make that up

My daughter did cheerleading for her first two years at university. She has always danced anyway. She loved it and it gave her nerves of steel being hurled into the air from atop a pyramid. She thought it was great fun. They did cheer on sports teams which gave her the public performance fun she’d always enjoyed.

Did it turn her into a Stepford wife? Not at all.she took it for what it was a more sociable form of dance, away to retain her dance skills and learn new ones, a fun way to stay fit. It wasn’t for everyone and wasn’t inclusive because there are considerable physical requirements. That doesn’t make it a bad thing just a sporting activity with limitations on who can do it.