The jobs women do that you never even knew existed
By Fleur
@Fleura (29097)
United Kingdom
February 1, 2018 4:06am CST
Recently ‘grid girls’ and ‘walk-on girls’ have been in the headlines, because various sports organisations have decided to end their use.
Maybe I live a sheltered life but I never even knew they existed!
I remember when I first heard of cheerleaders, a colleague explained to me that they were skimpily-dressed girls who came on during the break in men’s (American) football games to dance and chant. I asked him whether there were male cheerleaders at women’s sports – apparently not.
I couldn’t believe anyone would do this – to me it seems really demeaning to be the ‘light entertainment’ in the break in the ‘serious stuff’ of men’s sport. But before I knew it, cheerleading had crossed the Atlantic and girls and women here were queueing up to join in, claiming it was ‘empowering’.
These sexist traditions exist and spread because women themselves defend them – and of course they are often paid well to debase themselves in this way. And if girls watching see this, do they aspire to be the winning sportsperson or just the attractive bit of fluff escorting them?
I wouldn’t mind if it worked both ways, and there were pretty boys escorting the women in sport and dancing about in the breaks in women’s games, then it would seem equivalent treatment, but as far as I know, no men would stoop so low.
What do you think?
All rights reserved. © Text copyright Fleur 2018.
‘Grid girls’ are models used in promotional tasks like holding umbrellas or driver name-boards
7 people like this
7 responses
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
1 Feb 18
It is exactly what you suggest, the women want to do this and therefore it is unlikely to change.
There have often been outcries about Miss World competitions, suggesting that men are demeaning women by operating such competitions. The reality is that many women dedicate their lives to such a career, which offers global acclaim and vast income. Nobody seems to complain about Mister Universe competitions in the same way.
2 people like this
@Fleura (29097)
• United Kingdom
1 Feb 18
You're right; I guess I don't mind the Miss World/ Mr Universe situation quite so much (apart from, why are the men given a 'universe' title and the women only get the 'world'??) because silly as it may be, at least the competitors are the main event, so to speak, and not just the decorative trimming to something else.
1 person likes this
@Fleura (29097)
• United Kingdom
1 Feb 18
@Asylum Me too! Just to seem bigger and better than the women I suspect. It would be funny if another entrant appeared - though I can't imagine that if there is intelligent life out there it would enter such an event! Do the rules state that entrants must be of the species H. sapiens I wonder? And can you believe that MyLot has now censored the name of our species, calling it a 'bad' word!!
1 person likes this
@topffer (42156)
• France
1 Feb 18
I agree with you for cheerleaders, but I do not think "grid girl", "podium girl" is a demeaning job. In races, cars like cycle races, as far as I remember, I have always seen a girl offering a bouquet of flowers to the winner. In women cycle races it can be men who are giving the bouquets. Frankly, the winners do not care if it is a man or a woman. I found stupid that the Australian tour removed the podium girls last year, there are more important fights than that for feminists.
2 people like this
@topffer (42156)
• France
1 Feb 18
@Fleura No, if there are also podium boys, and they exist here for some women races. A more important fight would be to have the wages of professional sportswomen aligned on the wages of men, and it is never the case in professional sports because the sponsors prefer to put their money in men than women events/teams.
2 people like this
@BelleStarr (61047)
• United States
2 Feb 18
Men are also cheerleaders especially in college sports, it is very popular here in the states. The professional cheerleaders are fluff but college and high school cheerleaders are real athletes.
2 people like this
@DianneN (246334)
• United States
1 Feb 18
Many schools in the USA have after school cheerleading clubs. These clubs compete and go on to bigger and better things. For, me, it never held my interest. The cheerleaders for the professional football teams that have them leave little to the imagination. It's so belittling. I must admit that some universities have male cheerleaders.
1 person likes this
@just4him (305561)
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
1 Feb 18
There are men cheerleaders, and very good too. I was a cheerleader in middle school. It was a lot of fun. I never found it demeaning. Cheerleaders are more than just at football games. They're at basketball games too, and probably in other sports as well, but those are the only two I know of. Now, as far as the way they're dressed, there are some that do demean themselves by the outfits they wear, but for the most part, they are properly clothed.
2 people like this
@Morleyhunt (21737)
• Canada
1 Feb 18
Cheerleading can be a very athletic sport. It is unfortunate that it became synonymous with wearing very little clothing. Somehow I think football is the only sport that seems to have professional cheerleaders (I might be wrong) and as I am not a football fan, they never appear on my radar.
Why don't women play football?
1 person likes this
@Fleura (29097)
• United Kingdom
1 Feb 18
I don't know, I have wondered that too, and whether they do but we just don't hear about them? Over here they do play football (soccer), although they never used to, and it has become quite a big thing in recent years.
I do wonder whether the women who regard cheerleading as 'empowering' have seen the way the cheerleaders are portrayed by men - mostly in circulated photos of skimpy shorts that just happen to have slipped to one side during a high kick, it seems.
1 person likes this
@arthurchappell (45002)
• Preston, England
1 Feb 18
they do seem to be just pampering to the male libido
