He wants to be a Cheerleader!

He wants to be a Cheerleader

                I’ve been coaching cheerleading for over 22 years!  My motto is, “Come one and come all!”  It’s too bad that I have such a hard time recruiting young men for the squad because of the stereotyping society has placed on this new found sport.  And yes, cheerleading is a sport!  I’ve come to realize that when society generalizes a certain class of people this is what happens.  Several well qualified young men that I truly could use to help my team compete on an entirely different level, wimp out because of what society perceives as being acceptable for young men and women.

            These stigmas about gender roles come from a certain type of polarized thinking, which is conceiving gender roles as absolute opposites.  Girls are supposed to be cheerleaders, and boys are supposed to play football.  It’s a shame how it comes down to this “all or none” type of philosophy.

                When I think back to the time when I was growing up and in high school,  it must have been so hard for the young men and women that didn’t fit into a generalized group.  If you were different in anyway, or wanted to make a name for yourself to celebrate being different; you were considered odd or one of the freaks.  In today’s society, I see a little hope for those individuals growing up that find them selves not fitting into any sort of stereotypical gender role.  With the help of MTV and all of the different reality shows, I’m sure that today’s youthful generation will be a little more advanced in their thinking once they’re my age.

            In conclusion,  I cant express enough that if a girl wants to play football and a young man wants to cheer, there should be no specific attributes which could cause any group of individuals, to devalue their judgment as to what he or she wants to achieve!