Some folks, think it's a downer the way some people always talk about the declining standards of civilization
Some folks, think it's a downer the way some people always talk about the declining standards of civilization. What about the good stuff, they ask? Why don't you carpers talk about the positive changes?
So, I thought I'd tell the story of an all male domain, which women have not just entered, but taken over. That should be uplifting, no? So this story is about cheerleaders. Don't titter. Cheerleading is not easy. At its most serious it involves complicated gymnastic routines, pyramid building and all manner of difficult stunts requiring strength, grace and co-ordination like any sport.
Cheerleading started in late 19th century USA as an all-male activity ufffd at first it was really just cheering your team with nice little primordial chants and whoops and slogans. Slowly, physical routines were incorporated. Then, in 1923 women began to take part too. This was also because there weren't too many sport activities available for college going women and partly because there was a shortage of young men, since many had gone off to fight in the First World War. Before you could say feminism, cheerleading became a woman-dominated field.
In this story of change, I'm perplexed by a minor detail, though. Who designs cheerleader costumes? What is the brief they are given? Why should cheering your team on to win, require those deep my-implants-are-better-than-yours V necks and tiny flyaway skirts? I am sure there's a very good reason.
I looked, in vain. Hottestchearleaders.com, a typical site dedicated to cheerleaders, could tell me only that South African cheerleaders are the hottest in the world, no matter what Debbie tells you.
So I had hoped that when Gabriella Pasqualotto, a cheerleader hired by the Mumbai Indians, began to blog, she would throw light on the matter. But it was not to be, because she had to go home before she got warmed up.
The reason was that she "revealed" how cricketers treat cheerleaders as sex objects and seduce them into being naughty together. Cricketers do very important work, so they should not be stressed with questions about ethics and sexual harassment, that too caused by ladies who are meant to encourage them. Accordingly, she was packed off while they continued to play.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, a 16-year old cheerleader in Texas was raped by a basketball star in her school. The case was never properly pursued and authorities told the young woman she'd just have to "learn to ignore her alleged attackers" while she was socially persecuted for having spoken up instead of shutting up. So finally, at one basketball game, she refused to cheer for her assailant. She just stood there arms folded in silent protest. For this, she was expelled from her team. The player was not. She sued the school, lost and is now required to pay the school legal fees of $45,000.
There are a lot of professions where women are required to be objectified, and are handsomely compensated for it. Of late, many of these women assertu00a0 :
"I choose to be an object hence I'm empowered. Because it was my choice." Maybe they're right. So maybe they should try testing that empowerment they believe in every now and then to prove things for the cheerleaders of change. They might find that some things can be taken at face value. If a job looks handmaidenly, chances are it is handmaidenly and when you call the gods on it, you're going to have to leave the Garden of Eden double quick, and without severance pay at that.
Paromita Vohra is an award-winning Mumbai-based filmmaker, writer and curator working with
fiction and non-fiction. Reach her at www.parodevi.com.
The views expressed in this column are the individual's and don't represent those of the paper.
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