"...our backs ache, our skirts are too tight, we shake our booties from left to right."

[demmiblue]

Madison Heights, Mich. (WXYZ) - Jennifer Tesch's six-year-old daughter has been removed from the Madison Heights Wolverine flag football cheer team.

The Madison Heights mom contacted Action News last month because she was upset about the words to one of her daughter's cheerleading chants.

The cheer she objects to says "our backs ache, our skirts are too tight, we shake our booties from left to right."

Tuesday night the team held a meeting to discuss the cheer and to come up with a solution. The team voted unanimously to remove the child from the team. She will be eligible to tryout again next season.

http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/news/local_news/fallout-after-risqu%C3%A9-cheer-controversy


A six-year-old! WTF?! The chant stays (according to the news cast), the girl is gone. One of the other mothers was upset that she contacted the media instead of "keeping it in the family."

Good on Mrs. Tesch!


:wtf:

[WillParkinson]

1. I...um...er...

I'm sorry, words escape me at the stupidity of this crap. She's SIX years old. The 'mom' who was upset about contacting the media should have her daughter pulled from the home until an evaluation can be made to see if she's a fit parent.

[Skittles]

2. fuck the cheerleading

Why aren't these girls in their own sports teams instead of participating in this cheerleading nonsense?

[Orrex]

5. Cheerleading is absolutely a sport, and more dangerous than most other scholastic athletic events

It's not as commonly a competition sport, but it's a sport just the same.

[Skittles]

6. oh please

[Orrex]

7. Why, in your view, is it not a sport?

[Skittles]

8. oh, I dunno

[Orrex]

9. What school does she cheer for?

Since we were talking about school-level athletics, I figured you'd understand what I was referring to.

That's what I get for presuming.


Incidentally, I imagine that you don't consider Men's Swimming to be a sport, either, for the same reason? What about Boxing? Or Cycling? I mean, they wear some uber-tight biker-shorts after all. Scandalous!

[Skittles]

10. nice try

but they are competing - where exactly is the competing when gyrating for OTHERS (mostly men) playing sports?

[Orrex]

12. So you denigrate the entire sport because the high-profile non-sport portion is tawdry?

The young women in competitive cheering who engage in astonishing feats of athleticism count for nothing, in your equation?


You have a weird concept of things.

[demmiblue]

13. To be fair, I do not think you both are talking about the same thing.

You seem to be thinking about the sport of cheerleading, which is far removed from the conventional idea of cheerleading. Skittles is coming from the conventional idea that cheerleaders are merely icing. For the most part, I believe that they are icing, however, when it is about the sport (in and of itself), it is very athletic. Indeed, more athletic than a lot of other sports.

Anywho, I think the story in my op is f-upped. In this respect, it is about the icing.

Edit: spelling

[Orrex]

14. Get the hell out of here with your reasonable, level-headed assessments!!!!!!!!!!!!1!!

:grr::grr::grr::grr::grr:

[Pithlet]

28. Cheerleading is athletic

but it evolved from icing roots and IMO it still shows. They still perform at the sidelines of other sporting events (yes, I know that there are squads that have their own individual events, but I think we're speaking mainly about the sideline kind) And it seems that at least in some cases, a certain look is still required, too. I know that while it's been awhile, athleticism had already long taken hold by the time I was in highschool, and cheerleading was no longer just about cheers, but required actual athleticism and talent. But girls still had little chance unless they were conventionally attractive. I have a hard time believing that practice has been completely abolished everywhere, particularly when I watch high school and college games on TV. I think it's probably still commonly practiced, in fact. It's always been a "pretty popular girl sport" because of the icing roots. It's still about the sidelines. It is athletic, and I'm not saying it's a bad thing for anyone to do. But there's nothing wrong with calling it what it is, either. Icing is a good way to put it, and it's always the way I've thought of it, even with the athletic aspect of it. In fact, I think the athletics was really just to add sparkle to the icing, for wow affect. It's all a show on the sidelines.

[madokie]

34. Back when I was in high school girls didn't have many options

We had a girls basketball team and that was it other than cheerleading. Oh btw, the girls basketball uniforms left little for the imagination back then too, tight, tight, tight, while the girls cheerleaders uniforms were skirts and tops.

[Threedifferentones]

32. Not wierd at all.

Male sports have idolized millionaires at the top. This exclusively female "sport" has strippers at its zenith.

At the scholastic and college levels there are stunts and athleticism involved, yes. But it still boils down to cheering on men. Where are the boy cheerleaders doing crazy stunts for the girls playing volleyball?

I am a man and would strongly discourage any daughter of mine from taking up cheer leading.

[uncommon]

38. What is it with DU and discounting a woman because of her clothes???

Competitive cheerleading is extremely athletic. They also don't generally dress like your example.

[Obamanaut]

29. Agree. Competition cheerleading can be a dangerous sport. Picking

up the 'flyer', and tossing her/him over the pack from the back to the front with neither the tossers, the flyer, nor the catcher able to see one another is/can be quite dangerous.

The constant movement of the group is physically demanding, and all participants must be in top condition - and strong.

ETA Sideline cheering, not so much.

[LWolf]

35. It's a sport that encourages and supports

the portrayal of females as sexual objects whose place is on the sideline, not the field.

Frankly, I think that cheer is exceptionally stupid for ANY age. It sounds like a maid bemoaning her station in life. Encouraging 6 year-olds to imititate sexually suggestive behaviors like "shaking their booty" is irresponsible, at the very least.

Of course, when I taught 3rd graders, I was horrified by those who came to school wearing shorts that had "bootilicious" in sequins across the fanny, or "sexy" in sequins on the front of their shirts, too. Walking advertisements for pedophiles.

[Orrex]

36. That's the *professional* incarnation--not the competitive sport

You might as well attack high school wrestling because Hulk Hogan acts like an asshole.


Obviously there's no reason to teach bawdy cheers to young girls, nor to dress them like sparkly trollops. However, the sport itself is vigorous, demanding, and dangerous; don't disparage the hard work or ability of these athletes on the basis of the professional league.

[LWolf]

40. I won't disparage hard work or ability.

I'd just rather see it expended on a less distasteful sport or activity.

That's my pov. My pov doesn't stop me from supporting or encouraging my students who choose to participate in cheerleading.

I don't have daughters or granddaughters. If I did, I wouldn't want them to be cheerleaders. I don't think they'd want to, though; I think, growing up in our family, they'd be too busy in the event happening on the field.

For me, it was ice skating and horse shows. For my sons it was baseball, football, and wrestling. And band. And martial arts.

[LostinVA]

41. I consider cheerleader very athletic, but not a sport

For the reason you stated.

My niece cheered in a state where it is taken veeeeery seriously, and I asked her what she thought before I wrote this post.

And, it is too dangerous.

[Scout]

37. +10,000 n/t

[gratuitous]

3. Whatever happened to "Pepsi Cola, Coca Cola, Royal Crown"?

Hypnotize 'em, paralyze 'em, knock 'em down!

Of my personal favorite: Die you gravy-sucking pigs!

Another fave: Rick 'em, rack 'em, rock 'em, ruck 'em, get that ball and really . . . score!

[MilesColtrane]

33. "Pork chop, ham hock, greezy greezy!"

"We gonna beat you easy easy!"

[flvegan]

4. Wait...the Madison Heights Wolverine flag football team has a cheer squad?

I assume that said team is also made up of 6 (and like) year olds as well.

Maybe it's just late, but so much of this sounds wrong.

[JVS]

11. I thought cheerleaders cheered about the game, not about cheerleading.

[demmiblue]

15. Apparently, they are not cheering about either.

[Warren DeMontague]

16. I'm of the opinion that a six year old should be doing Dora coloring books and legos

or maybe playing soccer or other sports, which in the 21st century are often played by boys AND girls..

This story sounds awfully weird. Where do you get a squad full of 6 year old cheerleaders? :shrug:

[rufus dog]

17. Am I the only one who expected a Palin/ODonnell thread?

[demmiblue]

18. Yes

[Radical Activist]

19. I'm just surprised they aren't in Texas.

[demmiblue]

20. Why?

[Radical Activist]

21. cheerleading is taken a little more seriously in many parts of Texas.

[demmiblue]

22. Sure...

if you didn't read the OP.

[Radical Activist]

25. huh?

I'm only writing that I would expect a story like this from Texas. Are you trying to get Michigan in a contest to see which state can be more batshit crazy about cheerleading?

[demmiblue]

26. Not at all...

but it is about little girls being hyper-sexualized everywhere.

[madmax]

23. Deadly serious nt

[struggle4progress]

24. America, land of people whose brains have been eaten by zombies

[McCamy Taylor]

27. Isn't the school guilty of child pornography? Or at least, pandering children to pedos?

[nc4bo]

30. That "cheer" has been around as long as "Miss Mary Mack".

It wasn't even a cheer but more like a school yard rhythm. We sang it with our neighborhood buddies way back in the 70's.

Funny how it made it up to "cheer" status.

[Lyric]

31. ROFL! We had chants and songs a lot worse than that in elementary school.

I remember some of these from second grade. Of course we really didn't understand what they MEANT at the time, but the grownups did, so they thought it was hilarious when we'd sing these while jumping rope or playing hand-clapping games.

http://www.inthe80s.com/rhymes.shtml

And miracle of miracles, somehow we DIDN'T all grow up to be sex-crazed juvenile delinquents.

:eyes:

[uncommon]

39. Every adult involved in that garbage should be fucking ashamed of themselves.

Little kids are little kids for christ's sake. I wouldn't have my 6 year old spouting that garbage either.

[aikoaiko]

42. Reminds me of the seven year olds dancing to single ladies

While I am impressed with their techniques (cause dancing like that is difficult), I'm not happy with the age inappropriateness of the routine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ir8BO4-7DkM

[blueamy66]

43. The original cheer is

My back is aching, my belt's too tight, my hips are shakin' from left to right....