Get Those High Waisted Shorts The Hell Out Of Here.

I like pleated skirts and ponytails as much as the next guy but I don't think I will ever understand cheerleading. I get the appeal of cheerleading, I've seen all the Bring it On movies several times, but when I try and look at it through an objective lens, I can't shake the fact that it seems incredibly sexist. It was born in an era where women weren't allowed to participate but were expected to support the men and in the last 50 years it's been super sexualized to the point where no one even thinks twice that every NFL squad has a bikini calendar.

Yes, I know there's more to cheerleading than short skirts and Eliza Dushku bikini car washes but... I don't know, it doesn't seem like the more positive points of cheerleading culture offset all the weird sexist stuff. Anyway I bring this all up because the University of Washington put out a helpful infographic (seen above) to aspiring cheerleaders that just emphasized how weirdly sexist (and possibly racist) having cheerleaders is. Why do they all have to be tan with long wavy hair and no tattoos? Isn't it bad enough that you have this thing that's kinda sexist and almost exclusively caters to the male gaze but they also have to adhere to beauty standards of the 1950s?

That might be my real problem with cheerleading. Why do they all have to look like fembots? I think I'd be more forgiving if there were a few cool tomboy cheerleaders. Maybe just one or two girls with a mohawk on every squad.

The funny part about this is that the UW retracts this infographic saying it's inappropriate or some nonsense like that but they never say the tips were wrong. I guarantee you that if you want to be a UW Cheerleader you should still follow it's advice. Cheerleading is weird.