"Packagine Girlhood" Bring It On: Cheerleading

One activity in which girls are invited to rave, yell, be athletic, jump, run, and bring it on is cheerleading. But what exactly are they being asked to bring on? Images of cheerleading are everywhere in girl world, creating impressions about what it means to be a cheerleader that it might not live up to and impressions that cheerleading coaches hate. The depiction of cheerleading, even when the hard work involved is shown, emphasizes the pretty and popular quotient. Let's consider the impression that kids get about cheerleading from movies. Movie makers and screenwriters try to have it both ways. In movies such as Bring It On, they try to do justice to the new version of cheerleaders as competitive gymnast-dancers, however, they also perpetuate the old version of cheerleader as the popular blond sex goddess that men long for. Even a part of athletics promote the stereotypical outlook that girls are expected to look great, while trying to bring it on. In class, we even talked about cheerleading classes that are required within the Texas school system. It's all integrated within the cheerleading life, that cheer is as big of a priority as education. Even though I  don't agree that cheerleading seems as important as school work, the impression that cheerleading carries fits with the way the media portrays how they should look, act, and attract.