If you compare high school to being in a Royal Kingdom then cheerleaders have
to be the ladies-in-waiting. And they were waiting for it …and they expected it.
This small pool of carefully selected women were the queens to be, the future
girlfriends of the jocks and the girls who broke your heart or left you with permanent
self esteem scars. They were glossy…they were bossy and they knew a thing or two
about shaking their pompoms.
It may have been Game Night for the jocks…but it was center stage for the cheerleaders
, and they knew it. They had the bouncy curls , the little-girl hair ribbons and the neatly
pressed shorter-than-short pleated skirts. Nothing, however, could disguise the display
of Lolita-esque hormones in the sanctity of the organized sport arena. Sort of like being
a pole dancer without the guilt.. It was catnip for teenage boys.
Being a cheerleader now isn’t the same. Cheerleading is a sport…….it’s all about being
a gymnast, a precision dancer, a perfectionist. Back-in-the-day it was about being popular
, being competitive in the social arena and being part of the privileged crowd. Short on
skills…long on attitude. That’s why every teen movie shows the mean girls as cheerleaders.
I have to confess that I was a cheerleader all through high school. I took what was handed
to me. Great jock boyfriends and the self confidence to take my rightful place on the school newspaper, the yearbook anything I wanted. I’ve had my share of successes and failures….
but I never lack the courage to go for anything I want.
There’s a lot to be said for the mindless dancing tributes to high school athletes on a
field or court surrounded by screaming fans. And when you’re chanting “we’ve got
the fever…we’re hot…we can’t be stopped..”…..It was just way too easy to think
it included you.
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