[9]: Game Day
Okay, so the number one thing that pisses me off about cheering for a high school squad is the way the principal expects us to be at EVERY game, rain or shine. Every time she would yell at us for not being there, we would get in trouble with not only her but the football coach as well. And the craziest part about it was that on any given day that we had practice we got booted out of the gym because “what we were doing didn’t require an entire gym.” Really? You expect us to be at EVERY game rain or shine, but you can’t even give us a place to practice? Bullshit. Not to mention, the dance team wasn’t required to be at every game, got to take a break the whole third quarter of the game, left at the first sign of a rain cloud, and they had their own room/studio to practice in, so it was like adding insult to injury. But then I began realizing that the reason we were a must have at every game is because the football players depended on us cheering them on to help them play better. Sure, us saying a few cheers and doing some stunts didn’t really help them, it’s not like they paid much attention to us anyways when they were running up and down the field, but then again….maybe we were a lot more helpful than we ever thought we could be. The coaches realized that the football players performed better when the cheerleaders were there; it was a mental thing. They felt the support from the cheerleaders even if they didn’t watch us cheer, and it helped them play a better game. So, yes, I do believe that cheerleaders have a direct effect on how the football players play, at least subconsciously. Anybody in any sport will say that they play better knowing their family or their boyfriend is in the audience cheering them on, and I think the same can be said for football players and their dependence on the cheerleaders at every game. I think it’s actually pretty cool to know that I, as a cheerleader, have a direct affect on how well our players perform, and I think it’s even cooler that we’re such an asset to the team. So, before you football players try to downgrade what we do, remember how bad it feels not having us cheerleaders there and you’ll see just how important we really are.
10. Christina. “Cheerleading; respected mindset or negative sport?” Throw Like a Girl. 23 April 2006. Blogspot.com. <http://throw-like-a-girl.blogspot.com/2006/04/cheerleading-respected-sport-or.html>
This blog is discussing whether or not cheerleading is a sport or versus if it’s just a distraction. Within this blog, the girl writing states a quote from the Women’s Sports Foundation. The quote says that cheerleading has no real place within a game such as football or basketball, and that the point of cheerleaders is usually to entertain the crowd and cheer on the players.
Although I disagree with this blog, I do feel like the girl writing it had some good points. Yes, cheerleading is PARTLY about entertaining the crowd and cheering on the players, but that’s barely even half of the importance of cheerleading. This blog helped me to realize that nobody really sees the mental effects that cheerleaders have, not only on the players, but the crowd as well, and I honestly pity how closed minded this girl obviously is.
11. “Effects of a Crowd Cheering.” ehow.com. 18 May 2011. <http://www.ehow.com/info_8441489_effects-crowd-cheering.html>
This article discussed the many mental effects that cheerleading has on the crowd and players alike. It discussed things such as the Home Field Advantage, meaning that a home-town cheering on their players gives the team a powerful boost with their capabilities when playing the game, along with a psychological boost for the home team as well as many other things.
I found this article quite interesting. It directly tied in with what I was saying about the cheerleaders being able to boost the confidence and performance of their team just by cheering them on. I find this article interesting because in the blog I read above, the girl had a completely different opinion. I’m just glad that somebody agrees with me on my standpoint being that cheerleading is way more than meets the eye.
12. “Journal of Sport Behavior.” questia.com. 2000. Athletes' Perceptions of the Home Advantage: An Investigation of Perceived Causal Factors. <http://www.questia.com/googleScholar.qst?docId=5002342552>
This article discusses the idea of the Home Advantage, which I mentioned in the journal posting reflection above. The Home Advantage is also a psychological effect, but it is being discussed in regards to the football players rather than cheerleaders. This article reviews and reflects on what the Home Advantage is and whether it is feasible or not.
Although this article doesn’t talk specifically about what I was discussing in my journal posting, it indirectly ties in by discussing the mental advantages presented by the Home Advantage in regards to the football players. I found it interesting that this article suggested a reference to the team playing better at home, because in my high school this was always true of our football team. This article made me question whether the Home Advantage is something worth trusting or if, in fact, it is just a state of mind.
[10]: Mind over Matter
I have been doing a lot of thinking and pondering about the mental effects of cheerleading, and I can’t help but to think that the cheerleaders themselves have a mental effect on each other. As confusing as that sounds, I think that it has to be true in some part. Every girl has seen those movies and television shows where the cheerleaders rule the school, and the only way to become “popular” is to become one of those said cheerleaders. And, even though we don’t like to admit or acknowledge it, yes, we do believe what we see on those television shows and movies. That would explain why eighty girls would come to try out for a cheerleading team that only held 20-25 spots, because they thought it could help them to fit in and become popular. So, the question now is: what is the mental effect of cheerleading on the cheerleader? Well, for one, cheerleaders have a definite confidence in themselves, but I can’t say this is necessarily because they are cheerleaders. I see football players, basketball players, and even soccer players striding through the hallways cocky as can be just because they are on their prospective teams, so I think it’s having a place to fit in that causes the cockiness, and this is normal in any sport. But, cheerleaders have that extra little sway in their steps, because, guess what? You have to be pretty to be a cheerleader. Hell yeah, it’s shallow, but it’s true. There aren’t a whole lot of ugly cheerleaders out there…..well, there are, but they think they’re cute anyways. Cheerleaders are the only athletes that fix their hair and make-up and put on a cute, short little skirt and a mid-drift top before they head out for a game. And during basketball games, we sit there and look cute, not even moving an inch until it’s time for our quarter cheer. And the funny thing is, we still get more respect, at least from girls, than most sports do. Don’t you think the girls basketball team should get a little more attention? They’re actually out there sweating it up and doing something that’s constantly physically demanding, but not us cheerleaders. No, I’m not downing cheerleaders, but I’m trying to make it clear that mentally everybody wants to be us so they cast us in a higher light than the sports that actually deserve it. Yes, it’s crazy, no, it’s not right, but I bet before you read this you didn’t even consider any of this, did ya? You just went along with the social order, because that’s what your brain is attuned to do. Crazy what your brain can make you think without your permission, huh?
13. “Top 10 Myths About Cheerleading and Cheerleaders.” cheerleading.about.com. 2011. <http://cheerleading.about.com/od/cheertrivia/tp/myths.htm>
This article listed and discussed the major stereotypes that go along with being a cheerleader. The main myths that caught my attention were, Cheerleaders are Snobs and Cheerleading is a Popularity Contest. These are common stereotypes that constantly circle around cheerleaders and the sport of cheerleading that most people are familiar with.
This article ties in with my journal posting by stating some of the misconceptions about cheerleaders that I was talking about. A lot of people make these judgments without ever becoming friends with a cheerleader or even becoming a cheerleader, and the misconceptions grow into prejudgments that everybody has. It’s a never-ending cycle that may never be broken.
14. Mind over Matter. Youtube video. 13 June 2009. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUftybGP9kk>
This is a YouTube video showing an episode of Animal Plant where a man defeats a ferocious lion. In the video, the man clearly has the underhand, but in the end he still manages to conquer the lying by using the idea of mind over matter: you can do almost anything if you convince yourself that you can.
This video tied in with my journal posting by displaying what a man can do when he thinks that he can do it. Mind over matter is one of the things that a lot of us take for granted. Instead of telling ourselves we can do something, we tell ourselves that we can’t do something and we end up failing in situations that we could probably succeed in if we believed in ourselves.
15. Ninemire, Valerie. “Stop the Stereotyping of Cheerleaders.” cheerleading.about.com. <http://cheerleading.about.com/od/malecheerleaders/a/032302a.htm>
This is an article discussing the different stereotypes that are associated with cheerleading. This article also talks about how we can stop the stereotyping and it also discusses why people in general stereotype in the first place. It correctly stated that people stereotype based off of outward appearances and what appears to be going on instead of what’s really going on.
I felt like this article tied in with my blog posting because stereotyping is kind of like using mind over matter, but in a negative way. Instead of trying to get to know people, we convince ourselves that they are a certain way before getting to know who they really are, and this is the root of stereotyping.
[11]: Prejudging
Whenever somebody says they understand everything there is to know about cheerleading, and it’s not a sport no matter what you say, I just want to scoff and say “yeah, right.” How can you possibly judge something that you’ve never been a part of? How can I say “the girls basketball team is a joke, they don’t have any clue what they’re doing” when I’ve never even picked up a basketball in my life? (Okay, I’m over exaggerating, but you get what I’m saying.) What gives people the “right” to judge who people are, what they’re doing, how they dress, etc. etc. The simple, sad truth is, people are way too involved with other people. Yes, we all do it, we judge before we know all the concrete facts. We speak before we’ve even had a chance to listen, and we cut down people we’ve never talked to a day in our lives. And yes, it’s a sad existence if you take a step back and observe what you’re actually doing to others and to yourselves. It’s true what Bob Marley said: “Who are you to judge the life I live? I know I’m not perfect and I don’t live to be. But, before you start pointing fingers, make sure your hands are clean.” How many of us actually take the time to clean off our fingers and obscure ourselves of judgment before our fingers go on a pointing spree; none of us. We’d all like to think that we have it all together, but we don’t. We choose to point out other’s flaws to mask our own, and that’s what makes us the most flawed creatures there are. The person that can look at something, respect it for what it is, and not judge others for liking it, now that is what I call a wonderful person. I don’t know one person that hasn’t pre-judged something or someone at least once, and if you say that you haven’t then you’re lying. We’ve all done it, we’re all guilty. But, if we work together to stop pointing out these flaws and start working on ourselves, who knows what kind of world we’ll live in? I would love to step out on the gym floor for a pep rally without the whole school pre-judging our routine based on what we heard. I would love to walk down a hallway and not wonder what other people think of me based off of what everybody told them. I would love it life in a world where I didn’t care what anybody said and I could do what I please without the constant worry of what’s accepted and what’s not niggling through my mind. And one day, maybe, just maybe, that world will exist. But…..it’s doubtful.
16. Wilmore, Sarah. “Prejudging Others.” teenink.com. <http://www.teenink.com/hot_topics/pride_prejudice/article/23194/Prejudging-Others/>
This is an article written by a young girl named Sarah expressing her thoughts about prejudging and how it can affect others around you. She talks about how other prejudged her, and even how she prejudged others, but she stepped outside of her safe box and not only indulged other people to see if her prejudgments were true, but she let others into her safe box as well.
This article ties in with my article by showing just how much prejudging can affect other people. Imagine how many opportunities we are missing out on just because we heard something about somebody we don’t know or they dress a certain way that makes us think that they have certain thoughts or ideas. Without all of this prejudging, we could open up a world of possibilities for new friendships and connections that we never would have imagined.
17. "All prejudice isn’t created equal; whites distribute it unequally to minorities." esciencenews.com. 2009. <http://esciencenews.com/articles/2009/02/25/all.prejudice.isnt.created.equal.whites.distribute.it.unequally.minorities>
This article discusses how American whites lat a lot of prejudice on the African American community. The article states that, studies show that minorities that strongly identify with their respective groups while the opposite is true for minorities that don’t identify as strongly with their respective groups. The article states that people typically want to be around people who share their thoughts and ideas.
This article really interested me. It tied in with my article by talking about a different form of prejudging: racism. The most interesting part of the article to me personally is how it was stated that minorities that identify more with their minority groups experience more racism and vice versa. Because I don’t identify strongly with my minority group, I can personally say that this is generally true. Caucasians are more comfortable approaching me because I “act white” and are less comfortable approaching big groups of African Americans, so I found this article to be both truthful and insightful.
18. “Prejudice Study Finds Gay is the New Black.” medicalnewstoday.com. 2009. <http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/135773.php>
This article discussed how prejudice feelings towards gays have shown to be at the same level of prejudice towards African Americans. Because it is so difficult to figure out people’s prejudgments in today’s society, due to the fact that prejudgment is greatly frowned upon, the study performed measured participants ‘implicit’ attitudes; the attitudes we give off subconsciously.
This article truly shocked me. I could not believe that prejudice attitudes towards gays were greater than an equal to the prejudice attitudes towards African Americans. This article definitely ties in with my journal posting by showing how the media and our experience with other jades how we feel about certain people and things.
